We live in a democracy and that means that we get a say in who runs your country, and by way of this privilege we also get a say about how your country is run. It is very easy to be blase about your right to vote and take a "whatever, who cares" kind of attitude about it but you shouldn't brush this great honour off so quickly. Sure registering can be a bit of a chore, and yes, you have to head down to a polling station on voting day to pull your lever which takes some time out of your day and may cost you a few bucks in fuel, but whether you know it or not these are very small prices to pay for the right to vote.
A government full of bad politicians implies that it has been elected by people with personal and illegal motives which can be money or booze. This comes with its side effects of lawlessness, drugs, murders, scams, and slow progress. Getting a good govt is entirely in the hands of the people. But democracy is structured such that majority prevails. This means if majority of the people have voted without thinking, the entire state gets a bad government, and the entire state suffers its consequences. Its not like people who vote sensibly will get a good govt and others get a bad one they deserve.
A large section of voters treat elections as a time for either making money or requesting personal favours from candidates. Candidates who are ready to pay money to voters are not doing it for charity. Their intention is to come to power and loot the state to recover their expenses many times. In doing so, they steal money paid by Goans as taxes. This actually means the voter who took money has a share in the sins committed by the politician. Such people are not intelligent enough to realize this. They vote for people who agree to get their illegal work done. If we think Goa today is insecure, it is because we have allowed it to be.
People who can think, mainly from the middle class, give excuses for not voting, either out of laziness or ignorance.
Excuse #1: All candidates are the same:
When we go to the market to buy vegetables, even if no vendor is selling the perfectly ripe vegetable, do we return home empty handed and leave the family hungry? We buy from the vendor who has the best among the rest. If we can make such a decision for something as small as buying vegetables, why are we not practical when choosing a government? If we hold an attitude that we will vote if an only if there is an absolutley clean candidate, such a heavnely case will never arise and will in fact improve the chances of the worst candidates getting elected.
No country in the world has politicians with an absolutely clean track. Even politicians who are individually honest sometimes have no choice but to compromise with their ethics. Our strategy should be to vote for the least bad among the candidates if we think all are bad.
Excuse #2: My one vote will not make a big difference:
There have been many close elections both central as well as state, in the history that would have had a different outcome if only one percent more had voted. The people who currently make the biggest difference in swinging polls are mostly those who fall for money doled out by candidates. Add to them the huge number of migrants who do not have much of an attachment to Goa. These are people who do not understand the importance of good governance and its benefit for the state as a whole. If we give them control we should not be complaining about a bad government. Our mindset should change so that we snatch back the control on Goa's future.
The only way democracy works is if citizens, young and old, are active participants. A government by the people, for the people just can't work without the people. This is a simple fact. Like a car without an engine, or a computer without a hard drive, a democracy without voters is just a shell and has no power. While it is easy to say "one vote doesn't make a difference" the reality is that every vote counts. Also you have to remember that as an individual your vote may seem to be little more than a whisper but when your vote is combined with the votes of others who share your views it becomes a voice and the more like-voters there are the louder that voice grows.
The youth vote is sadly underestimated by party analysts. The trend analysts who tell party spindoctors where to target their advertising money and public relation efforts traditionally over-look the youth market. Why? Because the sad reality is that election after election the percentage of eligible youth who actually register and vote is small when compared with other demographics. This doesn't mean the youth market isn't a force, just that it isn't a main motivator in the drafting of campaign platforms and pre-election advertising. So, like any self-respecting rebellious young person the natural thing to do is go against the grain and do the unexpected. Keep them on their toes, shock them into the 21st century and get out and vote!
The biggest election issues often directly affect the youth of the nation. The education funding both public school and post-secondary, employment and job training programs and reproductive rights issues are just a few of the hot topics that directly affect the quality of your life RIGHT NOW. Think about the future and the world you will one day "inherit" from the power generation and you can add environmental concerns, fossil fuel consumption, farming and livestock funding (think the food supply is shrinking with every farm that can't sustain itself) and the list just gets longer. Add any issues that are near and dear to your heart on a personal level and the list becomes a little overwhelming. Don't vote and you effectively kiss away your ability to have any influence as to how these issues play out in your world and that's just lame.
Believe it or not, people just like you in other countries actually fight and even die for this right; a right that so many youth in democratic nations take for granted. You should vote because you can, if you don't you may one day wake up in a country where you can't. It can (and has) happened. Enough said. Now rise up, take this ahead and make a change. Elections in Bihar and Gujarat have shown that people are now voting towards a progressive government, no matter what false propaganda is spread. We Goans need to take control of who manages Goa. Let us not wait for matters to get so bad that a bad government damages the state to an unrecoverable condition. Let us choose the government that can take us to progress the fastest.
