Getting fined for not voting is silly and stupid.

[replika]

Change my mind.

[Γαῖα]

Escrito originalmente por Ulfrinn:

Escrito originalmente por Ganger:

But we working classes took it on the chin and did what we were told, im sure next time it will be a totally different story.

Yeah, well, we're paying off the inflation while corporations like Amazon, Walmart, and big pharma turned record breaking profits. The same people who supported the lockdowns are the same ones constantly pissing and moaning about the rich getting richer unable to figure out how that keeps happening.

Amazing to think that its become so absurd that it now threatens our lowest classes with actual extinction.

[hypercybermegatron]

Escrito originalmente por ironhead:

Getting fined for not voting is silly and stupid.
Change my mind.

It's not. You can rock up and do donkey vote if you must. You have a preferential voting system anyway, which is better than a lot of other countries so if you want to express your disdain for political status quo your best mechanism is voting strategically with preferences for upper and lower house.

It is better to have punitive approach to not voting, rather than what, say US for example has, which is farcical. Every imaginable obstacle is thrown at you to prevent you from voting, and you end up with clowns in charge because voting is optional and on a work day, not on weekend.

If you don't like it the alternative is to overthrow the government, or bugger off to some other country where they don't even pretend to care about your vote.

[brain stew]

Ironic how the subservient peasants who line up to vote for their masters would condemn someone for not supporting a corrupt system, and even go so far as to say those who don't should not be entitled to offer criticism or complaint, meanwhile those very subservient peasants are the ones who will proceed to whine the loudest and the most about the crappy system they enable.

[hypercybermegatron]

Escrito originalmente por Baron Twirly von Moustache:

Ironic how the subservient peasants who line up to vote for their masters would condemn someone for not supporting a corrupt system, and even go so far as to say those who don't should not be entitled to offer criticism or complaint, meanwhile those very subservient peasants are the ones who will proceed to whine the loudest and the most about the crappy system they enable.

Overthrow the government then.

[brain stew]

Escrito originalmente por hypercybermegatron:

Escrito originalmente por Baron Twirly von Moustache:

Ironic how the subservient peasants who line up to vote for their masters would condemn someone for not supporting a corrupt system, and even go so far as to say those who don't should not be entitled to offer criticism or complaint, meanwhile those very subservient peasants are the ones who will proceed to whine the loudest and the most about the crappy system they enable.

Overthrow the government then.

Now why would I want to do something silly like that? For you? lol

I can go where I want, when I want. I'm not here to serve any flag or rich and corrupt old man, I'm loyal to me and it's really as simple as putting myself anywhere that aligns close enough with my own ideals.

You're quite free to bow before your masters.

[SvarogX]

The most hilarious part is that people complain about getting fined for voting while it is also voting the right party that would make this law go away.
I am 100% sure there are parties that aim to remove this mandatory voting act, but people will only get there by actually voting.

My empathy for people that do not go vote and complain about such laws, is rather limited. I personally would just go voting and vote for a party that represents me or at least to some extend.

Escrito originalmente por Xero_Daxter:

Escrito originalmente por Out Of Bubblegum:

Many countries require citizens to vote.

I'm gonna do a social experiment and tell everyone not to vote. What are they gonna do? Arrest the entire population?

Thats also true, but this has been a problem in many socieities especially western ones in general. You can often apply this and say :" Alright, if people just stop doing that and that, they can't arrest all of them " Yeah sure ! People can also stop paying taxes or other ridiculous fees, but they simply won't because governments are too centralized making people not united enough to stand up like this and achieve a change by sheer resistance.

Look at covid times, most people followed everything said like a flog of sheep, also because the governments applied fear tactics.

Same goes for basically all other laws and bans and what not. It always has been like this and people resisting like you stated, quickly escalates into a revolution and revolutions are somewhat rare nowadays, especially in first world countries where people are all comfy and safe.

[hypercybermegatron]

Escrito originalmente por Baron Twirly von Moustache:

Escrito originalmente por hypercybermegatron:

Overthrow the government then.

