Heartland

I voted

A botch. I would have voted for a revolution but a) I don't think that there is much of a "working class" any more - Thatcher saw to that and b) people (particularly in this country) are way too selfish, looking after number one does not equate to joining in with a revolution.

Kind of off-topic, but I have a cousin, Colin - kind of like a ginger Billy Connelly... used to like Bauhaus and have his room painted black, now a hemp-wearing member of a Beard Society (no, I have no idea either) who eats chillis for breakfast...

... he spoiled his ballot paper. Voted for his mate "Bob", who lives down the road from him, and apparently would be better at running the country than any of the current shower of bastards.

He's probably right.

boudicca wrote:Kind of off-topic, but I have a cousin, Colin - kind of like a ginger Billy Connelly... used to like Bauhaus and have his room painted black, now a hemp-wearing member of a Beard Society (no, I have no idea either) who eats chillis for breakfast...

... he spoiled his ballot paper. Voted for his mate "Bob", who lives down the road from him, and apparently would be better at running the country than any of the current shower of bastards.

He's probably right.

well if you're going to waste your vote you might as well do it in style

When I was at the polling station, I had an idea of putting little smiley faces in the box beside each canditdate...

Jeffery Templeton-Smythe, Conservative Party -
JO SWINSON, Liberal Democrats -

Thankfully there is no BNP candidate ever likely to run in my constituency. I don't think a smiley face could really convey my opinion about them...

I didn't actually do it, by the way...

You guys are lucky you still can put smileys... Overhere, it's all computerised voting, so no mocking possible

Yeah... we're a bit backward up here...

Isn't it a bit perverse to complain that an election isn't sufficiently radical, though?

Surely the fact that there is little between the main parties reflects the fact that as a nation we have a clear idea of how we want to be governed and the contenders are striving to get as close as they can to that template.

The majority, by definition, can never be radical. Arguably, therefore, a revolution can never be popular.

Democracy promotes stability and comfort for the majority. Compared to a whole load of places we could be living the UK isn't _that_ bad. At least our health service isn't so starved of resources that it routinely re-uses syringes. Our state pensions may not be ideal, but they haven't been devalued by something like 400% in the last 10 years. Our environmental record can improve, but we haven't drained any major waterways or created vast tracts of desert in our country.

The above comparisons don't come from some war-torn African hell-hole either. They all come from Russia, a large industrialised European nation.

Just a thought.

andymackem wrote:Isn't it a bit perverse to complain that an election isn't sufficiently radical, though?

Surely the fact that there is little between the main parties reflects the fact that as a nation we have a clear idea of how we want to be governed and the contenders are striving to get as close as they can to that template.

The majority, by definition, can never be radical. Arguably, therefore, a revolution can never be popular.

Democracy promotes stability and comfort for the majority. Compared to a whole load of places we could be living the UK isn't _that_ bad. At least our health service isn't so starved of resources that it routinely re-uses syringes. Our state pensions may not be ideal, but they haven't been devalued by something like 400% in the last 10 years. Our environmental record can improve, but we haven't drained any major waterways or created vast tracts of desert in our country.

The above comparisons don't come from some war-torn African hell-hole either. They all come from Russia, a large industrialised European nation.

Just a thought.

I quite agree.

I think half the reason for people being so apathetic is that we are comfortable. Which is why I'm all for spoiling your ballot paper - if you really don't like any of the parties on offer, you should still participate in the democratic process, which we're so lucky to have.

boudicca wrote:I quite agree.

I think half the reason for people being so apathetic is that we are comfortable. Which is why I'm all for spoiling your ballot paper - if you really don't like any of the parties on offer, you should still participate in the democratic process, which we're so lucky to have.

It's a terrible thing to say (and I don't like me thinking it either), but disasters (war, climate, diseases, ...) help to set priorities, and I'm affraid most people are so comfortable indeed that they don't realise what really is important in life anymore: Happiness, peace, health, love, and other hippie things...