So, get out there... make your mark
Canada is now routinely recording only two-thirds voter turnout and, if disinterest manifests itself as a no-show epidemic Tuesday, this election could dip below 60 per cent for the first time in history.You can't put this one on me... Mrs Neo and I hit the advance poll last week.
See... I hear people talk about how their puny vote doesn't count... and I just shake my head. I guess, in this country anyway, much like indoor plumbing... people tend to take the franchise for granted.
I know a guy... a pretty smart, successful guy... who claims that voting just makes things worse... makes you a party to the crime, so to speak. Of course, he also believes that legalising heroin would separate the men from the boys... so he loses me on two counts. But this is Canada. He's still allowed... however his neighbours might feel about his ideas... to speak his mind.
I guess the point I'm trying to make... is that despite all my beefs about all the stuff that's constantly goin' sideways... we've still got a pretty good thing going on here. The thing is... it's up to you to keep that ball rolling.
So get out there... and be a full-blown Canadian. To my mind, if you don't vote... it's like you've given up the right to criticise all the shit you don't agree with. It's the difference between the free countries and the hellholes.
Freedom isn't free. Get involved.
"I am a Canadian, a free Canadian, free to worship God in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledege to uphold for myself and for all mankind."**********
Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker, from the House of Commons, Debates (on the Canadian Bill of Rights), July 1, 1960.
RELATED: Yes, yes, you dumbsticks... we hear you
"When the Communists show up to protest the Nazis, you're supposed to pray for an asteroid, not pick a favourite."Just another reason, folks.
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8 comments:
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he's already got his own special link in the main post... but i'm guessing "my own personal troll" will be showing up here to spew as well.
so yeah, nonny... i do delete your venomous nazi-obsessed spew... (every time it shows up here)... and no, i don't see a conflict.
think of it this way... while the "alien abduction" crazy people have every right to set up shop along the route to the subway station and preach at you on your way home from work... you're under no obligation to bring 'em home for dinner.
you get that, right?
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It is illegal to campaign on election day, so I will refrain from political comments today.
Canada is indeed a great country and we are most fortunate we have free and verifiably fair elections. Today is not a day for petty bickering.
Have a great day and I hope for a good outcome!
Well said.
I've often wondered if some basic social education wouldn't do wonders for kids growing up. What I mean by social education is real life education such as spending a few nights riding along with the police to see what they have to deal with, and the demographics of who causes the problems. Some basic education in real economics to dispel the fairy tales such as "tax payer subsidies work" and also to learn that money comes from the taxpayer and this is where it goes and the actual results of that spending and these are the failures. Some time in the Emergency of the hospital to learn about the potential waste of your tax dollars, the burden of disease etc.
The current airy fairy stuff learned in High School from teachers who've only gone to university and learned "common truths" is amusing.
Maybe then people would be more inclined to get out and vote. They'd probably vote smarter as well.
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"langmann says... a few nights riding along with the police... time in the emergency room of the hospital"
an excellent idea... nothing trumps real life experience.
when i was 16 (and this near-death experience is all on stupid teenage me) i was hitch-hiking and got robbed at knifepoint by a couple of junkies.
that experience certainly put an edge on my previously all-knowing adolescent world-view.
less "reality tv"... more reality.
that gets my vote.
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Neo
I just exercised my franchise and took a couple of eager 18 year old with me.
While I was on the voters list both my son and a young fella from NS who works and lives with us were not.
No problem, proper picture ID and mail with the correct address got them through the polls in a matter of minutes.
I'm proud of the both of them and believe that between the talk radio we listen to at work and the political discourse we regularly indulge in they are informed and engaged beyond the average 18 year old.
The responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy are often overlooked in lieu of the rights.
Syncro
It should be an interesting if not satisfying evening and will hopefully help clarify some business decisions we face moving forward.
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"syncro says... I just exercised my franchise"
as i said previously... you don't exercise the right to vote... you lose the right to bitch and moan about the outcome.
especially nice to see youngsters taking their responsibilities seriously... 'cos there's some hard balls being thrown... and they're "on deck."
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Superb graphic of Harper as a Stars and Stripes vampire. It's probably posted on some lampposts here in east Vancouver. As for voting, I'm right with you in terms of taking citizenship seriously and then exercising the franchise ...
BUT
... if you don't know the issues, don't know the candidates, don't know which party stands for what ... then you should stay home. It is in this sense that 60% voter turnout doesn't bother m much. Haven't you ever had conversations where the other person says something like "Damn, these courts are a joke. It's catch-and-release out there," and then informs you that he always votes for the NDP? Or someone decries crooked politicians, says "They're all a bunch of thieves," and then says he's voting Liberal? Why exactly should I be worried if these people don't make it to the polls?
Other than that, all the best! I think things are looking good.
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"down the halls says... if you don't know the issues, don't know the candidates..."
of course, this is a bit like asking people if they think they're a bad driver.
who admits they don't know stuff?
i think we can probably agree though... that if there actually was a qualifying test requirement to vote... the numbers might be even lower.
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