Tim Dunlop has a little blogging experiment going on. It’s very interesting and comes just at the right time for me, because I’ve rehashed the blogs I am reading in google reader and I have some space for new ones.
The first question Tim has asked is – If you change the government, do you really change the country?
I think the answer is no. Most people in the country honestly don’t care about the government or what they are doing. People just want to live their lives relatively peacefully. Government is only interesting when they’re going to give us some money, or if they’re going to do something for us. That’s why change does not happen often.
Most people get to the polling booth, and they basically ask themselves – How am I doing under this current government? Is everything generally ok? If yes, let’s vote for the people who are in now, because nobody likes change, people are afraid of change, let us stick with what we have now.
The reason this government has been in as long as they have is, “people” remember those high interest rates when they get to the polls. Regardless of what happened in the lead up to the election, regardless of who promised what, they fear a return to interest rates they cannot afford. Many voters are home owners.
For all those who take sides and argue that “this” or “that” will change people’s minds and make them vote for one side or the other, realistically it does not. Polls don’t matter on election day. That is because voting is compulsory in this country. It is not something that only those who care about politics and the future of this country do – at least some of the people voting honestly could not care less about the election but they are forced to vote. In reality it is likely that they make up the majority of people who vote – which means the majority of people who vote could not care less.
If change happens, by some miracle, most people find it is a case of “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss”. Life will go on, the same as before. Things might get better, things might get worse, if they get worse the change will not last long, only 4 years.
Politics is a dirty game. In reality for many of us, it has nothing to do with real life. We’re more concerned with the politics of the workplace, the politics of our own homes. And fair enough too.
The other answers – from people much smarter than I. :) Very interesting reads.
Andrew Bartlett – Bartlett Diaries
Ken Parish – Club Troppo
Kim Jameson – Larvatus Prodeo
Harry Clarke – Harry Clarke blog
tigtog – Hoyden About Town
Joshua Gans – CoreEcon
Robert Merkel – View from Benambra