Why I Hate Politics
"I care about the world around me, and I want to change things. But politics bore me to death: all parties and politicians are the same and nothing ever really changes, no matter who you vote for."
Does this sound familiar? If so, you’re certainly not alone. In a BBC poll conducted on election night in 2001, 77% of non-voters said that voting would not change a thing, while 65% said they did not trust politicians. A later Guardian poll reported that 67% of people in the UK believed that big corporations had more influence over their daily lives than the government and 71% of 16 to 25-year-olds believed that voting would make no difference to their lives at all.
The attitude many of us adopt when it comes to the elections is perhaps best summed up by the opening lyric of The King Blues song ‘Taking Over’: We have the right to choose between Labour and Tory / Like we have the right to choose between Coke and Pepsi. "Voter apathy" is rife and understandably so: while many in the UK rallied behind Barack Obama in the recent US elections – believing that he could actually bring much-needed change to America and the world – when it comes to our own elections most of us feel that it really wouldn’t make a difference who we voted for, or if we voted at all.
Less than 2% of the Welsh electorate (people in Wales able to vote) are official members of a political party. Since political parties represent the interests of their members, that means the views of 98% of the Welsh electorate are effectively unrepresented. We live in a democratic country, meaning everyone has the right and the ability to decide how their country is governed. Instead of just complaining, we can actually do something. Do you think the voting age should be lowered, or the minimum wage raised? It’s in your power to change these things, but only if you use that power. Most people don’t. But why is this? Looking at those figures you might think that people just don't care about the governing of the country, but I would say that couldn't be further from the truth. We actually care a great deal about our country; we've just given up on the politics.
By a show of hands, this time last year how many of you actually knew what each of the parties stood for? I certainly didn't. My knowledge of the political parties was based on stereotypes acquired from newspaper headlines and listening to The Now Show: Conservatives are all rich, Labour voters are all working class, BNP members are all racists, the Green Party is for hippies and Lib Dem supporters are deluded optimists. In reality, all of those statements are rubbish but I saw nothing to tell me otherwise. Were Labour reducing crime in my area? No idea. Do the Tories (Conservatives) want to lower the voting age? Haven't a clue. Then, a few weeks before the election, a truckload of pamphlets fell through my door: some outlining a few policies, but most just bearing photos of people I'd never seen posing on my street as if they're "down with the community" and promising that "every other party will cause the sky to fall – we're the ONLY ones who can save the day." People would turn up at my door and ask: "What do you want to see changed? I'm your local MP. Tell me what's troubling you and I will fix it!" As of tomorrow, these leaflets will stop and I won't see or hear from any of these people for another 4 years.
Take a look at David Cameron’s smug mug currently plastered on billboards all over Cardiff, staring at you like some airbrushed Big Brother: if the reason you vote Conservative is because “I saw a big poster telling me to” then in my opinion you really shouldn’t be allowed to vote. But sadly that’s about the extent of many people’s knowledge of what the parties stand for: whatever hot topic can be crammed onto a leaflet or a billboard. If you’re going to vote for a party, you should know what their policies are. And if you disagree with all the parties on offer then instead of wasting your vote on the party you dislike the least, you should make your own party (of course, with our current voting system even if you did that and managed to persuade every single person in the country to vote for you, they wouldn't all be able to unless you had the money and power to recruit 650 people to stand for you in all UK constituencies... this is kinda why the two big, rich parties are the only ones to ever win).
Like many of you, I don't want to waste my vote tomorrow – and thanks to our current system, wasting your vote doesn't just mean staying at home: it includes voting for anyone but a major party, as they will not win. But equally I don't want to be forced to choose between the lesser of two evils and feed the same ineffective Labservative monster that's been dominating the political landscape all my life. I'm sorry, Dave and Gordon, but I don't feel as if you've even bothered to try and get through to me. You're strangers from a different world – a world of private schooling and private healthcare, where you earn more in a year than some people make in a lifetime and still have the cheek to claim back expenses for things ordinary people spend hard-earned wages on – so forgive me for not caring what a Chancellor of the Exchequer is.
This is the dilemma of the so-called "apathetic voter" – a term I think is grossly inaccurate: "exasperated cynic" would suit us far better. Arm anyone with a pint and a headline and pretty soon they'll start talking about issues they have opinions on; people are far from apathetic. We just think there's no bloody point voting in our current electoral system.
The Way Voting Works:
It breaks down like this: Party A rules the country. They're alright, but nothing amazing. People gradually become unhappy with the way things are, and say "I blame Party A for all the bad things! I want change!" and race out on election day to vote for Party B, who promise to run the country completely differently. Party B gets into power, and rules the country in a different-but-equally-ineffective way for 4-8 years. Some things improve, but other things get worse. By the time of the next election, these things have got so much worse that all the unhappy people say "I blame Party B for all the bad things! I want change!" and race out on election day to vote for Party A, who insist they have learnt from their past mistakes and now no longer create bad things. Party A gets into power, and rules the country in a different-but-equally-ineffective way for 4-8 years... (Do you see a pattern emerging?) All along there will be hundreds of other parties standing on the sideline, coughing to try and get people's attention. They always get a few votes, but those are like flies hitting a windscreen. There are more people who would vote for the smaller parties, but whenever they mention this their friends make them feel guilty by telling them it would be "a waste of a vote" and "by wasting your vote you're letting Party A/B (whichever is currently the hated one) win."
In an attempt to end this rant on a positive note, and perhaps offer some solace to fellow "apathetic voters" out there, I'd like to bring your attention to two of the greatest minds in British history. Firstly, for the readers, pick up a copy of George Orwell's classic Nineteen Eighty-Four and read the book-within-a-book The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. It's a book you need to read before you die, but if that sounds a little too long and headache-inducing then turn your attention instead to the top of the page, where there is a party political broadcast by John Cleese. The video is the same age as me, and is promoting the SDP-Liberal Alliance (who are now The Liberal Democrats). John Cleese makes more sense of politics – and its flaws – in this 10 minute video than any political debate ever could. You can skip the outdated jokes at the beginning as they're not funny anymore, but pay attention to the rest of the video if you want to learn something. It explains proportional representation – a new approach to voting which gives smaller parties a realistic chance in elections, which the Lib Dems still support today. I watched this video in university and it inspired me to vote for the Liberal Democrats in the Welsh Assembly elections. When I arrived at the polling station I was told I couldn't (because they didn't have a representative in my area) which further fuelled my passion to fight to change our electoral system to something which actually resembles democracy.
I think the Lib Dems are far from perfect and I don't regard myself as a die-hard member at all. If I'm honest, tomorrow I want to vote for either Newid (a fascinating new anti-politician party) or Pirate Party UK (as a protest to the passing of the disgraceful Digital Economy Bill), but the electoral system won't allow me to because I live in a small village without any representatives in the area. So tomorrow I'm banking on this 'Cleggmania' actually giving the Lib Dems the support they need to make a difference. Do I think it will solve the world's problems if they get into power? No. But it's a step towards democracy and giving smaller parties the chance they deserve. Just think about that for a moment: if my vote grants the Lib Dems the power they need to change the way voting in this country works then in 4 years time we wouldn't have to have a future of Coke vs. Pepsi ad infinitum. We would have a real choice, and a real chance to get the smaller parties into power. My vote will have made a difference.
I realise Clegg winning is still a long-shot, but for the first time I'm actually excited about voting tomorrow.
As with all articles on theSprout, the opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and not necessarily those of CLIC, theSprout or its affiliates. We encourage discussion and debate, so if you have something to say about this article please leave a comment or write and submit your own article.
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