I agree that it isn’t the only way.
I don’t agree that it’s the worst. Doing nothing is probably the worst. Just complaining.
That depends how functional the democracy you live in is.
I’m lucky enough to live in a country with - relative to others - a responsive democracy. Probably because we have proportional representation, and the country is small enough to manage. That doesn’t stop them from screwing up, of course, but there’s not the kind of institutional inertia you have in the US or UK where it’s the same two parties for ever and ever and neither of them can ever respond to reality with any dexterity.
So I vote, because it makes a difference where I live.
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I’ll still echo what I said above about ignoring politics but I must say a lot of me ignoring them is due to how people behave when discussing them. This thread gives me hope that there are people out there that can politely disagree and actually listen to the other side. it should always be about getting it right and not just being right. Carry On!
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Sorry, got a bit defensive there. As someone who has heard “if you don’t vote, you’ve got no right to complain” all his life, I tend to get a bit prickly when I feel like people try to blame non-voters for the governments they voted in. It isn’t the fault of people who conscientiously decide not to participate in elections what government you end up with, it’s the fault of all the people who voted for them. I spent a long time living in a very safe Tory seat, my vote was completely pointless anyway. I currently live in a pretty safe Tory seat. It’s very unlikely my vote would change anything, even if there was someone for me to vote for (our seat for parliamentary elections is usually Tory, Labour, Lib Dem, UKIP).*
I know that’s not really what you were saying, but my perspective is that I’m asked every few years to take part in a system I disagree with to choose between parties I largely disagree with or about issues I don’t feel qualified to have a say in. This is why I draw todgers, because at least the poor fucker counting the papers might get a laugh.
Voting was invented and extended to stop us properly lodging our disapproval (you know, with sticks and fire and all that) and to keep those in charge in charge. In the UK at least, that remains very much the case, at least that’s how I see it.
I think if you’re really serious about changing the world, get a job at Goldman Sachs (or that resort in Davos if numbers ain’t your thing).
Sorry again, had a couple of drinks, more power to all of you, just remember that some of us like drawing cocks (or even staying at home and ignoring the whole fiasco) for sound, well considered political reasons.
*I’m not a Tory voter.
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not news that we just had a fed. election here in AU. This country just got Rickrolled.
An excellent example, Australia. A country where every adult is legally compelled to vote in just as much of a shit state as the rest of us.
Maybe but I think it’s a pretty good barometer of the way people are thinking (ie. not so good). The total % of invalid votes was pretty small. With compulsory voting at least the raw figures are out in the open.
Kind of odd how so many of the former colonies are shit at the moment.
ah colonies?
I don’t know, Gambia’s doing alright since Jammeh stepped down. 
Also, careful with word like colonies, might be quite difficult for a few people to hear, especially given what damage colonialism did over the years.
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I think what we are seeing is that no matter how much globalism is being pushed people are rejecting it, it certainly isn’t a good thing for the environment, also the mainstream media seems to try to push the agenda that nationalism is bad, somehow conflating it with xenophobia and other negative connotations, which definitely rubs people up the wrong way and is patently disingenuous to say the least.
There is way too much fear mongering and bullshitting going on, the media depend on keeping people hooked on their daily dose of misery, because misery sells. Keep ‘em scared and keep ‘em spending.
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Cocain Mitch! 
Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes – by Jacques Ellul
Good read.
MSM is so bad, they are the walking dead. I think they realized it when they couldn’t control the narrative and Trump got elected. Then they just completely lost their minds, they’ve lost the high ground and now they are in there duking it out with any dude/dudette who has a webcam. And they are losing.
I think that’s why we are being pushed into internet silos. The narrative needs to be controlled, according to Bernayes, for a democracy to function. That’s what all this fake news and Russian propaganda is about. Fear is the cattle prod. Guess who the cattle are? :-/
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Totally agree with you, doing nothing is the worst thing one can do.
I think our neighbours and our community is the way forward. We are our own solution, politicians follow, they don’t lead. It’s really up to us.
That’s the main reason I stopped putting any more time and attention into federal politics. I feel that time is much better spent planting a garden, going for a walk; making some local connections etc.
Second reason was continuity of govt. Seems to me there isn’t a war they don’t like. A new surveillance program they won’t support. Doesn’t seem to matter which side of the same coin is in power.
Screw em’ they need us more than we need them. Benign sedition.
No hard feelings against them either, if one of them shows up at my place with a shovel I’ll show them where to help dig the swale and have a beer with him/her after 
All good!
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I get where you’re coming from, as in a lot of countries democracy is clearly not working as it should, and things would work better if the people involved actually knew each other and cared for each other.
The problem is that the big corparations which hold more power than some medium sized countries in our current world act on a global scale, and can only be kept in check on a global scale. Right now some companies are pitting countries against each other by forcing them to minimize the rules and minimum pay, or else the’ll move to the next country. This is not something a smaller community can fight on its own, we’ll need strong democratic countries and institutes like the eu and the un for that, which sadly enough dont function that way at all as is.
I blame 2 things for the mess in current politics in a lot of countries:
1: the way we receive our news has been monetized conpletely. This goes for social media as well as mainstream media: the sole goal is to get the maximum ammount of viewers and revenue, leading to an enourmous ammount of very extreme, polarizing news. Most countries in europe have some form of public news media, which actually try to produce objective, critical news, which is what you need for a democracy to function.
2: a lot of countries dont have direct democracy, but a system of indirect voting which leads to only 2 parties ever being elected into power (as it is in the us). These 2 parties will off course apose each other to the extreme, which can only end up in more extremeism instead of nuance and compromise, as you’ll have in a country like mine which has like 10 political parties which have to find a way to make it work together, and allways end up in some compromise.
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This Silo pushing technique is called “framing”. Very well understood and taught to any politician from the Bilderberg conf.
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I’d argue that globalism in its truest, blue sky sense is exactly what this planet of ours needs. The problem to me is that the positivity of globalism is pretty much entirely neutralised by capitalism. With economies/governments built on greed how can they ever truly consider the little guys and the environment nor act with fear when the “upstarts” show signs of success.
But yes, the media have a gigantic part to play in pushing agendas. In the UK, it’s incredibly sad to see The Sun and other similar dog shit papers holding away over voters. Ridiculous!
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I think we should differentiate between globalism and globilisation. The former being a pie in the sky, romantic notion of a borderless world. The latter being the worldwide imposition of hypercapitalism and exploitation of the people and nature.
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I have nothing but sympathy for the UK voter amd what they’re going through. I can understand the feelings of despondency and apathy considering the debacle theyve been put through. I would like to say thats its still essential to engage (for reasons already given…and still throw sticks!) but I understand too im not a uk voter so can’t ultimately completely understand. But I stand by that if you’re fed up one way to express that is by your vote however worthless it might seem.
Totally agree. Reps should work for us. Which is why Im not convinced that neglect is a solution as it allows then for other actors and interests to take that power.
Murdoch (MSNBC, CNN are pathetically playing their game) and social media has fucked us good and well . Like Trump though you cant expect much different from them; lion eats the antelope. Which is why we need a larger body to control these amoral pigs imo.
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