Most people have something to complain about. If they don’t, they ought to; there’s always room for improvement. Some of us may have found heaven on earth, but as an atheist I rather think heaven IS earth and we should go about making it a better place. Without getting into a discussion about what a ‘better place’ looks like, I want to talk about complaint… And politics.
When people moan about the government, despite having not bothered their lazy butts to vote, I have been known to lose my patience. What right do they have to criticise something when their disengagement has contributed towards it? They didn’t vote against whatever it is they’re complaining about. Idle whinging bothers me. Inaction frustrates me.
But politics is the dirtiest business, and the democratic public are complicit when they use their vote; they allow these politicians to rule. Perhaps then, there is a stronger case for not contributing towards something so inherently unethical. The esteemed philosopher Bernard Williams suggests that ‘only those who are disinclined to do the morally disagreeable when it is really necessary have much chance of not doing it when it is not necessary’. We need to look at what kind of person is attracted to politics, and if good government demands rule by the good and not by the many, is democracy then the worst kind of government?
We consider the vote to be a human right, but do we not also feel grateful? - What for? - Are we grateful for our right to be engaged in an opaque and corrupt establishment? I think if you are not bound by this gratitude then not voting is in fact logical. I cannot rightly condemn a person for refusing to partake in something they consider an unethical practice.
I do however, feel bound by gratitude. Women’s suffrage is still a recent development. I am conscious of the people who fought and died for my vote. To not vote feels like spitting in the faces of those brave women and men.
That’s not to say it is. Perhaps a vote just isn’t worth fighting for anymore? Equal rights are worth fighting for. When suffrage is an equal rights issue, it is a cause I would happily devote my life to. That is no longer the case, and I think our role today should change accordingly. If we agree that voting is a human right, we ought to be looking at what our vote represents. Are we content?
Or do people feel like politicians are all the same? Is there not a general consensus that it doesn’t really matter who you vote for anymore? We should be discussing this with each other; we should be determining whether or not this is really the case. Of course we can stand up and say ‘we are not voting because it doesn’t mean anything to us’, of course we can criticise government for failing to be transparent and representative. We are disenfranchised.
When people moan about the government, despite having not bothered their lazy butts to vote, I have been known to lose my patience. What right do they have to criticise something when their disengagement has contributed towards it? They didn’t vote against whatever it is they’re complaining about. Idle whinging bothers me. Inaction frustrates me.
But politics is the dirtiest business, and the democratic public are complicit when they use their vote; they allow these politicians to rule. Perhaps then, there is a stronger case for not contributing towards something so inherently unethical. The esteemed philosopher Bernard Williams suggests that ‘only those who are disinclined to do the morally disagreeable when it is really necessary have much chance of not doing it when it is not necessary’. We need to look at what kind of person is attracted to politics, and if good government demands rule by the good and not by the many, is democracy then the worst kind of government?
We consider the vote to be a human right, but do we not also feel grateful? - What for? - Are we grateful for our right to be engaged in an opaque and corrupt establishment? I think if you are not bound by this gratitude then not voting is in fact logical. I cannot rightly condemn a person for refusing to partake in something they consider an unethical practice.
I do however, feel bound by gratitude. Women’s suffrage is still a recent development. I am conscious of the people who fought and died for my vote. To not vote feels like spitting in the faces of those brave women and men.
That’s not to say it is. Perhaps a vote just isn’t worth fighting for anymore? Equal rights are worth fighting for. When suffrage is an equal rights issue, it is a cause I would happily devote my life to. That is no longer the case, and I think our role today should change accordingly. If we agree that voting is a human right, we ought to be looking at what our vote represents. Are we content?
Or do people feel like politicians are all the same? Is there not a general consensus that it doesn’t really matter who you vote for anymore? We should be discussing this with each other; we should be determining whether or not this is really the case. Of course we can stand up and say ‘we are not voting because it doesn’t mean anything to us’, of course we can criticise government for failing to be transparent and representative. We are disenfranchised.
