If you don't vote, you have no right to complain about what the Government is doing

Do you agree/disagree with this? Why?

disagree - our electoral system makes most votes worthless, so even if I did vote, it wouldn't make a meaningful difference

Reply 2

Andrew657Thomas

13

Agree, it would make a difference if all the non-voters were to all vote.

Reply 3

SHallowvale

14

Disagree - What if you reject all political parties in your constituency?

Reply 4

saayagain

8

Disagree

1) Election system is not proportional representation
2) Education system doesn't make politics and political history mandatory in state school
3) Political party success is directly linked to the amount of funding they receive

Reply 5

RF_PineMarten

18

Completely disagree. It's one of the things I just can't stand.

If I don't agree with any of the parties or candidates, then I'm not going to vote. Ideally I'd like to spoil my ballot, but not a lot of people are prepared to take the time to do that, and that is perfectly reasonable.

Reply 6

ChaoticButterfly

20

Disagree. But you are an idiot.

Reply 7

The_Mighty_Bush

3

Disagree entirely. The logical conclusion of that argument is that if you voted for the current government, you can't disagree with some of the things they do.

Reply 8

TorpidPhil

19

Nonsense. It assumes that a vote actually influences how government works. The extent to which a single vote does is really not worth the effort it takes to get a pen and put it in contact with the paper.

Disagree tremendously.

Reply 9

william walker

3

As someone who is opposed to universal voting rights I think the less people that vote the better. People who don't vote are still British subjects and still have the same freedom as everybody else. Of course they have every right to complain about the government which forces its will upon them.

Reply 10

mojojojo101

17

Disagree. Gives no option to those of us who don't agree with any party or the system as a whole.

Reply 11

Arbolus

13

Original post by SHallowvale

Disagree - What if you reject all political parties in your constituency?

Original post by RFowler

Completely disagree. It's one of the things I just can't stand.

If I don't agree with any of the parties or candidates, then I'm not going to vote. Ideally I'd like to spoil my ballot, but not a lot of people are prepared to take the time to do that, and that is perfectly reasonable.

Then stand for election yourself as an independent, and hope that enough people agree with you that all the other parties are useless. They probably won't, but if you don't try you won't be giving them the opportunity.

Reply 12

starkbe

True to an extent.

However, people vote because they feel no party represents them.

So what's better: voting for a party that only semi-represents you simply so that it gives you the right to moan about what the government's doing, or abstaining completely because you are under-represented, which in itself gives you a cause for complaint?

It's a tricky one.

By the way, I wrote a blog on why young people don't vote I would appreciate it if people could check it out :smile:

https://pouredthought.wordpress.com/?p=45&preview=true&preview_id=45

Reply 13

RF_PineMarten

18

Original post by Arbolus

Then stand for election yourself as an independent, and hope that enough people agree with you that all the other parties are useless. They probably won't, but if you don't try you won't be giving them the opportunity.

I don't have the time or the money to do that. I'm also only 18, you need quite a bit of life experience before even considering standing for election.

It might be something to consider when I'm older though.

Reply 14

username613045

OP

17

I personally agree with it because you have the chance to voice your opinions in elections. However, if you don't vote, you didn't take the opportunity to voice your opinion. Therefore you shouldn't complain. Also, people died in the past in order for people, especially women, to have the vote. For this reason, you should take part in elections, women in particular. Moreover, politics has a big impact in everyone's daily life. By taking part in elections, you are choosing how things such as healthcare, education, and taxes are changed. However, if you didn't vote, you aren't having an influence on what happens so you can't complain.

We were discussing it in RE and most people agreed with it to an extent. I was just wondering what other people thought.

Reply 15

RF_PineMarten

18

Original post by horsewithnoname

I personally agree with it because you have the chance to voice your opinions in elections. However, if you don't vote, you didn't take the opportunity to voice your opinion. Therefore you shouldn't complain. Also, people died in the past in order for people, especially women, to have the vote. For this reason, you should take part in elections, women in particular. Moreover, politics has a big impact in everyone's daily life. By taking part in elections, you are choosing how things such as healthcare, education, and taxes are changed. However, if you didn't vote, you aren't having an influence on what happens so you can't complain.

We were discussing it in RE and most people agreed with it to an extent. I was just wondering what other people thought.

You can't always voice your opinion though. What if you disagree with all the options on the ballot paper to the point that there isn't even a "least bad" option for you? Ideally I'd prefer to spoil my ballot but it's not exactly unreasonable for some disillusioned people to not even do that.

Besides, a lot of people voice their opinions by joining and helping out campaign organisations. Voting isn't the only way to do voice an opinion.

The only time I'd say you can't really complain is when you do absolutely nothing at all - don't vote, don't join a campaign organisation, don't contact politicians, etc. Because then you're just not making any effort at all. Even just raising awareness by writing letters to newspapers is better than nothing.

Reply 16

Falcatas

9

Of course one should disagree.

It implies that democracy is justified but when you really think about it, it is quite obvious that is isn't and relies of the monopoly of force and coercion.
Democracy is just rule of the majority. The state has no right to exist, it merely does because it has all the guns.

Agree.

I disagree strongly with that statement, for many of the reasons listed above.

Reply 19

gladders

16

Now...I don't agree with the premise that non-voters have no right to complain, but some of the replies in this thread need replying to.

Original post by zippity.doodah

disagree - our electoral system makes most votes worthless, so even if I did vote, it wouldn't make a meaningful difference

Not true, we currently have a hung parliament, and another one is very likely in May. Your vote has never been more valuable.

But more importantly - what are you doing to change the situation?

Original post by SHallowvale

Disagree - What if you reject all political parties in your constituency?

Spoil your ballot. Not voting is only read as 'I don't care'. There's no incentive for parties to reach out to you. But spoil your ballot, and it shows you are a politically active discontent.

Original post by saayagain

Disagree

1) Election system is not proportional representation

Irrelevant. There are proportionally-elected parliaments in other countries which still have low voter turnout and general cynicism with politics.

3) Political party success is directly linked to the amount of funding they receive

Although the UK has some of the tighter spending regulations in the world, and it's still not really true - there's plenty of examples of candidates spending ridiculous amounts and still losing. I do get what you're saying, but it's not a reason why people won't vote.

And anyway, what are you doing to change the situation?

If you don't vote, you have no right to complain about what the Government is doing

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