Politics
Today, 2nd of July 2016, Australia voted in the federal election. This is going to be a very short thought, because I don’t really have much of a thought about politics! Perhaps that’s another topic of discussion, but I don’t really feel much of an impact on my life. I don’t feel that the government has that much power over the trajectory of my life. I’d be worried if I thought it did. Another thought for another day is the extrinsic versus intrinsic factors of success.
But today’s thought is a few observations of the one day in every three years I take some kind of notice of politics.
Fighting for Democracy
Firstly, countries all over the world are fighting in revolutions to have to opportunity to cast their vote in a democratic election. Many Australians, myself included, couldn’t care less. Perhaps I should take more of an interest in it, but I feel like I personally have no influence over the outcome. We are somewhat forced to vote in Australia through the threat of a fine if we don’t vote. I’m curious what voter turn out would be if we took the US approach and made voting optional.
The Upper House
Secondly, the senate paper. It was massive. It didn’t fit in the voting booth! What’s up with that… I know it was a double dissolution so there were effectively twice as many seats up for grabs, but that paper was almost as tall as me.
‘How To Vote’ cards
Thirdly, people’s reactions to the ‘how to vote’ cards. One of the volunteers said that after about 10 elections he’d volunteered at he’d noticed a pretty strong trend. There were probably 6 or 7 groups handing out their ‘how to vote’ cards, but ultimately there are two main parties, Liberal and Labor, that people would follow. He said he noticed the following anecdotal statistics:
- 20% of people took the Liberal card
- 20% took the Labor card
- 30% took none
- 30% took all of them!
I’m sure this says a lot about our character. I’m the kind of person who takes every single card… That 40% of people that just take the one they want might be of stronger resolve. They know exactly what they want and they aren’t afraid of what others think of them. Those that take none don’t want to offend anyone. And those that take them all want to please everybody. Perhaps that 40% are the 40% that are most engaged in politics compared to the 60% that don’t really feel empowered. At the same time, you can’t please everyone! Maybe in 3 years I should take a little more interest and be stronger in my convictions and commit to one party!
Where were the sausages…
Finally, the biggest and perhaps most disappointing observation of the day… There was no sausage sizzle! What’s up with that??? The polling place I net to was pretty popular, I was waiting in line for a good 20-25 minutes. And there was no sausage sizzle! I saw a few Facebook posts of similarly disgruntled people across the city that missed out on their morning sausage. Are schools getting too much funding that they don’t need to put in the work to raise extra money? I should’ve set up my own stand!
As I said, I’m really not engaged in politics. Perhaps I should take up more of an interest… But at the same time, I don’t recognise the immediate impacts on my life. If I take a more active approach to politics, you might see more daily thoughts on this topic. But… it’s more likely that you won’t read another political thought from me for the next 3 years until the next federal election. Hopefully the sausages are back!
