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

I believe that voting is compulsory in some European countries such as Italy.

I always feel, you can't gripe about the government if you didn't bother to show up at the polling station to vote against them!

There is a No option. Spoiling you vote, or simply abstaining. If you dont like your candidates, then do this. People who dont vote have no reason to complain about the people in power, becuase they didnt bother to vote, and use their power.

Being only 17, i thnk complusory voting is a good idea, forcing people to use the power of democracy. Its not forcing people tro vote for the 'best of the worst', but only with complusory voting can people be truely represented in a country.

We're in the middle of an election campaign in Canada, too, and we'll go to the poles on Nov. 25. Its a really odd campaign. There are no signs up at all in our town, and we only know who's running locally by reading the local paper. We've had a Liberal government for years, and our illustrious PM is running the country like his own dictatorship. Its really time for a change. I thought the people of Canada had made a serious error last time they elected this man. I don't know what they were thinking. The opposition candidate, the Alliance party, has some ideas I don't agree with, but he's a far better choice!

As for voting - not voting: silence is approval, as some business guru stated. If you don't exercise your democratic right, you're saying you're approving whoever gets in. You don't have the right to complain about the government you get.

Now that's a good start. I'd vote for someone who didn't waste their money on election posters.

I'm getting ready to leave work and go vote right now *I'm in the US*
I've had to keep up with the crafty polititians to see what and where they are hiding, both on the national and the local ballot. But I AM voting, even though each candidate has more leaks and dirt than my roof after the last tropical storm blew through. And I make my opinions heard LOUD and clear.

*is proudly wearing her I VOTED lapel sticker around the house*

Well done and happy birthday to you!!!
If you don't vote you can't complain. But if you do vote you'll want to complain!!! It's horrible, but I (in common with many others on this forum) feel obliged to vote because (especially as a woman) of those who went before me and suffered so that I can do this. It is an insult to their memory and actions if we don't exercise our right.
I heard on the radio this morning that a total of US$ 3 billion has been spent on this election campaigning. I can't believe it. I would vote for a party who would restrict the amount of money which could be spent on a campaign. 3 billion - just count 'em. I also heard that Gore hadn't spent one penny campaiging in California because he thinks he has it in the bag already. I just hope he's not going to be disappointed!
Trillian's Child : surely you're allowed to vote in the European Elections? (I did) and for local elections (I was so pleased that the guy I voted for is Mayor of Waldfeucht - the power he must wield). Also - but this is due to my complicated background as an ex-pat - I'm still allowed to vote in the UK. My father does it for me. That "nice" Mrs Thatcher brought in that little piece of legislation.

>Trigger-pumper, are you really serious in saying you hope that voters stay home tomorrow? I think you must be having us on. You should have the confidence of your political opinion (if you are truly in the majority, make it a BIG majority), and allow others to have the same. Frankly, I think non-voters should be fined. And made to wear signs saying "I failed to uphold democracy" or something obnoxiously patriotic like that. <

Iam completely serious. The fewer people who vote, the more my vote counts. I know I'm not in the majority. I am an prochoice, conservative, athiest, republican. I'm sure I'm in one of the smallest minorities there is.

The last thing we need is a bunch of morons who haven't been paying attenition to the canidates or the ballot issues to go and vote. One year I worked at the polls. I had a guy come in who could almost sign his own name. He couldn't read or write. Do you really think that he put any thought into considering who he was going to vote for? Do you think he probably voted for the democrats because he was afraid of his social security being taken away by evil republicans? I bet he did.

BTW, just because the majority of people believe something, it doesn't make it right.

"BTW, just because the majority of people believe something, it doesn't make it right. "

Yes, that's true, and that's the argument you hear in European countries for why capital punishment isn't on the law books.

Maybe if there was some kind of sanction for not voting, even lazier people would trouble to find out who is on the ballot. Where I live is not exactly the cultural center of the universe, let alone Florida, and furthermore I understand the sense of dismay one can feel when one assesses the intellectual limitations of members of the electorate... but there's nothing we can do about that except improve education. There was a snippet on NPR this morning, in which a European commentator pointed out that over there people are very well informed about the American election, not just wrt the presidential candidates but about key senators and congressmen. Americans, on the other hand, are hard pressed to even say which party has control of the French government (for example).

