What if there is no party to vote for, i.e., all are equally unliked? (In Latvia we don't vote for individual polititians). You haven't answered that question.
Make a party then. Or find an obscure party and promote it. Do you think the Natural Law Party or the Libertarian Party in the U.S. gets any recognition at all? No. But I vote for them anyway, because I believe in their politics. I vote for them because it's one less vote for someone I can't stand. I don't care if it makes a difference, but I care that the party gets recognized. The two party system is bunk, and it's crap. No one knows what the parties stand for anymore, and the lines are so wild it's scary. We couldn't vote for one party or the other now, it's too vague. But we can change that by promoting alternate parties and attempting to promote a third and fourth party into the running. I am hoping it will happen in my lifetime. If not, at least I can rest well knowing that I cared and that I tried instead of being lazy. You are a smart guy, Avatar. If you see something wrong with your country, change it.
The polititians represent our people, their values in life, etc. They are not aliens from another planet - they are our people. Therefore in order to change any country its' people have to be changed, the society has to. Same applies for the whole world. A party can not do that. A party is just a manifestation of the interests and goals. There can be no psychologically strong party if the people are psychologically weak. Therefore the people have to be changed first. And that's not to be done in years, but in decades and centuries. And I'm contributing to it through works of art and culture and not just for my immediate society. And I intend to do the same for the rest of my life and though there is no end for this road, the journey is what matters. The worst thing that can happen in a society is the stagnation of it. Voting is just marking something that has already been achieved. There's no meaning in voting, if nothing progressive has been achieved. So, in order to vote, either this country has to get out of stagnation, or I have to move to some country with more advanced/developed society. But in the end our planet is one society too. Humankind.
Some points: I promoted an obscure party when I was young (SP- a radical socialist party - read communist if you are american). Now they are not obscure anymore. They don't need my protest vote anymore. They are the third biggest party now (when regarding amount of members). I did my thing. They don't need my help at the moment because it is a very active party. All the members are very involved. I sometimes thought about coming a member, but then I kind of know I will never live in the Netherlands again in my life. There are no other parties that I would think are worthy of my vote. I cannot make my own political party because I am not living in my country. I do not want to make a political party because I despise politics. Be radical and popular enough and you get assassinated (Pim Fortyn). I would be radical. I do not want to die for a hopeless cause. I cannot be a politician because I'm too honest. And as I said before: the political middle always wins the election in the Netherlands. That's the nature of the democratic system in that particular country. No single party can rule. No single person can rule. The situation is not the same as in the US. Our political middle is extreme lefty in the US. It's not like a monster like Bush would ever get into power. EDIT - this kind of could refer back to Avatar's post. I cannot change Dutch society as I am no longer part of it. What would I do if I were a US citizen? I would emigrate. ( I wouldn't of course, because if I would be a US citizen and lived in the US for my entire life I wouldn't be me. I would be someone else.)
When people have no faith in the youth of it's country, then yes they start not to care. If they don't feel you care, why should they? Religion is the problem in the United States more so than Politics. Always has been.
politicians and politic is about lying the most and backstabbing, just for that i have always voted blank.
you could always do what my brother did during this election... labour had an 80% majority in his electorate anyway, and he knew labour would go centrist on us and ditch the greens like they always do. so he drew a whale on his voting paper and said "i vote for the whale" and put an arrow to it.
I simply refuse to vote. I'm not going to vote for someone that will lie to me, steal from me and enrich himself / herself at the nations expense. They all do it to some degree.
1992: George Bush Sr. the man almost fixed Reagan 8 years of mistake in only four years 1996: Wrote in: Obi-wan Kenobi 2000: George W. Bush 2004: George W. Bush Sorry for all those Kerry fans out there but I have trouble with a man who fakes a Vietnam picture, lies about being on a swift boat, and throws away his medals. Not to mention he can't seem to form a lasting opinion.
Actually i picked a man who proved he could do the job. If i was going to punish Kerry I would start a petition to hold him accountable for his acts of treason. But then again letting him realize he is the second most useless human on the planet is good enough for now
Some questions that pop into my mind: Is doing the job enough. Or would you like your president to do a good job? Is Bush doing the job? Is the job being done for him? Is he doing bad job?
I don't vote. I was in a septic tank once and shan't do it again. The more that I learn about politicians and their doin's the uglier it gets. Toxic. And, do you really think that the 'elite' would really leave their power and behavior to the vagaries of the streetwalking voter who needs laws covering every aspect of his life because he is not 'evolved' to the point of running his own life in a responsible and intelligent and ethical manner?? Don't be naive, if you are allowed to 'vote', it obviously doesn't matter anyway! Hahahahaha... Politicians at that level are all corrupt and voting just encourages them. I dont need them.
Three out of four ain't bad. Someone who never changes his opinion needs a brain enema! Or he's simply dead. A healthy opinion will change as new data is gathered, new understandings accessed... and 'that' hopefully quite often! Unclench your mind!
A persons opinion should not change back and forth 5 times in fifteen minutes. Especially if is involving something of signifigance. I watch him do just that four times during that campaign year. Even if he hadn't done the other things that alone was enough to make me doubt his faculties.
Here's something even a Republikkkan can understand; If *God* delivers five sequential revelations to this man, each powerful enough to alter his whole 'world view' within fifteen minutes, I would think that even a Republikkkan <spits in the dust> cannot deny him the grace to change his mind honestly and accordingly. Anything else would be hypocrisy, no? "Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds." Perhaps it is not the Mind alone that is 'clenched'? "As above, so below?" *__-
First of all it was the Republican's that ended slavery and the ancestor party of the Democrats who formed the KKK. Get it straight. Not to mention Nixon fought for civil liberties long before Kennedy. He was just blocked by those idle rich. As for god giving him revelations, I doubt that god is of two opinions on the same subject. Kerry vacilated his opinion back and forth on Abortion, Gun ownership, Gay marraiges, and War on Terror. All controversial issues that could lose him votes. Either he is spineless or playing games. Either way I don't trust him.
I can accept a few small exceptions to the rule. Matters not a whit. All politicians are scum, and just because you can pull an alleged rabbit out of your hat diminishes the truth of my statement not at all. Kerry means nothing to me. My point was about the healthy altering of world-views as knowledge is gained; and about the fallacy of expecting consistency (unless it agrees with your ideas, that is). Know what the opposite of 'liberalism' is? Selfishness!
