Being a citizen is a contract. It means being a legally recognised member of a country, state, or city & owing allegiance to it's government. In return the citizen receives full civil & political rights. Possibly that contract needs to be made much clearer, because it seems to me that too many of us are too ready to claim our rights & ignore our individual responsibilities. We are selfish. We want the benefits without contributing.
Turnout at the 2024 general election was 59.7%, which was the lowest at a general election since 2001
Turnout at local elections is even worse.
It doesn't seem too much to ask that people go to a polling station & cast a vote for whomever they want to make decisions for them in return for the benefits of living in a democracy. You can even do it by post if that's too much effort!
Apparently voter numbers have declined globally since the 1960's. So it isn't just Brits. People least likely to vote are younger people, people with fewer qualifications, people with lower socio-economic backgrounds, people who were born overseas and people from ethnic minority groups. Exactly the people who I would argue need to be heard in this ever widening gap between the rich & the poor, the educated & the uneducated. A relatively small number of people in the UK may not vote due to political disengagement and/or logistical or bureaucratic barriers such as incorrect registration on the electoral roll.
To be honest I think it's more a feeling of apathy & lack of confidence that one vote matters. It does & will do even more if we get a fairer voting system than the current one.
I'm reading "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury. It is so prescient & paints a picture of where this could so easily go if we don't all ensure that we know & understand what is happening in the world & the UK. Then we need to actually do something to try to make sure that decision making is in the interests of humanity & the world we live in.