The American educational system: If anybody starts a thread on that, let me know!

I think if you had a sanction for people who didn't vote, you'd just have more ignorant people voting. I don't much care for that, because I think it would probably swing more votes to the democrats. Our (the right wing) ignorant voters are already voting. THey're very politically motivated.

I heard that guy too, and that's exactly why I would never encourage people to vote. They barely have a clue about what they're doing.

On the other hand, I don't really see why it's important to Americans which party is in power in France. We have a much greater influence on other countries than any other individual nation has on us. When there is an issue in another country that can affect us, it does get reported. An example would be the Israeli elections.

I prupose a very simple poll test. Before voting, every voter must identify the major party canidates for the elected office in the current election by name. I would prefer to add that they list their congresional and state representatives as well, but I think the highest office on the ballot would be a great start.

BTW, if you find or create a thread on Americna education, let me know.

To say that it doesn't matter whether we know anything about French politics is exactly the kind of thing that set this thread going in the first place.

There is more to Realpolitik then who has more influence right now. At the very least, noblesse oblige! At the best, knowledge is an end in itself. I feel like you're arguing both sides here, to decry ignorance of American voters and then say that it doesn't matter what we know outside our own borders.

When you think about it, we don't really have borders any more.

Disgraceful as it may be, its true that we only know about the politics of countries that affect us. Here in Canada, we keep an eye on American politics, but not much about other countries. To be fair, we don't get much chance to learn about other countries' politics because its never, or at least, seldom in our news sources. Its too bad, some of it may be pretty interesting!

It's been said in many ways, but here's my fundamental problem with Yanks.

Americans form 5% of the world's population. So where's the .usa top level domain? There isn't one. All Internet addresses are assumed US unless stated otherwise. Anyone care to guess the nationality of the guy who invented HTML? (hint: not American). Multinational companies run promotions on the web: "Win $12 trillion a week for life!" - fill in the competition form, and at the very end you're told only citizens of the USA aged 18 or over are eligible. Install some software which uses a modem. The phone dialler defaults to "1" for long distance. It's "1" in the US & Canada, and "0" for the negligible 95% of the world's population who live outside that area. And so on. It's as if the vast majority of the world's population simply don't exist, except as an irritating group of users who want additional spelling dictionaries and occasionally - horror of horrors - a double-byte character set.

I have many friends who are American, some gifted with a fine sense of irony (Kurt Breither, can you hear me?) and I have immense respect for people like Steve Jobs who are genuinely visionary thinkers. But I guess the word 'parochial' sums up the major criticism of US culture.

Is America a philistine nation without merit? Of course not. Copeland, Paul Simon, Elvis, Dilbert and Doonesbury are examples of a vibrant and diverse culture. But neither should we stand idly by and allow the nation which introduced the word 'paradigm' to corporate life to go unpunished

There is nothing at all wrong with yhe Americans, apart from the fact that they are powerfull. Sadly, any nation which is powerfull attracts envy. When Rome was the number uno nation, they were hated by the nations they conquered. The same applies to the Spanish, then the French, and again with the English.

Look how Russia was hated when she was at her maximum power, then when she stopped being a super power we all started to like Russians.

England is no longer a real power in the world (except in the imagination of our leaders) but over here, because we are the most powerfull bit of the British Isles we attract the hostility of the Scots,Welsh and Irish. They say that a well balanced Scot is one with a chip on both shoulders.

The Scots dont like the people in the south, the people in the north of England dont like the people in the south, the people west of England dont like the people in the East of England, the people in the east of England dont like the people to the west of them.

As you can see all the hatred is directed towards London, and the people in north London dont like the people in south London, the people in south london dont like the people in Croydon. And what is worse, is that the people in Croydon dont like the people in my road, and not many people in my road like me.

No wonder my therapist thinks that I have a complex, wouldnt you if you had all of that hatred directed at you personaly

Anyway, Americans do talk too loudly in restraunts

And that's why this American eats at home...