A government full of bad politicians implies that it has been elected by people with personal and illegal motives which can be money or booze. This comes with its side effects of lawlessness, drugs, murders, scams, and slow progress. Getting a good govt is entirely in the hands of the people. But democracy is structured such that majority prevails. This means if majority of the people have voted without thinking, the entire state gets a bad government, and the entire state suffers its consequences. Its not like people who vote sensibly will get a good govt and others get a bad one they deserve.
A large section of voters treat elections as a time for either making money or requesting personal favours from candidates. Candidates who are ready to pay money to voters are not doing it for charity. Their intention is to come to power and loot the state to recover their expenses many times. In doing so, they steal money paid by Goans as taxes. This actually means the voter who took money has a share in the sins committed by the politician. Such people are not intelligent enough to realize this. They vote for people who agree to get their illegal work done. If we think Goa today is insecure, it is because we have allowed it to be.
People who can think, mainly from the middle class, give excuses for not voting, either out of laziness or ignorance.
Excuse #1: All candidates are the same:
When we go to the market to buy vegetables, even if no vendor is selling the perfectly ripe vegetable, do we return home empty handed and leave the family hungry? We buy from the vendor who has the best among the rest. If we can make such a decision for something as small as buying vegetables, why are we not practical when choosing a government? If we hold an attitude that we will vote if an only if there is an absolutley clean candidate, such a heavnely case will never arise and will in fact improve the chances of the worst candidates getting elected.
No country in the world has politicians with an absolutely clean track. Even politicians who are individually honest sometimes have no choice but to compromise with their ethics. Our strategy should be to vote for the least bad among the candidates if we think all are bad.
Excuse #2: My one vote will not make a big difference:
There have been many close elections both central as well as state, in the history that would have had a different outcome if only one percent more had voted. The people who currently make the biggest difference in swinging polls are mostly those who fall for money doled out by candidates. Add to them the huge number of migrants who do not have much of an attachment to Goa. These are people who do not understand the importance of good governance and its benefit for the state as a whole. If we give them control we should not be complaining about a bad government. Our mindset should change so that we snatch back the control on Goa's future.
The only way democracy works is if citizens, young and old, are active participants. A government by the people, for the people just can't work without the people. This is a simple fact. Like a car without an engine, or a computer without a hard drive, a democracy without voters is just a shell and has no power. While it is easy to say "one vote doesn't make a difference" the reality is that every vote counts. Also you have to remember that as an individual your vote may seem to be little more than a whisper but when your vote is combined with the votes of others who share your views it becomes a voice and the more like-voters there are the louder that voice grows.
The youth vote is sadly underestimated by party analysts. The trend analysts who tell party spindoctors where to target their advertising money and public relation efforts traditionally over-look the youth market. Why? Because the sad reality is that election after election the percentage of eligible youth who actually register and vote is small when compared with other demographics. This doesn't mean the youth market isn't a force, just that it isn't a main motivator in the drafting of campaign platforms and pre-election advertising. So, like any self-respecting rebellious young person the natural thing to do is go against the grain and do the unexpected. Keep them on their toes, shock them into the 21st century and get out and vote!
The biggest election issues often directly affect the youth of the nation. The education funding both public school and post-secondary, employment and job training programs and reproductive rights issues are just a few of the hot topics that directly affect the quality of your life RIGHT NOW. Think about the future and the world you will one day "inherit" from the power generation and you can add environmental concerns, fossil fuel consumption, farming and livestock funding (think the food supply is shrinking with every farm that can't sustain itself) and the list just gets longer. Add any issues that are near and dear to your heart on a personal level and the list becomes a little overwhelming. Don't vote and you effectively kiss away your ability to have any influence as to how these issues play out in your world and that's just lame.
Believe it or not, people just like you in other countries actually fight and even die for this right; a right that so many youth in democratic nations take for granted. You should vote because you can, if you don't you may one day wake up in a country where you can't. It can (and has) happened. Enough said. Now rise up, take this ahead and make a change. Elections in Bihar and Gujarat have shown that people are now voting towards a progressive government, no matter what false propaganda is spread. We Goans need to take control of who manages Goa. Let us not wait for matters to get so bad that a bad government damages the state to an unrecoverable condition. Let us choose the government that can take us to progress the fastest.
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1 Comment:
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Oct 5, 2011, 10:29:00 PM
we educated class are to be blamed for sorry state of goa. if we vote for right people we can again see goa prosperous
