On Politics and Bureaucrats

Sorry, it's a boring post, but someone has to say it. When are we going to see that what we have to do with our vote isn't a convention handed down by our parents and grandparents.We don't vote Conservative because we live in the country, just like we don't vote labour because we live in a city. We don't vote for the green party because our parents ate lentils and enjoyed the 1960s a little bit too much, and we don't vote for the BNP because we're racist bastards who hate everyone not British.
The reality of the past month's debacle is that we didn't learn anything. Billy Connolly has said two things over the years about politicians, and I have to say they're the best to gems of wisdom I've ever heard when it comes to politics. First of all, "Don't vote, it just encourages them," and secondly, "just wanting to be a politician should instantly give them a lifetime ban from ever becoming one." There is a way to sort this out though. If you want to be a politician, you mustn't get paid for the privilege. I know it can be time consuming, but if you're passionate enough about it then you'll make time for it. Also, again with expenses, these come out of your own pocket. The country would be millions better off if we weren't paying for your jaunts to the South of France in the summer or the house in the middle of your pond for the ducks to live in.
Can you guess which party I voted for? Well, the reality is the polling card is still here. I could say I tried to vote and missed the deadline, but there was a long queue and I couldn't get in before 10pm. This way I could sue them apparently, for not getting my right to vote. But I can't because I didn't feel anyone in my constituency deserved the vote.
You might remember my post on Respect last summer. In it I mention my old boss Fred. Fred (stop laughing at the video!) went on to be a councillor in his home town of Pontypool, and was so fed up with the lies being told by his former Labour boss that he went up as a candidate for the independents. I have to admit, if he was in my constituency he would have gotten my vote for the first time in my life. This is because Fred isn't a liar. He doesn't care about himself, what he does care about is others and he would do anything to help them. And fair plays to him, he got nearly 1,500 votes. But he was fighting a losing battle. The sheep of every city, every town and every household have voted as they have always voted. They don't like to vote differently because it'll bring change, they are told that the four horsemen of the apocalypse would descend on them is they do vote differently, and that is the root of the problem. What we need is to re-educate people to what the voting's about. I quite often hear "Why did your grand fathers fight in the second world war so that you can have a vote, if you don't use it?" Well You can be damn sure they didn't fight for our vote to be abused either, and this is where we are today. No wonder we have a hung parliament, we don't know what's best for us, but all we do know is it's not the politicians.