I haven't noticed them speaking loudly in restaurants. But my husband is a Chef and he is always moaning that they want ketchup with everything (and before anyone asks, it's quite a high-class restaurant)

Well Sho, I think I could have voted in the European Elections but involved a great deal of paperwork and traipsing to the Town Hall which I couldn't do at the time, working more than full time. On the local level I could vote, but that's such kindergarten stuff I just handed in an empty form. And nobody sent us any pamphlets, so I had no idea what the candidates represented. Or wwere we supposed to vote for parties?

I am also uncomfortable with proportional representation - I have no idea who represents me in the Bundestag, and I seriously miss the sense of identity with an MP - you could go to your MP in England even if you were of another party, just with one worry, and he would see to it for you. The guy spent time in the constituency - ours was always the first in the water at our school swimming sports day - that was always a great event.

When it came to voting for the mayor of our village, there were two candidates and you got a plastic chip which you had to put in a machine - on one side or the other. So if you didn't vote, it would have been obvious, because of the noise (not) made by the chip dropping. So I voted for the one I knew. He's my neighbour. I have never had a long evening's chat with him to find out what he would do for me when he was voted in, nor had I with the other candidate, so this was just a guess, and because I knew he'd win anyway.

I couldn't possibly let my father vote for me. The only person he thinks is worth voting for is Jörg Haider.

We had an Ausländerbeirat (a council of foreign residents) election, but that had to be held twice as less than 10% turned up the first time. The second time only 5% turned up. I was busy checking someone's extended essay that afternoon and I completely forgot to go. It was a question of deciding between one Turk and another, neither of whom I knew.

So, so far, I have not been able to participate in an election where I would have voted for any of the candidates anyway. Even at PTA meetings I am never sure I have made the right decision. What matters there is which parent has the most contacts in town and is the most energetic and gets organising things. Do they know someone who will deliver the Coke for the school fete at a cheaper rate? Does the headmaster like them? These are the criteria - not "Do they have the same opinions and problems as me?" - because no one ever does anyway.

I regret not ever having had any education in politics other than the odd teacher expressing their opinion. Far too little attention is given to that either at schools today or back in the 60's and 70's when I was at school. The people who were politically active seemed all so weird in the early 70's that it was difficult to relate that to the politics that actually happened. It would, apart from making us all more politically aware, also hopefully lead to politicians actually becoming more effective.

And - as I said above - we are surrounded by the "Yes Minister" syndrome - no one keeps election promises, and politics has absolutely nothing to do with reality. Ideals are shattered once you join the grindstone of government, and it's the civil servants at the top, not the politicians, who have the last say.

Apart from which I think having to vote on a Sunday, as is usual in Germany, is a heathen custom, and not to be supported.

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Phew!
Actually, last time I took the time to read the pamphlets, and actually got to a meeting or two. And I don't always think that voting for a party is necessarily bad, but only if you broadly agree with them.
I don't really understand proportional representation, first past the post or anything. I just know that most politicians blah blah on until we vote one in to shut them up. And mostly they rant on an on about family values, and eventually it comes out that they like families so much they have two! But I do like the idea of MPs "surgeries" in England. And they do seem to spend time in their constituencies, especially if it's a bit marginal.
My father votes for who I ask him to. That's what he tells me, and I believe him. He votes for my husband too! Usually he goes in with his, then he goes in with mine, then again with Mick's. And if anyone comments he says he owns a really big house and 2 cars, and deserves to have 3 votes! never ceases to get people going!
My daughter goes to a Kindergarten with only 2 Ausländer (her and an American kid) which shows you that there is no need for us to have our own council here! Don't tell anyone where we live!!! I expect when it gets to Parents' Councils
Actually I'm also surprised by the Sunday voting thing. I would have thought we were all supposed to be dutifully attending Church, cooking and looking after the children!
But I'm prepared to bet you know who the French Prime Minister is?

In the schools in our community they hold a mock election, on election day. The kids get a chance to learn about the different policical parties, and are encouraged to talk to their parents, attend debates, watch it on TV, then they have elections in their classrooms. At the end, they find out which classes and grades supported each candidate. Sometimes the schools have more sense than the larger community!