Lawrence

Federal election day today. I thought about doing the early vote, but I want to make the kids stand in line so they can feel their civic duty. Hopefully there'll be sausages afterwards to reinforce the Pavlov response.

Especially in the current climate, democratic society cannot be taken for granted. There's a website (link below) that says only 29% of all people live in a democracy in 2021. Further down the article, it also warns that political polarisation is linked with democratic decline.

I think it's important to avoid falling into camps and barracking as though it's a sport. It's unfortunate that politicians of all shades had figured it's easier to pitch to the animalistic mob part of our brain than to pitch boring facts and grounded ideas.

Democracy cannot be taken for granted. We are lucky to be born in a time and place where we are granted this responsibility. Fellow Ozzies, whichever way you lean, vote and support our democracy.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/how-many-people-live-in-a-political-democracy-today/

How Many People Live in a Political Democracy Today?

Are political democracies on the decline? This graphic shows the global composition of political regimes over 200 years.

Visual Capitalist
May 2, 2025 at 9:42pmWeb
Show threadLooking for explanations…May 2, 2025

@IBLiveU

I’m an early voter, but I learned a lot by going along with my parents in election day, & if I had kids (as opposed to adult children), would probably do the same. Mind you the queue was long & some candidates were in attendance at the early polling booth.

Show threadLawrenceMay 2, 2025
@Susan60 Yes, my kid are still at the primary school age. It was a half an hour queue but they got their sausage on bread, hope it's an overall positive experience.
Show threadLooking for explanations…May 3, 2025
@IBLiveU
It was 15 minutes or so on Monday. I think it’s important for kids to grow up seeing voting as both a right & a responsibility. People who don’t avail themselves of their rights tend to lose them.
Show threadsortiusMay 2, 2025

@IBLiveU I'm doing the same thing with my 7 and 10 year old. They've been learning about elections and government in the lead-up to the election.

I've spent a lot of time explaining polling, who the parties are, what they stand for, etc, so they're both keen to go this morning.

Unfortunately, for my ex-partner, they want to watch the broadcast, and told me "we're going to watch it with mum" when I said they wouldn't be here to watch it.

She wasn't so keen to 😆

Show threadLawrenceMay 2, 2025
@sortius My kids are around the same age as well. Was a little worried they will complain about the queue but they were happy. Maybe a bit different when they hit the teenager years.
Show threadsortiusMay 3, 2025

@IBLiveU oh, I had an hour an a half of ADHD 7 year old and precocious 10 year old.

I suppose it's worth doing, once

Show threadGodfrey642May 2, 2025

@IBLiveU

Agreed with everythg you said.

I've just been talking to friends in my homeland, UK. They're reeling after a bye-election shock in Runcorn. (Hard Right) ReformUK led by fascist Nigel Farage (aka Brexit-liar and Trump acolyte) won the vote by just SIX votes after recount on a 42% turnout.

This is not democracy at its best or most productive way of delivering a functional local Govt.

In fact the UK has the worst of all worlds:
Poor selection of parties
Poor selection of candidates
Poorly informed citizens
Leaders who don't read-the-room
Leaders who are uninspiring
Apathetic voters
Biased mainstream media
Major social discontent
First Past The Post system
Voluntary voting...
🫤

I thank my lucky stars we are citizens here now where evbdy votes and every vote counts.

#auspol #AusPolitics #australia #ukpol #ukpolitics #australianelection2025

Show threadLawrenceMay 2, 2025
@Godfrey642 Our compulsory and preferential voting does have its advantages in that respect.