Because not voting goes against everything that we have been taught, everything that our current politicians demand of us, we understand that it is an idea that makes people nervous and we have all had a lot of questions about it. Here we answer some of the most common ones and welcome more questions from you in person, on this blog or on the facebook site.
Isn't it better to spoil your paper?
NO! This shows a participation in the election and consequently a support for the current political system, even if it does show a disenchantment with the current parties. The change that we want to make is bigger than just changing the parties. It is about re-making politics itself and bringing democracy back from the dead. To do this, we need to join with those who are excluded from the current system, those who have already realised that participating in elections supports this facade and those for whom politics has come to seem irrelevant.
Isn't this just more apathy, not democracy?
YES! But in the original, Greek sense of apatheia - mastery of the self, taking back control of our lives and rejecting the current political controls that limit our lives. There is a reason that so many people don't vote anyway. This is about realising that so many of us have been cut out of politics, removed from the process of shaping our societies and about changing that. This is about activating apathy and turning it into a potent political weapon. We think that in fact there is little difference between those who have become disenchanted with our politics and those who never engaged with it in the first place
Why aren't you running candidates in the election?
This would participate in the current system without offering the possibility of making real change. It would be yet another passing outrage, yet another ineffective protest. Because of the way that the big parties currently dominate our system, independent candidates in just a few locations can't make a difference. The current system precludes the election of large numbers of independent candidates. It is also an indication of how flawed our current system is that to get elected you need media exposure and to do this, you need money. We reject this politics of the privileged and demand a deeper reform, a revolution of our political system and culture.
How is the EPO funded?
We aren't. This is a grass roots, bottom-up organisation of the people, by the people, for the people.
We reject the idea that you should need money to make your voice heard. We work on the basis of voluntary labour provided by each of us, combining our different skills and talents to make this campaign work. To make change a reality. The more of us their are, the easier this gets. We need you, so think what you can give.
Won't a low turnout let the lunatics in?
NO. There are far more committed supporters of the Tories and Labour than there are of the BNP and their like. These people will vote anyway, wither because they are part of the minority that benefits from the current system or because they have believed the media spin, the hype and the lies. Even with a very low turnout, the illegitimate government that would be formed would not be composed of fringe parties.
Also, democracy should not be about banning ideas, it should be about discussing them and deciding which are best. The weakness of our current democracy has been shown by the furore around even giving the BNP a seat in front of the Kangaroo Court of Question Time. If our politicians were really confident that their ideas were good ones, they would let them compete with all other views in the court of public opinion.
Furthermore, from where we stand, it seems as though it is the lunatics who are already in. It's time to get them out.
How will not voting lead to change?
We are aiming to get the lowest ever turnout in a British general election. The current record low is 59.4% in 2001. We think that so many people are so fed up with the current way that politics is done in this country - and around the world - that we have every chance of breaking this record.
We are aiming to get under 50% turnout. This would mean that less than half the electorate voted and that any government formed after such an election could not claim to represent the people or the country.
This would make the crisis of our current system clear to everyone. We believe that people want democracy and that they won't stand for illegitimate government. We believe that such a result would make it very clear that we need change. Real Change. Root and branch reform. Change to the very political system itself, a clearing out of the current politicians and a chance for new parties, groupings and organisations to emerge.
This is about tearing away the facade of democracy that we are presented with and re-making our politics, society, communities and government in a genuinely democratic way. A way that involves all of us and serves all of us.
Can you spell out exactly how you think a <50% turnout would lead to change? I don't doubt it would highlight the crisis in British democracy, but we already know there's a crisis, just as we know there's a crisis in the economy. Yet nothing changes. So I would like to know the mechanisms by which you expect the change you want to see emanate from a low turnout.
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