European Voters Know What They Don't Want

Skybird · 06-12-09, 04:08 PM

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...629433,00.html

The reactions especially from SPD politicians in German to their party's long-lasting fall, is most revealing. there was a demand from within their faction that we should get a mandatory legal obligation to vote in elections, and not doing so should become punished.

An election has a function that many people are not aware of, or do not care for. It does not matter so much which party gets voted. no matter whom you vote for, by participating in elections you legitimate and express support for the very system itself, and for the bureaucratic structure behind it that keeps it running and stays the same even when the names in politics are changing. And those calling for an obligational participation in elections want this legitimation being enforced. Opposing it should not be allowed, that is. If people do not voluntarily support it - force them to support it.

Sounds familiar, with regard to the way 480 million Europoeans are rejected to agree or to disagree to the Lisbon dictate, for example, and the rejection of the former constitution draft was refused to be respected by making only cosmetic changes and changing the order of the chapters, but leaving the substance, the content, and the objects of criticism untouched.

Don't ask them at all, or let them vote until they get tired and vote the way you want them to vote. If the Irish will say No again, let them vote a third time. And after all, are those few Irish right when letting fail what all others had said Yes to? the others that were not asked at all, that is?

Yes, the Irish have a right to do so, by the rules lined out and the rights legally given to them. Nobody has a right to cpmplain about nthem. Even more when it were not the often quoted european people who were asked in the other countries.

Wanting a mandatory participiation in votings shis says a lot about the political self-understanding of those demanding this. Most politicians that make a career beyond a certain level of national politics, are egomaniacs craving for attention , and pathologic narcissists, if not unscrupellous egoists. they can take anything: to be cursed, to be offended, to be opposed, to get slandered. But what they cannot bear is - to be ignored. Even hostility is a form of taking care of them, taking them serious, legitimising their very existence. But ignoring them...? How dare we...?

Demanding voting to be obligatory, is simply this: a declaration of moral and intellectual bancruptcy, and an expression of personal corruption. Plus: it does not help to prevent people making their voting tickets invalid. I personally would write L.M.A.A. on it, Germans know what it means.

Therefore I think we should end secret free elections and make it obligatory that people obey their duty to vote by letting them vote under close monitoring by an official who checks that they make their cross at the right position, and do not make their votes invalid.

The outcome of the EU vote last weekend is somewhat paradox, however, although European people in general tend to favour a social and economical model that is more according to the left, they have voted centrist and conservative. I think it is expression of protest against individual national issues, and a consequence of the financial and economical crisis. the elctions probbaly say a lot more about natuonal conditions, than about Europe.

In Germany, we just have had the greatest company insolvence in German history, Arcandor. And this short after the debacle of Opel, where, almpost unnoticed by the public, the full dimension of the helplessness of the German government and the much higher hidden risks and costs have come to the surface). In both cases the SPD has called for massive state intervention, and blowing tax billions into it. And in both cases the new german economy minstre zu Guttenberg opposed that. Polls show that two third, three quarters and more of German reward zu Guttenberg'S stubborness to headlessly waste tax billions like this. the SPD's calculation to gain benefits in campaigning when subsidising jobs at all cost, no matter how high the costs may be, so far has turned out to be a complete and total Rohrkrepierer for the SPD.

And that is good.

On the other hand there are still plenty of elections this year, including national elections. And this will make a lot of politicians trying stupid things while campaining, and wasting money that is not theirs.

It is said that elections are a benefit of democracy and a sign for freedom. But especially in campaign times you can conclude that in the face of so much substance-less promises and stupid phrases and irresponsible wasting of taxes in projects to win this or that voter group - you could as well argue that elections are not a benefit of democracy, but it's curse and doom.

Even more so when considering that electing somebody does not mean the elected is competent and blesses with a sense of responsibility.

And me, well, I am highly political when not going to voting. I make a political statement, a statement saying that I refuse to legitimate what I am not willing to make myself guilty of legitimising. I say that they do not deserve neither my trust, nor my assistance, and that I do not believe their lies and selfish policies. And I say that I refuse to support their visions and ideas of how the world should become, and that I do not tolerate their plans for policies that I totally oppose and see as causing more harm than benefit, or being irrational and unrealistic. Some say it is wise to always choose the lesser of two evils. I say the lesser evil is still an evil, and wisdom sometimes lies in supporting none of the two. Else what you get is - evil.

The day they would decide a legal obligation to vote in elections, will be the day when this country/EU will have lost the fading rest of my sympathy completely and see it not as my home anymore, but an enemy like in war.

It's not a perfect world - far from it, is it.

