now, i vote labor/greens and as a result have a certain level of moral egotism that goes with such a decision. not that all left of centre voters are this way, but considering that gillard may loose this election because 3 ex national party independents get to decide for 14 million people i think my piety is somewhat warranted.
firstly, vote for whoever you want. this is how democracy (usually) works. but, it is a decision that should be taken seriously and requires a citizen to actively pick one side or the other in the two party preferred system, for a reason beyond disliking a ministers hair cut. if this is the case then you are who i'm angry with.
my parents vote conservatively. this is a problem on so many levels for me but they are both small business owners and need a stronger economy for the immediate future and also as they near (not too near) retirement age. many a conservative (abbott nlp) voter has pitched this argument to me under the reasoning, that rich people know how to deal with their own money and as a result know how to look after yours, the tax payer. all fine. still, my wondering continues, are we so bad off now? australia is doing the best out of the entire worlds advanced economies, in unemployment levels, inflation and interest rates.... krudd did us a solid with stimulus. maybe, the labor party aren't so working class anymore. i heard gillard even went to university.
still, i realised this week as i drove home from sydney (passing cars and thinking 1 out of 2 people voted stupidly for abbott) that, maybe the reason conservative voters are able to look past the partys racism, religious fear mongering, wacky science climate change denying proposed policy is because they vote for themselves and their own backpockets. there is something very wrong with this. when i voted on saturday my mind wasn't on how this act of civil duty would benefit me, but rather how it would enrich the entire nation. how a national broadband network (without internet censorship) could benefit rural and poorer communities, how mining companies could be held accountable for environmental problems and how conflicts engaged in by our armed forced could be helped with more aid to the defence department.
maybe, i'm just less pragmatic because i have the luxury of being young and idealistic. i love australia. i'm a patriot. voting is something that not everyone has the right to in this world and here people don't take part fully in the process. we call the system, 'broken' and refuse to immerse ourselves in information and make a decision, but rather rely on trends and catchy slogans to make the decision for us.
if nothing else this election has shown that people are scared. the gfc, climate change and pesky non-white immigrants are invading our small isolated corner of the world. instead of hope and a 'yes we can!' attitude australia's 5.8% swing to a howard henchman shows we would rather turn back the clock 4 years and undo the mistake of 2007.
it's depressing, i never thought i would see the day when the american public is smarter than 14 million free australians. this is the country that voted for george bush.... twice.
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