As one still involved more or less by accident in a political party, regarding it as a battleground in which important issues are fought rather than as a force for good, I could endorse in spades what Brian Jenkins has written. I'd go further, though, and not vote for someone I know and trust if it means that that person's vote in parliament would be dictated by someone I don't know and trust. Especially if it's by someone I do know, and know that I mistrust. To make a difference on the political scene, whether through its party mechanism or outside it, one must renew and consolidate every day the lesson that it is futile to focus on generalities to the exclusion of the particular and idiosyncratic, and equally futile to focus on the particular and idiosyncratic to the exclusion of the general. These two sides of reality need to be continually reconciled, and related to an overall purpose such as the pursuit of democratic control of the country and of its organisations including its political parties and its economy and its civil service and its information media. (By the way, how can anyone put a whole lot of parties last? I use preferences all the way down so that I can put last those who are least to my mind, and am continually frustrated by the difficulty of deciding which is worse than all the others) Dion Giles Fremantle At 09:48 20/12/99 +0800, Brian wrote: > [quoting] >|There is an interesting political discussion group developing now at >|http://dkd.net/mag/politics1.htm >| ------------------- > >Checking this out, I notice that creation of this site is attributed to >Tony Pitt, a publicist for, inter alia, the chaotic and undemocratic >political party machine One Nation. > >The following voting advice appears on the site: > >Here is a strategy for using your vote to the best advantage of >Australians: >First, realise that all the ALP/DEM/LIB/NAT/GREENS parties are responsible >for Australia's decline, and must be removed from power. Put them last on >your ballot paper. Having been there longer and in greater numbers, the >ALP/LIB/NAT parties are the most guilty and must be put ABSOLUTELY LAST. > >As an Australian with some experience of these matters, I have learned >that it is a natural law for power-seeking and/or greedy individuals to >gravitate to parties and other corporations wherein rules can be created >to dominate the lives of citizens lacking the ability or inclination to >speak out against pragmatic corruption. > >My advice is simply NOT to vote for ANY politician whom you do not >personally know and trust. One method is simply to write NONE OF THESE on >the ballot paper. By effectively voting for new political parties, you are >doing nothing to arrest the fundamental, intrinsic corruptibility of >political parties and the overall system of governance. > >Regards >Brian Jenkins > > >---------------------------------------------------------------- >This is the Neither public email list, open for the public and general discussion. > >To unsubscribe click here Mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Subject=unsubscribe >To subscribe click here Mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Subject=subscribe > >For information on [EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://www.neither.org/lists/public-list.htm >For archives >http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] >
