Voting is Pointless because I have a strong-interest in Democracy

[Pannonian]

I can afford to throw away £500 and can afford to waste a month on a campaign that won't go anywhere. But I'm not sure what the point is. I don't think my family will appreciate it. I don't want to be one of the 650 MPs. I don't want to be famous. I don't want press intrusion on my life. I don't see your point.

Maybe the problem is HIGNFY and its adherents who seek to mock and destroy without contemplating the worth of trying to build something constructive in its stead. There is always the local council if you're interested in contributing towards society without media intrusion into your private life.

[Idaho]

Maybe the problem is HIGNFY and its adherents who seek to mock and destroy without contemplating the worth of trying to build something constructive in its stead. There is always the local council if you're interested in contributing towards society without media intrusion into your private life.

We have been shaped into cynicism by close observation of our politicians. We have ceased to see them as great men answering a higher calling, and now see the truth - failed wannabes, skilled in blame dodging and band wagon jumping, with no more vision of the future than any other robber or scoundrel.

[Pannonian]

We have been shaped into cynicism by close observation of our politicians. We have ceased to see them as great men answering a higher calling, and now see the truth - failed wannabes, skilled in blame dodging and band wagon jumping, with no more vision of the future than any other robber or scoundrel.

And because this kind of attitude helps matters. One of the scandalous politicians of the 20th century, David Lloyd George, disgraced for selling peerages and for later dodgy views on the international scene, also kickstarted what would develop into the welfare state. Should I take your lead and despise him for his corruption? Or should I appreciate the social work which he did, the fruits of which are available to me even now?

There is also that alternative which I suggested, if you're so disgusted with existing politicians and reckon you can do better, but don't want media attention. Get involved with local government.

[Montmorency]

Because a good education teaches critical thinking and certain values such as democratic values. I t shows people the options they have, teaches them how to make a good choice and how top see more than the obvious propaganda. At least I like to think that this is what my education taught me.

I would contest that education actually prevents or diminishes the sort of hasty planning characteristic of anger and fear, physiologically-speaking.

Certainly not to the extent necessary for stable-yet-inclusive governance, and hopefully not to the extent that can be achieved by impinging directly on the source.

We already know that education does not provide a good predictor of the efficacy of personal decisions or perspectives, that education often merely allows one to convince oneself in more detailed terms. Why should we take as a precept - and this is an open empirical question - that education decreases cognitive and behavioral impulsivity?

[Husar]

I would contest that education actually prevents or diminishes the sort of hasty planning characteristic of anger and fear, physiologically-speaking.

Physiologically speaking maybe, yes, but I would like to think that people who can actually distinguish between actual danger and perceived danger would show less of a fear reaction when it comes to politics. I find that knowing more about certain threats and how threatening they actually are changes my fear of certain things. For example I'm less afraid of terrorists than I am of bacteria or even cars. It's more likely that one gets run over by a car than to die in a terrorist attack, maybe depending on where one works or lives of course. As a result my voting pattern is probably less influenced by fear of terrorism than the voting patterns of some other people who, IMO, have a wrong perception due to a lack of knowledge on what is actually more threatening to them.

Education changes perception and perception affects the triggering of our basic fear and anger levels. Changing our physiology to reduce the impact of those primal reactions seems like a much harder task to me than simply providing people with relevant information and making them think about it to change their perception.

[a completely inoffensive name]

We have been shaped into cynicism by close observation of our politicians. We have ceased to see them as great men answering a higher calling, and now see the truth - failed wannabes, skilled in blame dodging and band wagon jumping, with no more vision of the future than any other robber or scoundrel.

When have we ever seen politicians as great men? I seem to recall the writer of the Declaration of Independence being called a sexual deviant with his slaves just a few decades later.

Politics have always been a dirty game that disgusts anyone with moral fiber. The citizens had to fight to even be let in on the game and I can't think of a time in any country when people were completely satisfied with their governing body.

Also, point of clarification to Rhy, I was not calling Idaho arrogant, and I apologize if it came across like that. I said that that particular view/philosophy seems arrogant, just as I can think Ayn Rand's view is disgusting and obnoxious without actually thinking my best friend (who loves Atlas Shrugged) is any of that.

[Papewaio]

We have been shaped into cynicism by close observation of our politicians. We have ceased to see them as great men answering a higher calling, and now see the truth - failed wannabes, skilled in blame dodging and band wagon jumping, with no more vision of the future than any other robber or scoundrel.

So are you saying that it too high a bar to beat?

Scrawling like a three year old tsk, tsk, tsk.