Politicians
We're heading for a general election in the UK. We'll all have to go to the polls and put our mark against one name or another. It's a responsibility for everyone who lives in a democracy.
The problem is I'm not sure just how many people here in the UK would want to vote for any of them. Okay, this is being unfair. There are nearly 650 members of parliament in the UK and only a handful of them have been in the news for the wrong reasons.
But there's been so much in the news in the last few months. Expenses scandals; MPs accused of using their position to earn outside money and so on and so on.
I guess in some ways it's a matter of timing. If it wasn't for the small matter of the economy being royally screwed we might think that they were able to do their jobs. So when they're no good and filling their own pockets... I'm talking perspective here not the total truth.
The economy is screwed. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs through this recession. And at the same time we've had story after story about the people charged with maintaining our economy (amongst other things I admit) seem to be spending much of their time (when they should be helping us) trying to find ways to fill their pockets.
Again this is unfair to the vast majority. But it's an impression we get from the media.
All of which means that when the election comes around our incentive to vote is so low at a time when it is more important than in a generation. Scary, huh?
The problem is I'm not sure just how many people here in the UK would want to vote for any of them. Okay, this is being unfair. There are nearly 650 members of parliament in the UK and only a handful of them have been in the news for the wrong reasons.
But there's been so much in the news in the last few months. Expenses scandals; MPs accused of using their position to earn outside money and so on and so on.
I guess in some ways it's a matter of timing. If it wasn't for the small matter of the economy being royally screwed we might think that they were able to do their jobs. So when they're no good and filling their own pockets... I'm talking perspective here not the total truth.
The economy is screwed. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs through this recession. And at the same time we've had story after story about the people charged with maintaining our economy (amongst other things I admit) seem to be spending much of their time (when they should be helping us) trying to find ways to fill their pockets.
Again this is unfair to the vast majority. But it's an impression we get from the media.
All of which means that when the election comes around our incentive to vote is so low at a time when it is more important than in a generation. Scary, huh?
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