Your vote for the 2015 General Election
- Thread starter gareth taylor
- Start date
And neither does voting.
newbie
undisambiguated
indeed. so what.
If the selection of candidates is your interest you need to join a constituency party
So I don't get what you think you're achieving with your little protest vote as it achieves precisely as much as my non-vote but with needless effort involved.
newbie
undisambiguated
achieve... not much, it's one vote amongst millions and it matters only to me.
did you notice that when PM was quoting electoral numbers he mentioned the big 3 parties, but none of the minor ones, and gave no indication how many people didn't vote or spoilt their paper? Protest votes are of academic interest if they potentially affect the outcome, non-votes don't matter at all.
did you notice that when PM was quoting electoral numbers he mentioned the big 3 parties, but none of the minor ones, and gave no indication how many people didn't vote or spoilt their paper? Protest votes are of academic interest if they potentially affect the outcome, non-votes don't matter at all.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
i didn't do that because i was taking issue with your claim that millions of people's votes changed anything. and the majority of people who voted in 1979 didn't vote tory yet were saddled with a tory government. very democratic
Argonia
Happy go licky
There is quite an interesting list of non-major party candidates who have been elected over the years over at Wikipedia. Makes interesting reading and makes one wonder if it's possible to get a few more independent minded faces elected.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_minor_party_and_independent_MPs_elected
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_minor_party_and_independent_MPs_elected
So your vote only matters to you, but in your second paragraph it matters to academics too.
newbie
undisambiguated
no it's not.i didn't do that because i was taking issue with your claim that millions of people's votes changed anything. and the majority of people who voted in 1979 didn't vote tory yet were saddled with a tory government. very democratic
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
you don't sarcasm i see
newbie
undisambiguated
you're on a roll todaySo your vote only matters to you, but in your second paragraph it matters to academics too.
only when mixed in with all the other votes, not on its own.
floating and protest voters are of some interest all round before an election, afterwards they're ignored, except by academics. The hard headed view is that only winning votes matter, everything else is of no consequence, and therefor irrelevant.
newbie
undisambiguated
simply making sure you're not labouring under any misapprehensions.
you're on a roll today
only when mixed in with all the other votes, not on its own.
floating and protest voters are of some interest all round before an election, afterwards they're ignored, except by academics. The hard headed view is that only winning votes matter, everything else is of no consequence, and therefor irrelevant.
So you're voting because you don't want to feel like you don't matter and are of little interest or consequence?
newbie
undisambiguated
you got me.
You're far more interested in my voting intentions than I am in yours, why is that? I keep saying that individual votes matter only to the individual concerned, who else cares. Collectively votes matter when they're counted. Non votes don't matter.
dennisr
the acceptable face
I've got to vote Labour otherwise I am to blame for the destruction of the NHS. I must help those poor people - those little children and the little old ladies. Otherwise I am the one who is responsible
At least thats what I am being told - I think its a real vote-winner
At least thats what I am being told - I think its a real vote-winner
andysays
Love and solidarity
The effect of legitimising the whole charade of so-called democracy, obviously...
newbie
undisambiguated
legitimising. what does that even mean?
nothing.
It matters not one whit to anyone except you whether you think this government, or this 'democracy', is legitimate or not.
andysays
Love and solidarity
I never said it did.
What I said was that millions of people choosing to participate in the process of elections has the effect of legitimising that process, at least as far as most people are concerned.
newbie
undisambiguated
oh, ok, I see. I doubt other people who've posted on this thread would see the process as legitimate, whether or not 'most people' do. Nor would I.
So what meaning does it have that most people think the election process is legitmate? What's that the takehome message?
I'm not sure 'most people' do see the process as legitimate, btw. but if that's what the narrative that informs your personal decisions about voting is saying I'm happy to go along. It doesn't matter to me, to my narrative, one way or the other. Nor, I would hazard a guess, to 'most people' whether they choose to vote or not.
edit- changed my mind on the bit that goes "I'm not sure 'most people' do see the process as legitimate, btw." see my next post
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bluescreen
tofu eating wokerati
andysays and other anarchists on here, what is real democracy? Do you see people voting on everything, and how would that work? (We'd have the death penalty back again in short order.) Is it all local, and how does the local co-operate with other localities for greater good (eg taxation, health care, energy generation, regulation of medicines, policing, defence, higher education, waste disposal, international relations)? Where can I find Real Democracy 101?
There's a lot of pious nonsense when I Google so it would be good to have some informed direction.
There's a lot of pious nonsense when I Google so it would be good to have some informed direction.
I imagine you say all this with glee. You're secretly pleased that my non-voting means nothing and your protest voting means nothing also (apart from academically, maybe). There's no other explanation as to why you've been thumping this drum the entire day.
You get to decide what happens with what you produce. Your community is the main benefactor, simply put. (It's too late to go deep into it, for me anyway).
newbie
undisambiguated
course there is. first day for a while when I could laze about posting.
Fair enough!
Lo Siento.
Second As Farce
Whatever "real democracy" might mean depends on particular historical moments and the social movements they produce. You couldn't, even if it were desirable to do so, write a blueprint for what that would be.
bluescreen
tofu eating wokerati
I'm not asking for a blueprint, just hoping someone can direct me to some serious thought on the subject.
bluescreen
tofu eating wokerati
It's a long time since I read Capital and the world's moved on.
newbie
undisambiguated
25 million votes. what size ego would I need to think that my vote means something?
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