Vote for me: As if voting matters in electoral politics

TheVancouverManifesto is on VoterMedia.org: Media for voters, funded by voters. This is a pretty recent invention aimed at democratizing media in a few ways (put the emphasis on the right syllAbles and you'll get it). By viewing a wider range of media (i.e. instead of reading the same newspapers that are all owned by CanWest, or the shit from the "free daily" that depressed middle-aged women hand off to you at the skytrain and UBC) the voter can make a more informed decision thereby electing better leaders and better public policy.

That's all well and good, but let us bring back the discussion of electoral politics. We've got a first-pass-the-post single winner voting system that skews any sort of "voice of the people". Let's get this straight, swaths of voters "don't count" in electoral politics. Electoral politics is also why the Green party can have a ton of votes but, because they are spread out amongst different electoral boundaries, they never win a seat. Electoral politics is unfair because it ignores millions of voters and forces political parties and voters alike to play strategically. I used to generally vote Liberal just for fear of a conservative win. The only reason I now vote NDP is because the money they give to the party with each vote. Still, when there is a chance the conservatives might take it, my only option is to sitll vote Lib.

Let's think about homelessness as an electorate issue. Right now we have a shrinking middle class and income polarization. TheVancouverManifesto feels strongly that this trend will not change. Neoliberalism is violently taking over and it is no coincidence that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. As per Wallerstein's World Systems Theory, development and underdevelopment are two sides of the same coin. So as poverty grows (and the homeless count is confirming that poverty is growing), we have more people at the bottom rung. It is a well-known fact taht poor people are less likely to vote due to various combinations of disempowerment and situations that force them to be transient (not to mention the lack of a permanent address which is sooo important for easy access to the vote). And really, the poor have fewer networking skills and less ability to network thus not being able to be strategic, in any way, politically. So as TheVancouverManifesto sees it, we are coming towards a point in society where we will pretty much have a dictatorship as masses will have no voice in public policy. The people have ONE advantage: power of numbers. When you take away the power of numbers and make it meaningless within electoral politics, you take away the power of the people.

So if you really want to have a fair democracy, check out Fair Vote Canada, fighting for proportional representation, amongst other things.

All the same you should vote for TheVancouverManifesto and a number of the other very capable blogs at Vancouver VoterMedia Ranking.
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