Insanity

To paraphrase something Albert Einstein once said the definition of insanity is 'doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome'. This made me question how many things I do and expect a different outcome to emerge. More specifically it made me question the concept of democracy. Take voting - every four years we all go (well 60% roughly at the last election) to the polling station and cast our vote in the hope that this time we will make the right choice. During this time of civic 'duty' you often here people exclaiming the brilliance of democracy, and how this highlights the we the people have the power. Well this is what I believed for a long time.

Does voting actually change anything? I have to be honest I don't think it really does. Now I can hear the objections already - 'well if you don't like the current group of individuals calling themselves government then cast your vote for the opposition, and with a little prayer, luck etc you might, maybe, perhaps get your way. So, on the face of it if we have a choice between the current government and other political parties (namely conservative this time round) then obviously change can occur. Well again I used to agree, but now I am not so sure.

If you look at how Labour took the reigns of 'power' you will remember a country fed up with all the Tory 'spin' and 'sleeze'. Fast forward to the present day - what have we got now? An unelected prime minister with seemingly no intention of calling a democratic election anytime soon; politicians fiddling their allowances and themselves whilst watching erotic movies at the public's expense and allegations that our government have been complicit in torture. You see what I am realising more and more is that the choice, or ability to change anything politically, doesn't exist anymore, and perhaps it never did, at least not within the system of government we have had up until this point. Currently the choice is a choice between the lesser of two evils (red team or blue team).

Now I don't want to be a pessimist, so I will present a way in which I believe change can occur, and has occurred in the past. Civil disobedience - the true check and balance against government and the only way real political change has occurred. For example, the very emergence of democracy in England occurred because people disobeyed the King and women's' rights were won largely due to the suffragette movement who took direct action against the system of governance at the time. Another example would be the USA voting in their first black president, now hang on a sec this was achieved within the political system, wasn't it? Well true, but without the civil rights movement, which included product boycotts, sit-ins, non-violent and violent (which I don't like) protest; Obama may have not been able to vote let alone actually become president.

Civil disobedience, spurred by the concern of a few individuals is the only thing that can bring about real change. If after reading this post you still have the belief that we can have change this time if only we all voted the right people into government' then I would like to repeat 'doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome' is simply insane!