Electing

It is the day of the local and national elections. There has been a more intense build-up than usual, with lots of people stating their views. A good thing for the country, I think. We should be concerned about who governs and how we are governed. Nick, Nina and I all walked down to Spon Gate Primary School to vote and we voted different ways, which is what it’s all about.

Over the last few months, I’ve noticed an unsettling trend on Facebook. There is a box in which users write a thought for the day, the week or the moment, it is called a ‘status’. People have been getting political, perhaps as a response to the expenses scandal involving MP’s of all parties, and this seems a good thing. My difficulty has been with the popularity of status notes that attack asylum seekers. I collected some examples. Here they are:

JUST SO I UNDERSTAND THIS. YOU PASS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YRS. HARD LABOR, YOU PASS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET SHOT. YOU PASS THE ENGLISH BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET A JOB, DRIVER'S LICENSE, ALLOWANCE FOR A PLACE TO LIVE, HEALTH CARE, EDUCATION, BILLIONS OF POUNDS SPENT SO YOU CAN READ A DOCUMENT. WE CARRY PASSPORTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES OR FACE JAIL TIME. REPOST THIS IF YOU AGREE
Status 4.5.10

My ENGLISH pride I will not hide. The ENGLISH race I wont disgrace. My ENGLISH blood flows hot and true and ENGLISH people I'll stand by you. Through thick and thin until i die my ENGLISH PRIDE stands so high" !!! --- ST GEORGES DAY is TODAY make this ur status to show your proud ENGLISH friends and remind them to celebrate !!
Status 23.4.10

lets build the biggest church in pakistan n open a chippy on every corner!
Group 21.4.10

All of the above (and there have been many others, these are just the most recent that I found to cut and paste) were posted by people I know and like. Some seemed to be words that were being passed around. I am left perplexed. Do people genuinely believe these things? If so, what led them to hold these views. Does it in any way matter that the first statement is far from accurate, in the second that StGeorge was Lebanese, or regarding the third that during the Empire the British exported our culture and fucked up Pakistan for generations to come? What bothers me more though is that I didn’t respond to any of these statuses (or is that stati?). I am a coward, or a bit too polite as Facebook just doesn’t seem the place? Should I have responded, and if so, in public or by email?

On a similar theme, I wanted to go down to Barking and join the anti BNP work, but I had to have the car’s MOT done, so I didn’t make it. I was a bit frightened of being attacked, so may well have chickened out anyway. I gave £5 instead. Is that enough? No. I will try and do better.

By this morning, I was starting to go off Facebook a bit, but it only takes the smallest of somethings to turn me around. Up popped this lovely status:

The only wasted vote is an unused vote. (I think so, anyway.) Even voting for a party that can't win a 'safe seat' will contribute to their overall vote share, which could influence the coalition of a hung parliament.

Trust me, I've got a poncho.

Bye!



Bye then x