Why politics matter

Dustin McNichol is stepping up to talk politics here at the edmontonian. Politics matter. Really.

Dear Albertans,

Can we talk…about politics? Just for a little while? I promise I’ll be brief.

Before your eyes glaze over and you brush me off, let me explain. I know that politics is boring. Of course it is—who wants to pay attention to a bunch of old men in suits who drone on all day about nothing? Some of them have questionable judgment. I know that it’s often seen as childish, a waste of time, useless, irrelevant, etc…

Politics is full of strange rules and follows an even stranger logic. And, at the end of the day, it has no relevance on us or what we do with our lives anyway, right?

Wrong.

Politics affects everyone, every day, in different ways. Maybe it’s an increase in the tax on beer, or the minimum amount bars can charge for drinks. Maybe it’s a hospital closure. Maybe it’s a new bylaw against littering or smoking in certain places. The possibilities are as endless as our society is complicated.

I know that it is hard for most people to give a crap about politics. But, we ought to. For our own good.

Why? Because every day, politicians are making laws that affect our lives. Not paying attention to what they’re doing is like letting a stranger live and run your house while you’re gone, and only checking in on them once every few years or so (if you bother to vote). That stranger is eventually going to start doing whatever he or she wants to with your house; that person knows you are virtually never there and don’t pay attention to the changes made. Assuming you care about the place, this may not be the best way of going about things.

Maybe that is a bad example. Let me put things another way. The turnout in Edmonton’s civic election in 2007 was just over 27%. That means that three out of four people in this city are saying to City Hall “I don’t care what you do. I don’t care what laws you pass, how much property tax I have to pay, how corrupt you are, or how stupid you are.”

I’m not trying to guilt-trip anyone or act like people who care about politics are morally better than those who don’t. But put yourself in city council’s shoes. Only one out of four people care what you do. That means that you can pretty much do whatever you want; you only need to convince around 25% of people that you’re doing an okay job, or that the traffic by South Edmonton Common isn’t all that bad.

The same goes for the last general provincial election in Alberta. Only 41% of Albertans voted. Three out of five Albertans implicitly stated: “I don’t care about democracy; I don’t care what you do with health care, education, transportation, environment, etc… Do whatever you want.” And, the government acts accordingly.

To be fair, people are busy. We have jobs, families, and obligations. We have lives. We can’t, and don’t, want to spend our free time worrying about politics and how it affects us. For many people a change in government will have minimal effect on their lives. Also, at a certain point we put our good faith and trust in politicians to do the right thing, just as you would for the person running your house. We don’t have time to always be checking up on that person to make sure he/she isn’t trashing your house.

But voting is one of the most simple, and easy, democratic things we can do. Don’t want to vote for anyone because you think they’re all idiots? Write your own name on the ballot, draw a stick-man, a raised middle-finger (or something dirty, if that floats your boat)—anything. You’re still saying, “I care,” but also “I am not satisfied with the selection of candidates.”

Maybe you genuinely don’t care. That is the great thing about living in a free society; you are free to not care. Which is fine. High-minded ideals like democracy are tiresome sometimes and are often used in empty, self-serving ways by politicians.

Politics is a waste of time in most peoples’ opinions, and I understand. But I do think that we should at least check up on the house once every few years; or else, we will stop recognizing it, and we may forget it belongs to us.