06-12-09, 04:08 PM	#1
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,602 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	European Voters Know What They Don't Want http://www.spiegel.de/international/...629433,00.html The reactions especially from SPD politicians in German to their party's long-lasting fall, is most revealing. there was a demand from within their faction that we should get a mandatory legal obligation to vote in elections, and not doing so should become punished. An election has a function that many people are not aware of, or do not care for. It does not matter so much which party gets voted. no matter whom you vote for, by participating in elections you legitimate and express support for the very system itself, and for the bureaucratic structure behind it that keeps it running and stays the same even when the names in politics are changing. And those calling for an obligational participation in elections want this legitimation being enforced. Opposing it should not be allowed, that is. If people do not voluntarily support it - force them to support it. Sounds familiar, with regard to the way 480 million Europoeans are rejected to agree or to disagree to the Lisbon dictate, for example, and the rejection of the former constitution draft was refused to be respected by making only cosmetic changes and changing the order of the chapters, but leaving the substance, the content, and the objects of criticism untouched. Don't ask them at all, or let them vote until they get tired and vote the way you want them to vote. If the Irish will say No again, let them vote a third time. And after all, are those few Irish right when letting fail what all others had said Yes to? the others that were not asked at all, that is? Yes, the Irish have a right to do so, by the rules lined out and the rights legally given to them. Nobody has a right to cpmplain about nthem. Even more when it were not the often quoted european people who were asked in the other countries. Wanting a mandatory participiation in votings shis says a lot about the political self-understanding of those demanding this. Most politicians that make a career beyond a certain level of national politics, are egomaniacs craving for attention , and pathologic narcissists, if not unscrupellous egoists. they can take anything: to be cursed, to be offended, to be opposed, to get slandered. But what they cannot bear is - to be ignored. Even hostility is a form of taking care of them, taking them serious, legitimising their very existence. But ignoring them...? How dare we...? Demanding voting to be obligatory, is simply this: a declaration of moral and intellectual bancruptcy, and an expression of personal corruption. Plus: it does not help to prevent people making their voting tickets invalid. I personally would write L.M.A.A. on it, Germans know what it means. Therefore I think we should end secret free elections and make it obligatory that people obey their duty to vote by letting them vote under close monitoring by an official who checks that they make their cross at the right position, and do not make their votes invalid. The outcome of the EU vote last weekend is somewhat paradox, however, although European people in general tend to favour a social and economical model that is more according to the left, they have voted centrist and conservative. I think it is expression of protest against individual national issues, and a consequence of the financial and economical crisis. the elctions probbaly say a lot more about natuonal conditions, than about Europe. In Germany, we just have had the greatest company insolvence in German history, Arcandor. And this short after the debacle of Opel, where, almpost unnoticed by the public, the full dimension of the helplessness of the German government and the much higher hidden risks and costs have come to the surface). In both cases the SPD has called for massive state intervention, and blowing tax billions into it. And in both cases the new german economy minstre zu Guttenberg opposed that. Polls show that two third, three quarters and more of German reward zu Guttenberg'S stubborness to headlessly waste tax billions like this. the SPD's calculation to gain benefits in campaigning when subsidising jobs at all cost, no matter how high the costs may be, so far has turned out to be a complete and total Rohrkrepierer for the SPD. And that is good. On the other hand there are still plenty of elections this year, including national elections. And this will make a lot of politicians trying stupid things while campaining, and wasting money that is not theirs. It is said that elections are a benefit of democracy and a sign for freedom. But especially in campaign times you can conclude that in the face of so much substance-less promises and stupid phrases and irresponsible wasting of taxes in projects to win this or that voter group - you could as well argue that elections are not a benefit of democracy, but it's curse and doom. Even more so when considering that electing somebody does not mean the elected is competent and blesses with a sense of responsibility. And me, well, I am highly political when not going to voting. I make a political statement, a statement saying that I refuse to legitimate what I am not willing to make myself guilty of legitimising. I say that they do not deserve neither my trust, nor my assistance, and that I do not believe their lies and selfish policies. And I say that I refuse to support their visions and ideas of how the world should become, and that I do not tolerate their plans for policies that I totally oppose and see as causing more harm than benefit, or being irrational and unrealistic. Some say it is wise to always choose the lesser of two evils. I say the lesser evil is still an evil, and wisdom sometimes lies in supporting none of the two. Else what you get is - evil. The day they would decide a legal obligation to vote in elections, will be the day when this country/EU will have lost the fading rest of my sympathy completely and see it not as my home anymore, but an enemy like in war. It's not a perfect world - far from it, is it. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert. Last edited by Skybird; 06-12-09 at 04:22 PM.