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Originally Posted by Yahwe
what is it about all you young people and conspiracies these days?
'devious tactics' indeed
the people who don't vote have chosen not to vote. It's not as though they were compelled not to or denied the right in the first place ...
do please stop using disingenupus and emotive words such as 'propaganda', 'manipulation' and 'disenfranchised'. Lest you be accused of the illusory falsehoods you are randomly spewing at others.
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HEH
I'm sorry Yahwe if you don't like considering that when a political party is trying to persuade you to adopt their view, it's propaganda. Sorry if you do not realise that by using means of presenting propaganda that hide elements of the truth, that is manipulation. Sorry if you did not know that, when someone hasn't the opportunity to voice an opinion, or exert influence over people who make huge decisions affecting their lives, that is disenfranchisement (to deny a justified privelage or right, if you actualy didn't know - bearing in mind I actualy said 'practically disenfranchised' which is highlighting the point that although we have the formal right to vote, in practice it often doesn't amount to much more than having no right whatsoever).
Did I suggest that it was a conspiracy? Not at all; it's perfectly visible for all to see. Noone tries to hide the fact that politics is all about PR, everyone knows it and it's probably why voter turnout is so low, but that doesn't matter as long as we're democratic right?. All I was saying is it's quite sad that our concept of democracy is so pitifully weak and that if we consider that this is as close to democracy as is advisable for our society at this moment in time, then we should stop acting under the pretence that democracy == the epitomy of good ethics and healthy society, and accept that what we have has as much in common with what would be called oligarchy or aristocracy, i.e. the government of most by a few. I actualy believe we aren't ready to make a noticeable leap towards democracy, but I also believe it wouldn't be a bad thing to prepare ourselves for and, whilst we're at it, we can stop telling all the other countries (who don't want to give us oil) to instantly become democratic or risk being set back 20 years for their 'evil ways'. Can you not see the paradox in saying "we believe it is right that everyone have their equal say in how decisions are made, and if any nation weaker than us doesn't agree we'll pummel them into the ground"?
To summarise: let us stop using 'democracy' as the holy grail and be honest to ourselves about what we ACTUALLY have in place and what is realistic and advisable. I'm saying it would be nice for people to be more involved in the decisions that change their lives, and that as it currently stands there's too much deception involved - you're saying "that's democracy so accept it".