From Across the Sea
Nov. 6th, 2012 05:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
muck_a_luckI had to bite my tongue in my SIL's FaceBook. She commented at how weird it was to do elections outside of DC. Remember that one SIL was a lobbiest for LGBT issues and the other worked for a conservative think tank. They were soaking in political friends. They had election parites. It was huge for them. So SIL comments that it is weird that she knows three people who decided who to vote for because of how mean ads were, and that no one is having election parties.
Now. One of her friends made a comment about how "from across the sea" she gets the impression that is how "most people" here make their election decisions.
1) In fact, I think most people decide in the end based on party and it is the rare person who really votes outside their party, no matter what people say about themselves.
2) It's a mistake to try to make judgments about another culture "from across the sea" because you don't really know anything about that culture, much less the ins and outs of local politics and political history. If you think you know, you are just stupid. And
3) How the hell do the towers of intellect in YOUR country make THEIR political decisions? Notwithstanding 2) above, the peasant is the peasant everywhere. There are loads of ignorant people who vote for stupid reasons every place they get to vote, I would lay down good money. Do you not have stupid, easily deceived and manipulated voters in England? I *know* they have them in Russia. Hell, what I wanted to say to that woman was, well, at least nobody gets PAID to throw their votes away here. Plenty of places where THAT happens.
Fucking arrogance, is what it is, sitting back and judging other people "from across the sea."
OK. Time to wake up the kids and get this act of civic duty on the road. I'm wearing my Rogers-Stark shirt. :)
Now. One of her friends made a comment about how "from across the sea" she gets the impression that is how "most people" here make their election decisions.
1) In fact, I think most people decide in the end based on party and it is the rare person who really votes outside their party, no matter what people say about themselves.
2) It's a mistake to try to make judgments about another culture "from across the sea" because you don't really know anything about that culture, much less the ins and outs of local politics and political history. If you think you know, you are just stupid. And
3) How the hell do the towers of intellect in YOUR country make THEIR political decisions? Notwithstanding 2) above, the peasant is the peasant everywhere. There are loads of ignorant people who vote for stupid reasons every place they get to vote, I would lay down good money. Do you not have stupid, easily deceived and manipulated voters in England? I *know* they have them in Russia. Hell, what I wanted to say to that woman was, well, at least nobody gets PAID to throw their votes away here. Plenty of places where THAT happens.
Fucking arrogance, is what it is, sitting back and judging other people "from across the sea."
OK. Time to wake up the kids and get this act of civic duty on the road. I'm wearing my Rogers-Stark shirt. :)
no subject
Date: 2012-11-06 06:23 pm (UTC)The difficulty of judging countries you don't live in is one of the reasons I'm unlikely to emigrate - I can comment on, for example, the British school system because I was part of it, but I'd never feel qualified to comment on the system of anywhere else because you learn how things work in theory but not in practice.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-06 06:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-06 06:51 pm (UTC)PS I voted all over my ballot today :) Of course, I switched to Non Party Affiliated (my state's name for Independent voter) so...