Friday, 27 October 2023
The fate of the loyal voter
You see what I am like; they take something from you, and you give them something else as well and say, ‘Take that, too.’ They strike you on the cheek and in your joy you offer them your whole back. Then they try to lure you like a dog with a bun, and you embrace them with your foolish paws and fall to kissing them with all your heart and soul.
Fyodor Dostoevsky - Polzunkov (1848)
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4 comments:
I've only ever given them my vote, which is 10 minutes of my time if you include walking to the polling station. And increasingly I see it less as giving, but as thwarting the more objectionable crowd.
Sam - I've tended to do that for years but I don't think it works. Voting against Blair and Corbyn seemed essential, but I look at where we are now and it seems clear enough that voting isn't worth the walk to the polling station.
I think voting against a party, or cancelling a subscription, or boycotting a product requires a certain amount of faith. Faith in the sense that your own actions may have little impact - but if many others do the same thing the impact is noticeable.
Gutta cavat lapidem [non vi sed saepe cadendo]
~ a water drop hollows a stone [not by force, but by falling often]
DJ - I agree, it requires faith, but in the case of voting we already know from experience that enough people won't do the same thing. It's like gambling, one last throw of the dice or walk away.
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