Calrissian.com : Worldview :The disillusioned electorate

The electorate of the United Kingdom and indeed much of the western world is arguably fed up, angry, tired of lies, the deceit, the spin, and appear disillusioned with the current political scene.
I base this first argument on the simple lack of voting as apparent in the western 'democracies', this is especially so for the United States and the United kingdom.

Any look around the statistics for the last general election gives a voting turnout figure around the 60% mark.
Q. Should we be surprised at this lowly figure ?

I suggest we should not be surprised, in fact i think we should be amazed that the figure is as high as it is.

Maybe it is just my cynical side, but i cannot help but be dismayed at the lack of energy, the lack of will- power that current politicians seem to have. Not one of them offers any 'passion' in what they do. When i look at Blair, i see a man who is tired, who is already burnt out of ideas. Those that do have 'radical' ideas are told to shut up, to not disturb the current stability of the political establishment. There appears to be a high degree of 'better to do nothing' than to risk something in the current government. Overall, all mainstream policies are bland, lack innovation, and are chronically short term.

Where are the dictators ?

Also, to my own personal surprise, we have not seen any form of dictator rise to power. Any Premier has absolute power over the military, the general population, yet no one has arisen in the UK political system who seems to desire such power over others.

As an aside note, i could quite happily see myself as a total self styled dictator. The only question is, whether the nation would be ready for someone like me ? Well, whatever the case, it is an interesting thought for me ;)

Q. Does the UK want more of the same bland, dull, and seemingly sterile minded politicians, or do they want dynamic change ?

Right now, i think the country's populace are happy with things, although they are getting somewhat pissed off at the shear spin that Blair et al are putting on every single news story that comes out of government.

So, just think for a moment of this figure of around 60% of the registered electorate. Just note that this is the 'registered' electorate, there must be countless thousands (a million or more ) who are'nt even on the electoral register - for whatever reason. I would propose that the real turnout figure as a proportion of those able to vote is maybe only 48-51%. If only haft of the eligible population are voting, then what are we to think of the future voting patterns ? Things can only get worst in my view, unless the political scene changes drastically within this decade- something i can not see happening under any circumstances.

A rise to power ?

I can but hope that within the decade someone from outside the mainstream political scene of New Labour, Conservatism, and the Liberal Democrats, can somehow capture the eye of the UK public.

Yet, how can such a power seeking person come to power, and yet bypass the current 3 main political parties ? Such a task a few years ago would have seemed impossible, yet now.... perhaps, just perhaps there is hope.

The Net : the means to catch the eyes.

The UK population are finally, after a few stalled years, getting online. In the last year or so, online broadband connections have grown to almost 1million. What many people are forgetting is that with the net comes a new wave of communication once impossible for the masses. Now, millions of people are logging on each evening after work, to check mail, read the news, and talk to their friends across the globe.
Getting in touch with people has never been easier, and can never be easier than via the net. The new leader i propose, for the first time now has the means to get noticed - via the net.
The only question that comes to mind, is how would such a person get the initial contacts that would help such a 'get noticed' venture underway? Who do you contact, what do you have to do to build up that first layer of political allies/activists ?
These are questions i cannot yet answer, maybe no one can right now. Yet, i am sure there is a way. I am reminded of a story about some guy getting sex whilst watching a football match, which this week was circulated to millions of people by email within a few days. Clearly, there IS a 'means' to accomplish the task of catching the public eye.
As things are, i wonder how many people are sitting at home this evening, wondering if they could ever attain the power to change things. Am i only one who believes things could be a hell of a lot better ?
Am i the only one who wants the laws of this nation to be ripped up, and restated anew ?

The next UK general election will likely be in summer 2005, time to get noticed perhaps ;) ?

Contact Calrissian

UK : voter turnout : across 659 areas, roughly 58% of registered voters actually gave their choice.
Links

Noam Chomsky : voter abstension

BBC election 2001 : election analysis, voter turnout at 80 year low.