Shut Up And Listen 167

Apathy For The Process

You know me. For over three years I've been writing this column week in and week out, and more often than not, the topic of the column has been political in nature. I'm currently getting a degree that's in English and Political Science. I love watching and discussing politics. And fuck, even I'm apathetic about the upcoming federal election here in Canada, so what hope do they have of rallying a youth vote that's usually apathetic to politics?

I'll freely admit that I really don't care about the election at this point. What the fuck is so exciting about a "battle" between Paul Martin and Stephen Harper? Not a goddamn thing is the answer. In one corner, we have a guy who is in politics for no other reason than he thinks he deserves to be Prime Minister and in the other, we have a boring little man with some ideas that are actually forward thinking and others that are a good twenty years out of date. Watch as I can barely contain my excitement in anticipation until June 28 when I get to go out and vote for a party that I know won't win.

I'll admit I'm apathetic because I know my vote won't really make an impact at all. Oh, I'll go out and vote for the NDP candidate in my riding, but I already know she'll lose. Does that basically make me going out and voting an exercise in futility? That's something that most voters face.

Look at the US, they can barely get half their voting population to get out and vote because they feel the exact same way. They've got a choice between two parties basically and don't like either one, and see voting for anyone else a waste of time. Hell, here in Canada, I've got a choice of a bunch of parties, but even then it still comes down to two. And they both suck. Can you honestly blame people for not giving a fuck?

Of course, the obvious paradox is that by not voting, these people are allowing the current system to remain intact because if they all actually went out and voted, the party they support might actually have a chance. If all the apathetic people went out and voted for who they really believed in, things would be a lot different. But they don't, so we're all stuck with a shitty fucking system where basically only two parties battle it out while the others stand on the side trying to get a word in, but fail.

And then there's the people who go out and vote for "the lesser of two evils" which still means they're voting for something they don't believe in just to avoid something they consider worse. Yes, folks, this is the great and powerful democracy in action! The majority of people don't vote for the candidate or party they actually believe in because they feel alienated or fear a specific party or person getting elected. What a great and wonderful system, isn't it? Certainly one worth spreading far and wide throughout the world. Oh yes. Yay for democracy.

On June 28, I'll go out and vote, and the person I vote for won't win. It doesn't matter that most of the people I know agree with that candidate's views because if they vote for her, the Conservative candidate might win. Or they don't care because the Liberal candidate will win anyways, so what's the point? But I'm going to go out and vote for the party/candidate that I think will do the best job, because if I don't, how can I expect anyone else to?