So we've got our local government elections coming up tomorrow. Which is great because there's a possibility that together we can make a change for the better... and the fact that we get a public holiday doesn't hurt either.
I was chilling out with some friends yesterday and I made a comment about voting and one of the guys said that he isn't going to vote because he's protesting 'the system'. I had to restrain myself from strangling him on the spot...
I almost wasn't successful...
Give me a second to calm down...
...
...
...
Ok, I'm fine... Homicidal impulse controlled... nothing to see here... move along.
Sure, democracy isn't the perfect form of government... but it's the best we've got, and it only works if everyone participates. I think it was Alexis de Toqueville who said that we get the government we deserve and that really strikes a cord with me.
In a democratic system (even one like ours that is heavily weighted towards one party) the public are responsible for the people governing them and only though continuous pressure and engagement can we ever hope to improve the woeful governance we experience.
Personally, I'm hoping that the DA can take Joburg... or at least some the municipalities in Gauteng, but if they don't I'll go back next time and cast my vote again... in hope... and in the knowledge that if I don't, nothing will ever change.
And if you don't vote, you can't complain - about anything - period. If I hear you complaining and you didn't vote... I probably won't try to control my reaction.
-Odd
"A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation" -James Freeman Clarke
