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# 'fraid so. Our entire system of government is reduced to the scale of the soundbite.
Commitment, ideology, fripperies like this... all things of the past.
(I helped save b3ta! barryheadwound Mul-ti-pass? Multipass!, Mon 14 Feb 2011, 11:30, archived)
# Yeah but there are enough people cynical enough to know that politicians are liars and double-talkers
and yet they keep walking into power unchallenged why do we do it to ourselves?
(I helped save b3ta! maiden is filmed before a live studio audience, Mon 14 Feb 2011, 11:41, archived)
# because, statistically
half of britain are of below average intelligence.
(polished turd 404 pixels wide, Mon 14 Feb 2011, 11:52, archived)
#
Lack of participation.

Nobody engages with the democratic process, therefore nobody believes it can influence anything, therefore nobody pays much attention to anything behind the headlines, therefore nobody gets off their arse and actually votes.

I attended a talk recently - ironically by David Chater MP who's since been sent down for expenses fraud - about ways in which to engage with parliament, and have since developed a whole new sideline in irritating my MP. Generic back-bench labour MP, but I've started tracking how she votes on things that matter to me and challenging her when we differ in opinion - it's quite an entertaining and rewarding pastime (when b3ta is slow!)
(I helped save b3ta! barryheadwound Mul-ti-pass? Multipass!, Mon 14 Feb 2011, 11:53, archived)
# I vote - but the only vote I have is for some marginal left-wing parties/greenies
so what, do I sacrifice my principles and vote for the party I think has a better chance of winning against another party (Tories/Lib Dems) that I really don't want to win, or do I stick with my conscience knowing that I have not made the slightest difference to the outcome?
(I helped save b3ta! maiden is filmed before a live studio audience, Mon 14 Feb 2011, 11:59, archived)
# Go with conscience I say.
I was torn between voting straight with what I felt, or a tactical (lib dem) vote to try an keep the conservatives out.

In the end I went with conscience and thank God I did - I don't think I could have lived with myself having voted Lib Dem after what they've done.

And as regards marginal parties, I say stick with it. Caroline Lucas got elected last year. Your vote may not deliver immediate paydirt but over the longer term it could help these smaller parties grow in stature.

/two penn'orth blog
(I helped save b3ta! barryheadwound Mul-ti-pass? Multipass!, Mon 14 Feb 2011, 12:09, archived)
# The only thing I agree with the lib-dems with is Proportional Representation
but it has to be done correctly. I don't care whether it leads to more 'shared' governments everybody has a right to have their views expressed in parliament and only through PR will you get more voices into Parliament at least through debate more reasonable balanced policies could be formed and things like massive spending cuts won't be able to be pushed through unchallenged.
(I helped save b3ta! maiden is filmed before a live studio audience, Mon 14 Feb 2011, 12:18, archived)
# They were really promising as a third party.
Their holding the balance of power would have forced both Labour and Conservative to challenge their thinking and could have thrown up some genuinely progressive policy. Now they're trapped in the Unholy Alliance by a coalition agreement that emasculates them as far as providing any credible resistance to Tory policy goes, binds them to a strict party line on all bar a couple of issues (electoral reform being one), and undermines them completely on these issues.

Better by far a hung parliament than this...
(I helped save b3ta! barryheadwound Mul-ti-pass? Multipass!, Mon 14 Feb 2011, 12:23, archived)