Generation Complacent

It turns out that writing this blog is like me trying to stick to healthier life choices (like exercising, and not over eating), it happens every once in a while, but it doesn't stick. Having said that, if this blog is meant to be a reflection on me getting a life, then maybe not writing here very regularly is the indication I do actually go out and do things. (Maybe one day I will blog about those said things here like I had originally intended, but for now this will probably remain my unedited and grammatically incorrect ranting zone).

The other morning I was listening to the radio (Triple J if you were interested, the new radio station of choice in my car in my desperation to avoid Top40 and adbreaks that ruin my commute), and the news headlines came on. They mentioned a recent survey of Australian young people revealed that less than half (48%) of the people survey did not think that Democracy was the best form of government. I found another article relating to the outcome of the survey here for your reading pleasure:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/civic-pride-a-lost-cause/story-e6frg6z6-1226668451596

Also, if you weren't aware, the number of parents refusing to have their children vaccinated is also on the rise (not a great article but I couldn't find the one I found previously that listed the stats of the issue).

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/vaccinate-your-children-or-declare-why-not-parents-told-20130528-2n8wp.html

The reality is, that there are few living reminders of the disasters that occur when we don't vaccinate or where democracy isn't an option for government. As much as I get riled up when I find out that parents don't vaccinate their children, I have to admit, I am certainly not government/politician/politics savvy. I think that this comes from my utter distaste of the medias distortion of what does happen in our government, how ineffective the implementation of some policies are, and that I'm not sure the voters are really as valued by the government as they should be.

With the election coming up in September, a part of me wants to vote for some indie/Green party candidate, not necessarily because I believe in the Party's policies but moreso to avoid liability when it comes down to the struggle between Liberal and Labour (mini-rant: For someone who struggles with acronyms and didn't get a great civics education in High School, trying to work out which party is referred to by the "L" in "ALP" and then trying to keep straight the fact that the present Liberal party isn't very liberal compared to the Labour party at the moment is perplexing and also makes me shy away from politics). Having said that though, I know a lot of people are being swayed by the idea of not wanting Gillard as a PM to the point that they would consider Abbott as a replacement. But that isn't fair on the Gillard government. They have actually managed to get a few things done, not well or in a large enough capacity to make the achievements seem revolutionary, but they still got it done. So I feel like I should be voting to counteract that negative force that the media is spitting out (speaking of which, apparently this element is likely a result of big moneybags such as Gina Rinehart and Rupert Murdoch who have so much say in what a lot of the media gets to put out, and if that's so, then this sort of a corruption means that the democracy we have isn't really a democracy at all and so it's not exactly hard to see why some people might think we could do just as good a job if we were under a more forced form of government from a higher body).

Oh and then today, well, the spill happens. And then all these young people start calling in to the radio station and commenting about how they would vote (not change who they would vote for, but would actually cast a valid vote) if Rudd made the leadership.  At the moment I'm still raging that the spill is even happening. Granted, I don't think it's fair to ignore the fact that people are looking at Abbott as an alternative to Julia rather than considering any policy behind it, and for that reason alone, a change could be okay. But that's it. Stability would be preferable. What would be even better if gossip wasn't reportable news for the sakes of not provoking these kinds of events into a reality (maybe this is where the Murdoch/Rinehart thing comes into play, but again this isn't something I'm educated in).

It is night's like tonight that kind of give evidence to suggest why kids think that democracy isn't a good system. It feels like it isn't working and that the focus isn't on making decisions so much as talking about unrelated topics.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGH.

I am sitting here writing this until my Dad tells me that they are releasing the outcome. I sat in front of ABC24 and tried my hardest, but listening to speculation while incredibly exasperated and frustrated just wasn't happening. So pardon me while I vent.

Poor people, all they wanted to do was watch the Origin tonight. (Speaking of which, my car still has Qld plates on it so I'm assuming that's why my car got egged last night - not cool).

Alright, I'm done. Going to see what the outcome is.


UPDATE: Is it true that Nelson Mandela has passed?

UPDATE2: Is it true that the Origin broadcast is being postponed until the reveal?

UPDATE3: Earlier in the year when Simon Crean called the last spill and Rudd didn't show but the whole country was holding it's breath, I was at Celia Paquola's stand up show. The first thing she did was got the whole audience to have a big old swear and try to relieve the tension. I am desperately in need of this, but the house is filled with little ears (and probably Varys' spiders) so I can't do that right now. If you can, please do in my honour.