election
so i voted. i was tired and annoyed, and jonno complained, but i dragged him with me down the street anyway. in the end, i voted for the (hopeless) green party as my first choice, and labour as my second choice. i have no illusions that either will win, and i’m not thrilled with either choice… but just the act of voting still gives me a little rush, each and every time.
it’s funny – my mum used to take us with her into the voting booth when she went to her polling station, and i remember being impressed at the awesome privileges of adulthood. it seemed like such a solemn, important, *potent* responsibility. i guess i still see it that way.
i’m fond of saying that if you don’t exercise your choice, you let everyone else make the choice for you – and effectively abdicate your right to complain. you had a chance to try to do something about it, and decided you couldn’t be bothered… too late now to whinge.
and no matter how crummy the candidates are, or how lost in the sea my vote is, i can’t help but be eternally grateful that my vote will be *counted*. someone will mark my choices, and add them to the chorus of voices. individually we cannot effect change, but as a collection of individuals, we can change our piece of the world.
and as tired as i was, and disillusioned as i felt, i couldn’t help but think about the people in zimbabwe tonight. wondering what they might give to have their voice heard, their vote counted. to be able to effect change in their piece of the world.
in the end, i didn’t vote because my one ballot matters so much – i voted because theirs has mattered so little. for years they’ve lived under a military dictatorship that has run their country into the ground – poverty, hunger and unemployment are rampant. yet election after election, in the face of violence, massive corruption, and overwhelming disillusionment, they still turn out and vote.
and if the people of zimbabwe can continue to vote, in the face of all that adversity… how can i possibly not?
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Comment by Charlotte
1.05.2008 @ 18:36 pm
Well said, Jen. It’s all very well to be apathetic when one lives in a functioning democracy, but in Zimbabwe the people’s vote is a last-ditch chance to change society. And let’s hope they can.
Comment by Jen
1.05.2008 @ 19:02 pm
too true – we have the luxury of apathy. they don’t.
Comment by Colm
3.05.2008 @ 16:56 pm
Well done for helping the plight of the people of Zimbabwe by voting in the London Mayoral Election. If only more people voted in the London Mayoral Election, then maybe they would live in a better country without a dictator.
Comment by Jen
3.05.2008 @ 17:13 pm
“Well done for helping the plight of the people of Zimbabwe by voting in the London Mayoral Election. If only more people voted in the London Mayoral Election, then maybe they would live in a better country without a dictator.”
well done on the sarcasm, dude. really clever stuff.
that’s the problem with the internet – everyone with a keyboard thinks they’re witty.
Comment by Colm
3.05.2008 @ 18:34 pm
One can only try and respond with some wit having read this blog post. The amount of self-indulgent piety that comes across is hard to stomach.
Whilst you gazed out the window the other night thinking of those poor Zimbabweans, did you stop to think of doing anything other than giving yourself a great call-out in your blog for
walking a few hundred yards up the road to place an X in a box? I’d hate to read what you would think of yourself if you actually did something that mattered to their cause.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done sweet f.a. to help them either. But I think it counts for so much more when people have humility when speaking/blogging/talking of such issues.
Comment by Jen
3.05.2008 @ 18:49 pm
you also don’t know sweet f.a. about what i have or have not done to help anyone – and trust me when i tell you that you embarrass yourself by assuming that you do.
however i don’t have to justify myself to a random stranger. you don’t like my “piety”, don’t read. i can assure you it matters not one whit to me, because i sleep fine at night.
you’ve had your fun here. toodle-oo dearie.
(ETA: for those of you playing along at home, i’ve taken the liberty of deleting any further comments from my esteemed reader [who, perplexingly, accused me of "closing off the debate"? not sure what the debate *was* exactly? that i shouldn't reflect on how lucky i am, or think about others less fortunate than myself? how controversial of me!] because, well… it’s my blog, not an open forum for personal critique of jen.)