I was having visions of a US lead international occupation army with soldiers forcing danes at gunpoint down to the election booth and vote or face "removal" to that gulag thingy on Cuba for working against the interests of democracy :D
I've only voted once in my life (and that was a "No" to the Maastricht treaty, a referendum, not an election), so I would probably be summarily executed for being a terrorist, actively undermining the system by withholding my vote(s)
I seriously can't remember a politician, that I in any way felt deserved my approval through my vote
I forgot to mention something in my previous post (sorry), but I wonder if it really is the "will of the people" which is reflected in the results ?
What I'm getting at is media and the control of public oppinion and how much of a free will people really have. You actively (I suppose, correct me if I am wrong) information about events, candidates, what they represent etc.
I did that too, that is, until I realised what a bunch of dirty rotten scoundrels were available to choose between and then decided that none were suitable leaders.
However, how much effort does the average voter devote to keep themselves informed and enlightened ?
In a pessimistic estimate based on my own prejudices, very few does and becomes voting cattle for those who control media, giving the power of government to those who controls the media (Italy being a good example).
I don't have a fix for it, but I think the "system" is broken as it currently is. If you try to impose limits on who can vote (income requirements, written tests, forced indoctrination/education whatever), it no longer qualifies as a demokratia (no idea how to create funny greek letters...).
In it's current form, I don't acknowledge what people seem to swallow raw as democracy as what it pretend to be, just another control tool.
You just need voter booth babes, like at the E3
I think I just described my own feelings (in my own "blunt" way) above, the difference isn't really that big if you withhold your vote or you place an uninformed/misinformed vote. In both cases, it's not truly the voice of the people being heard.
I don't mind compromises just out of some obscure princip, but when done habitually, it makes the available choices seems bland.
Depends on the age of your culture. I remember when my highscool celebrated it's 800th birthday in 1985 (I think that was the year). Browsing through all the old books, lots of them predating Gutenberg, there was very little "democracy" in there. For some, it may be all they know, for others, it's just a recent social experiment where the outcome is researched and added to the library :cool:
Thats where your personal thresholds goes, other peoples mileage may vary however. Examples of this has been seen for decades in Europe where terrorist organisations have worked against elected goverments since the early seventies in countries like Italy, Spain, UK, Germany etc.
I would definitely trust you to be a member of a democratic society
I'm less sure about other individuals :ph34r:
Yet people voted for Hitler and disposed of democracy after WWI.
I guess I'll always have difficulties trusting people to do much beyond what they are trained for :">
The resident cynic has spoken
Not that I really disagree with you on what is good and bad, but you know i appreciate your point of view on interesting subjects