"There's nobody to vote for! Nobody understands me! They are all... THE SAME!" Cries the bewildered teenager. The dreaded polling day is rapidly approaching. Everybody's talking about it, but what are they actually talking about?
Scrolling down Facebook it is abundantly clear that youths have NO idea who to vote for. I don't blame them. Politics is convoluted. The only real things we have to go by are our parents' distorted views, affected by occupation and location. Voting can be horrific. The worst phrase is "I'm not going to vote. It's not worth it."
Asking someone why they won't vote is ironically asking a politician a yes or no question. The answer is long winded, and frankly, is totally irrelevant. You end up more baffled than your initial stance. "I don't agree with the system... I'm going to boycott it!" And proving what exactly? Unless you are planning a revolution, which includes getting off your backside and actually putting something into action, you won't change anything. The system stands whether you partake or not. One way to ensure some sort of valid protest would be spoiling your polling card- not having one at all is the same as having no voice at all.
Personally, I can't wait to vote. Here's why:
- We live in a democracy. We have the right to vote. Not all countries have this right- 123 out of 196. Our system is fair and free. It can appear to be ungrateful to not vote, when so many people would love the right to.
- If more young people vote, it is more likely that we will get a Government that benefits us the most and future Governments will create policies that benefit younger people, because they know that's where a lot of votes lie.
- Especially for women, it is crucial to remember the Suffragettes who suffered in order to make a vote accessible for future women. To pass up your vote through ignorance and laziness could be deemed as disrespectful.
- Voting ensures that you've at least tried to change that your country is run if you are unhappy with it. Voting is better than doing nothing about the country you live in. Apathy is a horrific quality.
- We are representative of normal British people, the more we vote, the more likely normal people will be benefited.
Here is an extract from the founder of www.votingcounts.org.uk, Rachael:
"Although a politician’s primary job is to run the country in reality it’s secretly more about ensuring a win in the next election (meaning lots of funding for their party) and in this difficult economic time it is important for the government to make cuts. Therefore the politicians are inclined to look and voting figures and force the biggest cuts on the demographics that don’t vote, with student and young adult figures being so low, politicians are basically given free reign to fire off policies that make us worse off, nine grand tuition fees being a prime example, they know they’re not going to lose many votes next time a general election pops its head around the corner. You never see winter fuel allowance and bus passes being cut, you know why? That’s because the over 65’s get out and vote, their figures being over 75%."
So this year, go to a polling station and do your bit for your demographic. In order to benefit, everybody must part-take. It does not take long for you to log onto a party's website and check out the policies. To make things even easier for you, I'll hyperlink them at the bottom.
Use your vote wisely.
http://www.votingcounts.org.uk/
Labour party's manifesto: http://www.labour.org.uk/manifesto
Green party's manifesto: https://www.greenparty.org.uk/we-stand-for/2015-manifesto.html
Liberal Democrat's manifesto: http://www.libdems.org.uk/manifesto
Conserative's manifesto: https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto
UKIP's manifesto: http://www.ukip.org/manifesto2015 (Remember what I said about using your vote wisely)
Happy Voting. :)
