In an election campaign as bereft of intelligence as say, I don't know…the last election; I find the lack of policy focus from both politicians and media alike thoroughly unsurprising. As we progress inevitably towards the point where society finally crumbles and rampant, sexually charged animism begins, election campaigns will continue to get dumber.
Political lame-arses like myself are being continually confronted with the prospect that to claim to like elections will be similar to claiming that one is interested in some rather uninspired pornographic theatre troupe. Recently it has become almost impossible to adequately talk about politics in the presence of sharp objects, lest one of the participants were to repeatedly stab themselves in the crown to release the homogenised mush that has been mercilessly fed into their consciousness.
It upsets me such a level that I fear I will become one of those people who state with proud banality that: "I don’t care about politics" or "Politics doesn't really affect me" or "I am merely a shell designed to reproduce and to search out the utopia of a 'pub-style parma' at home."
Increasingly, elections have moved away from people like me, they are not aimed at anyone with a particular set of world-views. The reason for this is that elections are not decided by people who possess any sort of consistent ideology. If, with a little under three weeks to go, you know who you are going to vote for, this election is not about you and never has been. If, for you, going to your old primary school on a random Saturday with 4-6 weeks warning can only be viewed as the most hideous of chores then pay attention: there's baby bonuses to be had.
If anyone has ever wondered why politicians offer thinly veiled bribes to buy votes at election time without shame, it is because there are people who literally have their votes for sale. It's thoroughly ironic to me that in a country that seems, at least in the last few decades, to value the trait of patriotism, that people are perfectly willing to declare naked self interest when deciding their vote. They usually do this on one of those terrible Today Tonight/A Current Affair election stories, which temporarily deny the need of viewers to know about shonky tradies and how to feed the family for less than $100. These are the people who decide elections, and will forever more.
And yet on Election Day I'll be standing at a primary school, handing out leaflets trying to woo these very people. Who's the idiot now?
It could be worse, we could have had to vote in the British General election.
ReplyDelete