Democratic Meltdown

I've been away. Not away, away; I've still been going about my life in the usual way but I have been out of the blogosphere. The reason for this is that I was writing boring crap about how much I hate my life. My life still pretty much sucks ass but I'm not going to bore people with that so much...I have found a (kind of) purpose.

I'm a Taurean, but I'm a funny kind of Taurean. I'm the kind of Taurean who is ruled by Mars. I'm not getting into the Astrology of it all here (it would take a looooooongggggg time) but suffice it to say that I'm cross. I'm a cross, cross, cross person and I'm funny when I'm cross. I'm confused when I'm not cross soooooo I'm gonna tell you about the things that make me cross. In a funny way (she hopes.)

For the past few weeks the British media has been full of news about MPs expenses. If you are living in a foreign land (or living in a foxhole in England) the news is that (shock horror) MPs have been diddling and fiddling their expenses. Now I, for one, am completely amazed that anyone with an expense account would do this. I mean, it surely NEVER happens in real life, does it? Oh wait, yep, yes it does. It's not right but it is how it goes...Imagine...

Mr Krelbourne: "So, Dave, welcome to the company. I hope you are settling in. Just to let you know, if you have to stay overnight somewhere other than your home you will be reimbursed for any expenses you occur."

Dave: "Oh thanks Mr Krelbourne. I am settling in nicely thanks. I appreciate your generosity but I'm more than happy to pay for myself in those circumstances. I wouldn't dream of claiming for my Hobnobs and Orange Juice. I'll pay for them out of my own pocket."

It wouldn't happen. We claim what we can because we feel like we deserve it. And I don't doubt for one minute that these ministers and MPs feel like they deserve what they have claimed. Don't get me wrong; there are some of 'em that have clearly, with some malice and forethought, set out to defraud the system. Every claim for interest on a mortgage that has already been paid off and the dry rot issue, the couple who were claiming different houses as their second home, the flipping - they were wrong and possibly illegal and these people should be punished. Not voting is not the answer.

I was horrified when, on one of the awful vox pops that the news programmes insist on shoving down my throat, there was a woman who proudly declared that she had never voted and wasn't about to start now. I know voter apathy is rife. Recent revelations have only served to "prove" lazy non-voters that they are "right" not to bother. They are not right to bother. It scares me that we have become so frivolous that we would throw away the right that our ancestors have fought for time and again. Women who don't vote annoy and disgust me. Only 100 years ago we would not have been allowed near a polling station; nor would your average man, in fact. The rules were elitist and sexist. There is no barrier to us exercising our democratic right other than our own laziness. Did the Pankhurts et al. fight for us to sit at home scratching our arses and watching Corrie?

Would we have been able to vote freely had Hitler won World War II? On the weekend when we remember and celebrate the lives and sacrifices of those who died on D-Day what kind of an insult is our idle, bored lack of interest in who governs this nation?

Arguing silent protest is not going to wash either. Being able to vote is an honour. It's not an automatic right. There are vast swathes of this planet where people are afraid for their lives come polling time. Anyone who protests against the regimes and dictators of these places, simply by voting for someone else, is under threat of imprisonment or death. The thought that we would choose to protest silently rather than voting for someone else and showing our annoyance in this way is terrible. The fact that more people vote for a silly dancing, singing or "talent" show makes me ashamed to be British.

I told a woman off on Thursday who wasn't voting because she thought it would be funny if the BNP got elected. This wouldn't be funny; it would, and I mean this in its most vehement sense, be terrifying. The BNP are not only racist; they are sexist and homophobic. They associate with people who deny the holocaust and align themselves with Nazis and this is truly, truly terrifying. The thought that a few claims for moat maintenance and trouser presses could lead to these horrible monsters having any power at all is bad. If they do get in though the fault does not lie wholly and squarely with the politicians, corrupt, silly or careless. Responsibility lies with every single person in this country who could have voted, who could have ensured they remained on the fringes of society where they belong, but didn't.

I can't tell people how to vote here. I would love to ensure that parties like the BNP and the crazy christians who were bidding for a spot don't get in but I can't demand you don't vote for who you believe in. It's a little late for my message now but, next time there is an election (local, national, European, a referendum) please, please vote. Don't waste the right that a fluke of birth has bestowed upon you. Think about those who have gone before, those who right now would love to be able to put a cross next to their preferred candidate without fearing for their life. Think what it would have been like for our grandparents and great-grandparents who did not have the right to a say and, for the good of democracy, have yours!