Thought of the day
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Do elections only serve to make the future moron-certain?
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
What bothers me is not the morons, but the active criminals which public service seems to attract. The best person for any elected post is someone who is competent who really does not want the job. If you really want the job, you are either looking for a free financial ride (read graft/misappropriation of funds), or you are unsuitable because of your lust for power. ;P It's a really rare person who is both competent and altruistic and wants the job to do active good. Even when such a person is elected, they find that everyone around will actively work against them for wanting to change the status quo. Machiavelli probably said it best: (paraphrasing, this is not an exact quote) "Beware my prince, for if you wish to enact change, you will get indifferent support from those with something to gain, and active resistance from those with something to lose."
Fletcher Glenn
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What bothers me is not the morons, but the active criminals which public service seems to attract. The best person for any elected post is someone who is competent who really does not want the job. If you really want the job, you are either looking for a free financial ride (read graft/misappropriation of funds), or you are unsuitable because of your lust for power. ;P It's a really rare person who is both competent and altruistic and wants the job to do active good. Even when such a person is elected, they find that everyone around will actively work against them for wanting to change the status quo. Machiavelli probably said it best: (paraphrasing, this is not an exact quote) "Beware my prince, for if you wish to enact change, you will get indifferent support from those with something to gain, and active resistance from those with something to lose."
Fletcher Glenn
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Just think what the US would be like if ALL the politicians were being paid minimum wage and retired on Social Security.
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Would that stop the graft and misappropriation? More likely, it would in increase it. :( Sorry for being so cynical, but I have been around for a long time.
Fletcher Glenn
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It really matters, if you don't vote then parliament will not know what people believe. It is not just a case of choosing an MP, it is also about showing you care. Next time around, the parties won't bother targeting policies to help non-voters - just look at policies for the young vs policies for the old. They're all in it for themselves, but atleast encourage the ones who may give you hand up as well.
veni bibi saltavi
"Parties won't bother..." There's lots of talk of voter apathy, but less about politician apathy. Where I live, there were council elections but NOT ONE election communication even MENTIONED them, let alone naming their candidate or explaining their local policies. There was so much hype over the general election that it hadn't even dawned on me there were local elections until I looked at my polling card on the day. Without any info about the candidates I was deprived of ANY choice. Had a rant at the exit poll people as far as a I dared without getting "security" called... Seriously, if the candidates can't even be bothered to put "vote for me" in print, there's something (else) broken with this system.
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What bothers me is not the morons, but the active criminals which public service seems to attract. The best person for any elected post is someone who is competent who really does not want the job. If you really want the job, you are either looking for a free financial ride (read graft/misappropriation of funds), or you are unsuitable because of your lust for power. ;P It's a really rare person who is both competent and altruistic and wants the job to do active good. Even when such a person is elected, they find that everyone around will actively work against them for wanting to change the status quo. Machiavelli probably said it best: (paraphrasing, this is not an exact quote) "Beware my prince, for if you wish to enact change, you will get indifferent support from those with something to gain, and active resistance from those with something to lose."
Fletcher Glenn
Another thing about political motivation is that there should be no sense of frustration or upset in defeat. Instead, rejoice that democracy has allowed a majority decision to be reached and quietly put your policies away, since they're not wanted. Of course, you can roll them out next time around as circumstances may well have changed, alternative policies demonstrated not to have had desired outcomes, etc. This is something that really concerns me about the SNP. Having had the majority of Scots people living in Scotland say they don't want devolution, for a moment there (until reality kicked in) I expected Alex Salmond to not only resign, but immediately disband the SNP; now all of a sudden they have 1/12 of the nation's seats, founded primarily on a premise that most of their own country rejected... bizarre.
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I think we should be able to vote *against* someone without voting *for* someone. Then the one with the most negative votes should be thrown off a cliff.
You should read Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Essentially the American Revolution replayed in space, the moon specifically. The lunar colony, which is a penal colony, fights for independence from the Earth with the aid of a self-sentient computer. As they try to form a new government, they haggle over all sorts of ideas, and yours was one of them, the negative vote. It's one of my favorite books and I think Heinlein's greatest, sorry Stranger in a Strange Land fans.
Psychosis at 10 Film at 11 Those who do not remember the past, are doomed to repeat it. Those who do not remember the past, cannot build upon it.
