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Originally Posted by andygrif
Well in my area, in the last council elections, there was a turnout of 27% (or thereabouts). Are you seriously telling me that 73% of the population could not collectively vote for someone else?
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Yes, because that 73% would *not* simply "vote for someone else". Their votes would split more or less according to the demographic for your area.
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You have the power to turn up and 'spoil' your ballot paper right now. Simply not bothering to show up (as did the majority of the country - bear in mind at the last general election people who voted were in the MINORITY) and then making excuses like 'oh they're all the same' etc etc is apathy on a stick.
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Rubbish. It is a *VERY* loud message that nobody is paying attention to at the moment. People have got fed up with politics.
Despite the majority of people being against the war in Iraq, we invaded anyway. Only after Blair realised that he could actually lose votes if he didn't ban fox hunting did he finally do something about it (and then in a pretty cack-handed and incompetant manner). Faced with fuel protests the government seemed to back down, but very little actually changed.
Our political leaders are taking their positions for granted and it is *NOT* possible for us to do anything about it through the ballot box any more.
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And if the majority of people in the country are following your example of not voting because you don't like the options, then start your own party that 53% of country will vote for, that's democracy right?
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That's sheer nonsense. And just as I can't be bothered to vote in a failing and non-representative system, I can't be bothered to point out the fallacies in that argument.
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I would disagree. If a store was selling faulty goods, you don't really have much say in it unless you buy one of the faulty ones.
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Rubbish. If a store is selling faulty goods and I hear about it (which I probably would, being a subscriber to Which? Magazine and a viewer of Working Lunch etc) I wouldn't go there.
However your analogy is faulty because political parties are not like high street shops.
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If we all lived by your rules, no-one would turn up to vote. If you want to live in a democracy then you have to take part in it.
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Oh gods, this is the "if you don't like it go and live somewhere else" argument. It's old, tired and tedious, just like the political parties, and I'm not going to waste time on it or them.