h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Actually I'm quite surprised he's never voted..I'd have expected him to be a dyed in the wool, Monster Raving Loony.

Yeah I'm very tempted to jump on the Clegg bandwagon too, (but don't let that put any of you off either )

Apart from anything else I have now finally decided I really do want reform of the voting system, and Brown's performance has been so utterly shambolic, I really don't think I could bear to vote Labour, plus I detest my local Labour MP. But I'm still wondering what actually will happen when I get in that little booth and that funny stubby pencil on a bit of string, hovers over the many choices...

It always feels special to vote, I also have no time for people who don't..even if it is to spoil one's paper.

I consider it hypocritical to refuse to take part in elections, yet still feel that you have a right to comment on political matters. The right to vote for all is less than 100 years old in the UK, and people died to secure that right. To not bother is to spit on their memories.

Well if you don't want to vote for any of the choices you could either

1. spoil your paper.

2. vote for a minority party

3. Stand yourself.

4. Start a bloody revolution .

At least all of those will show some dissatisfaction with the process. If you don't vote it's basically a vote for the winning party.

When I was 10 my parent's friends decided to start a political party - the Natural Law Party, yes, they were a bunch of nutters. What was even more sad is that a lot of them were convinced they were going to win! I could see they weren't - but it was fun watching the TV election coverage because people I knew kept popping up on TV.

Ok the NLP were a bunch of loonies, but if a bunch of sane people started a political party lots of people could vote for them. It wasn't that difficult!

When the conservatives won I thought it was because people preferred things the way they were, rather than actually wanting to change things. Now when people complain a bout politicians I still wonder, why they didn't actually do something. It wasn't that difficult to start a party ourselves

If you don't want to vote for anyone on policy, vote for one of the local independents you like on the basis that you'd like to help them get their deposit back. It's a little kinder than drawing a big cock all over the ballot paper.

I believe it was Robert Heinlein (not one of my heroes, by any means) who wrote (I paraphrase):



Always vote. If there is no candidate you wish to vote for, there is almost certainly a candidate you wish to vote against.

"that doesn't equate to the lights going out"

Not around/alive in the seventies, were you?

I think that it's great that someone who hasn't voted before is choosing to vote now. That's important - and probably more important than all jumping on him and having a go about the fact that he hasn't voted before.

<>

if demand outstrips supply you get brown outs and power cuts, the next step is rationing, you get X hours power every 24 hours

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check your history warner,

the two party system was the liberals and the conservatives

the wigs and the torys

labour have only been a power in the last 100 years and only because of the universal vote and the trade unions

> if demand outstrips supply you get brown outs and power cuts, the next step is rationing

I don't think so ..

In the seventies, there was a coal strike, and there was no more coal and electricity generation was heavily dependent on coal alone.
Furthermore, the utilities are no longer state owned.

What IS likely to happen is as the cost of energy substantialy increases, other forms of power generation become more economically viable without subsidy and hence more investment takes place, and we also will use less power as we can't afford it.

There is a balance .. to complain about immigration is to complain about (apparent) economic success .. why should one nation be much richer than another, particularly if their production decreases due to cost of labour etc, and old factories replace with new ones in China and so on

>I think that it's great that someone who hasn't voted before is choosing to vote now. That's important - and probably more important than all jumping on him and having a go about the fact that he hasn't voted before. <

Except it isn't just someone. It's a particular individual on h2g2 who has played game after game after game here, for well over a year. Driven some decent people to distraction with it.

Considering all the millions voting tomorrow in reality, I don't find such a person here, voting, or probably more accurately, at least claiming to be about to so, to start a thread, the least bit great or important.

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exactly

and after the news at six the lights went out!!!!

power cuts to preserve the coal stockpiles so that there was power during the day to keep industry going,

long winter nights sat around a candle, watching the fire

i was there

The problem with the middle party is the closer they seem to get to power, the more they come to resemble the other two.

Three weeks ago if anyone had asked me what their main policy was I would have answered "PR". How many here would say the same thing? So it's with some surprise that I find that PR has been dropped from the front page of their manifesto. In fact, I heard their leader yesterday say their four top priorities were mumble mumble fairness ....mumble mumble fair tax .. mumble mumble something else mumble mumble fair change for the many or something.

Middle way or just the middle lane of a three lane motorway going the same way?

> Middle way or just the middle lane of a three lane motorway going the same way?

Well, whatever direction we're heading in, we should try to avoid the fate of Greece and possibly Spain, Portugal to follow.
ie. forced stringent cuts from the 'world bank'

Labour have been in for 3 terms now, and we have a HUGE deficit .. anybody in their right mind won't vote for them!
Worried about Tory cuts?? Mmm, I know what you mean .. they do favour 'their own' a bit, don't they!

That leaves Lib-Dem with 'our Vince Cable' folks

This post has been removed.

The newspaper El País, has today on its online edition a survey asking for which British candidate readers would vote, the results so far:
Cameron: 24%, Clegg: 58%, Brown… ignored!!



<<we should try to avoid the fate of Greece and possibly Spain, Portugal to follow.<<

S&P and other “wise” agencies of calification of economies do what the speculative kings in the City, Wall Street, Caiman Island…etc. tell them to do: give low marks so that they can going on having benefits . They generate distrust which is the basic ingredient for their gainful speculation. Spanish economy is affected by the crisis, of course, and for its own peculiarities, but isn´t at all comparable to Greece, not even to others European economies, we have less debt, for instance.

I wonder when European countries will start to propose a reform of the financial system, globally (am I dreaming?)

Yes to productive capital, NO to speculative capital
*shakes left fist angrily*

Maria,
> Spanish economy is affected by the crisis, of course, and for its own peculiarities, but isn´t at all comparable to Greece, not even to others European economies, we have less debt, for instance.

Yes, forgive me if you thought that I implied that we're all "the same"

Clearly, we're not
Your 'online survey' results are very interesting .. neither cricket OR football .. and particularly "no drunken louts"

FT has a scary report this morning about Spain. Details how Spain has got the housing bubble to end them all and it's about to go bang. Unemployment is already at 17% and it's going to get a lot worse.

Don´t worry warner, , YOu only were echoing what was in the air.

The results so far: Brown, 23% (I read wrongly the graphic), Cameron 11% and Clegg 58%
http://www.elpais.com/encuestas/resultados.html?id=14552

..
Betty, FT you say? A newspaper ruled by Murdoch doesn´t have much credit for me. It would be stupid to deny our bad situation, but I insist that speculation exaggerates data to destabilize, create distrust and get benefits.

Spanish perspectives of growth differ depending on which source you read.

Slight topic drift:

What do people think about the ballot paper you make your cross on being aboe to be directly linked back to yourself?

Postal voting papers have a code number the back of them linked to your name which you sign against on another piece of paper.

In polling stations your name has a number against it which is the number of the ballot paper you put your cross on.

I was always told that your vote was between you and the ballot box...indeed a public information film released when the voting age dropped to 18years old made that specific statement.

Have voting papers always had numbers on linked to your name or is it recent? I seem to remember voting about 20years ago and noticing numbers on them.

Some will say what does it matter of course...