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Me Tarzan. You (Ab)Stain


Dionne Knows Best...
The weekend before the Local Government Elections, I realised how lost I was. In fact, on the morning (Monday) of it all, my stomach simply... quesed. For the first time in as many years, I was casting my vote by default. That is to say: I had NO conviction in the action I was gearing up to make. Now, democracy says that inaction is also an action but I couldn't really bring myself to NOT vote either.

 None of this would be the case if I lived in my good friend's Borough... Town... Municipality... whatever. See my good friend (let's call him "Bert") is chest deep in the politics of one of the more established political parties and I'm not ashamed to say that while I have some (lingering) reservations about the party, the man in question is a pretty stand up guy. I trust him. I trust his resolve.

 This has always been my approach to voting: forget the party, look at the person. So - in times past - it would not be unusual for me to vote for Candidate A (because I believe they could do some serious good) even if THEIR PARTY was not my idea of a fun time. Of course, a vote for the person is a vote for the party but I've been content in my rationale thus far. Not This Time.

 My choices were as follows:
a). A candidate from my friend's political party who I met once or twice before and who had generally left me with a disheartening sense that THAT MAN should never take public office. So strong was my objection that just hearing his name turned my stomach. 

 b). On the other side, was a candidate I had NEVER met, NOT known; yet - on paper - he looked stunningly educated and apparently well rounded (spiritual, secular etc). But... if recent events in the news-scape proves anything, it is that people lie... about everything. And those who look good on paper are not necessarily "good". I felt uneasy but then again, it could be the result of the junk I've been eating. 

 I had hoped for a third option. "Maybe," I thought, "I'd go green... and sit back to see what'll happens."Admittedly, I have a macabre sense of WANTING to see what will happen to The Republic should that party do well. 

 Grief! This would be so much easier if Bert was my candidate. Or even Bert's friend; a well educated young man with a solid head on his shoulders. I feel conviction there. But these were not my options.Walking to the polling station, I rationalised that perhaps the boorish man from my friend's party had grown - as humans are prone to do. But the image of our last meeting lingered... and who the HECK was this other guy?! Give him a "chance"? But that's the problem in this country isn't it - we give people "chances" instead of voting by/with conviction. Then again, one must ask: When was the last time a politician filled you with a sense of conviction?

 I voted. My finger carries proof of that. I didn't puke either. Ten points for me. But I want our politicians to know, this was the first time I felt sick to vote. So here's to you Guy; you were chosen by default and not because of your mighty right hand. Truth is, I'm not alone in that feeling.

 Hoping for Better.
Pax
October, 2013

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