Now why would I want to do something silly like that? For you? lol

I can go where I want, when I want. I'm not here to serve any flag or rich and corrupt old man, I'm loyal to me and it's really as simple as putting myself anywhere that aligns close enough with my own ideals.

You're quite free to bow before your masters.

OP is whinging about being fined for not voting.

You wrongly assert that that system OP is complaining about corrupt. It's not.

Doesn't mean it's perfect, doesn't mean corruption doesn't exist but the voting system per se is not corrupt and is enviable compared to other countries. It allows minor parties to have a seat at the table and isn't a two party duopoly compared to US.

Abstentionism is the wet dream of "your masters".

[TGC> The Games Collector]

It's very smart.

You see; voting is useless.
By fining people who don't vote, voting suddenly becomes useful again.

This would totally fix what's wrong with democracy.

[RRW359]

I really don't like saying it's a terrible thing to do/not do something and yet also say that it should always be allowed, either what you are doing isn't harmful enough to complain about or it needs legislation. Unfortunately voter apathy is a massive problem in many countries and is part of the reason things are going so badly many places; not that you should be forced with jail time but some kind of financial incentive is understandable.

Also if I understand Australia correctly you don't even need to vote for someone, just mark that you were given every oppertunity to vote and chose not to instead of just not showing up at all. And the punishment looks like it's 50 Australian dollars, which when converted to USD is less then my City forces basically everyone who lives here to pay.

If things like Jury Duty are an obligation and you can face litteral jail time for refusing I don't think it's unprecedented to make participation in democracy rewarded.

[Devsman]

Escrito originalmente por Out Of Bubblegum:

Escrito originalmente por Basarab Laiota:

never heard of something like that

Many countries require citizens to vote.

Pathetic.

[hypercybermegatron]

Escrito originalmente por RRW359:

I really don't like saying it's a terrible thing to do/not do something and yet also say that it should always be allowed, either what you are doing isn't harmful enough to complain about or it needs legislation. Unfortunately voter apathy is a massive problem in many countries and is part of the reason things are going so badly many places; not that you should be forced with jail time but some kind of financial incentive is understandable.

Also if I understand Australia correctly you don't even need to vote for someone, just mark that you were given every oppertunity to vote and chose not to instead of just not showing up at all. And the punishment looks like it's 50 Australian dollars, which when converted to USD is less then my City forces basically everyone who lives here to pay.

If things like Jury Duty are an obligation and you can face litteral jail time for refusing I don't think it's unprecedented to make participation in democracy rewarded.

+1

[Vox]

Who shall I vote for 🤔

Politician 1, rich and doesn't give a toss about voters.
Politician 2, rich and doesn't give a toss about voters.
Politician 3, rich and doesn't give a toss about voters.

What a choice we all have.

[RRW359]

Escrito originalmente por Vox:

Who shall I vote for 🤔

Politician 1, rich and doesn't give a toss about voters.
Politician 2, rich and doesn't give a toss about voters.
Politician 3, rich and doesn't give a toss about voters.

What a choice we all have.

Not sure if this is an option yet in any countries with mandatory voting but many places allow write-in's if you don't trust anyone running.

[Ettanin]

Just make your ballot invalid if you don't want to vote. Yes, not voting might be illegal, but making your ballot invalid intentionally cannot be illegal unless your choice is no longer a secret.

[Ganger]

Escrito originalmente por Γαῖα:

Escrito originalmente por Ulfrinn:

Yeah, well, we're paying off the inflation while corporations like Amazon, Walmart, and big pharma turned record breaking profits. The same people who supported the lockdowns are the same ones constantly pissing and moaning about the rich getting richer unable to figure out how that keeps happening.

Amazing to think that its become so absurd that it now threatens our lowest classes with actual extinction.

The lowers classes will never go extinct. I was angry about the lock downs because it mostly affected the lower classes, poor families suffered the most while like Ulfrinn stated, the likes of amazon, walmart and other big corporations profited massively while your little mom and pop store ended up closing down.

And what makes me even angrier is the working classes fought upon each other, fighting over wearing of masks and reporting each other for breaking lock down rules while the wealthy still partied like it's 1999.