Election day
It is officially November 4th, both for you in the states and for me in Australia. Election day.
I hate the fact that ridiculous sums of money are spent during the campaigns in the states and during each election year I find that it is such a shame that all of that money is spent on trying to influence people to vote for the right candidate and trying to sway, convince, and manipulate people to “do what’s best for the country”. That money could be put to such useful endeavors, like feeding, clothing, and sheltering people in poverty-stricken areas of the world. Why is it that people will spend so much money in the effort to convince everyone else that their perspective is right and the other person’s is wrong? Or maybe it’s just to spread the word. Or maybe it’s a trade of money for power. Whatever. I understand that at this particular juncture in time, it’s a “necessary evil” and people haven’t been creative enough to do it another way.
My French friends Cami and Anthony, some of my favorite friends during my South American trip, told me about a French postman turned politician, Olivier Besancenot, who didn’t spend any of his time trying to rub elbows with bigwigs or win over any wealthy businessmen. He spent his time campaigning on his political beliefs. And, if I recall correctly, continuing to work as a postman. How lovely and idealistic does that sound? During the last presidential elections, he won upwards of 1 million votes, which ended up only being 4% of the votes. So unfortunately, we can see that it’s not the most effective campaign strategy (but it certainly makes sense for a communist!). I will continue to ponder on this matter of stupid amounts of cash being poured into politicians’ pockets.
Anyway, the real reason I wanted to write this blog in the first place was to describe a few differences between voting in the states and in Australia. I went with Marcus when he was voting (I think it was state or even just local elections) and it was an interesting little trip. For the most part, I didn’t see any information being posted about candidates. I certainly didn’t see any commercials on TV. There were some yard pickets with names and pictures on them, but other than that I wouldn’t have known it was election time. HOWEVER. Australians are legally obliged to vote. If they don’t, they’ll be fined. Imagine that, not even having a choice about whether or not you’re going to vote. Makes me appreciate my right to vote or to not vote (although I do consider not voting to be very irresponsible). So even though Marcus lives in Alexandria (an inner-city suburb), he’s still registered to vote out west, so we made our little trek out west. We pulled up to the little community hall and as soon as we made it to the side of the building, we were bombarded with people throwing campaign pamphlets and brochures in our face. It felt a bit like running through the gauntlet, and this is a small town so I can just imagine what it would be like in Sydney’s CBD! Voters don’t receive any non-partisan pamphlets put together by the government about the candidates, so once you’re in the voting booth, you’re left to your own devices. Well, I suppose I can’t speak about voting booths in the states since I have always voted by absentee ballot. (This year, too, naturally.)
It would be interesting to see an Australian presidential election, to see how this process works in another country. I could definitely picture the candidates having to duke it out in some sort of sporting event, totally Aussie-style. :) I admit that I have missed being in the states during this election. It seems that the air is electrified and it’s obvious that people are much more excited about this election than any I have ever witnessed. But even in Australia (where people continue to know more about my election than I do, even though I’ve been doing more homework on this election than the last election), people are charged over these elections. The results truly will have an impact on the rest of the world, and they know this. I have been asked time and time again if I voted and who I voted for. (As if that’s even a question.) And you know what? Every single person—every single person—I have spoken to, with a singular exception, is a supporter of the Democrats. I wish the everyday Republican would get out of the United States and see what it’s like out here in the world. It would provide a drastically new perspective.
Well, I guess we’ll see what happens soon.
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