Thursday 6 September 2012

Unlike pr first past the post favours the left

It is not possible to vote for the Tories (the generic party of the centre-right) under first past the post. If we had pr then it might be possible to vote for that party but because we have no choice to reject Labour then we cannot vote Tory. We cannot vote Tory if we have no choice... we can vote Labour if we have no choice but that is different politics and fptp is not symmetrical. The default vote under fptp is for the centre-left party... that's just the way it is. It would be strange for the default vote to be for the centre-right party... it would mean that this party represented a kind of popular monarchy which everyone supports. But of course monarchies do not work like that. If they are the monarchy there is no need to vote for them. We do not vote for our leaders we do not vote for our employers and owners... it makes no sense. We might vote to be left alone but that is different. It would then be a contradiction (if we want to be left alone) to vote for a monolithic collectivist party. If we want to be left alone then it makes more sense to vote for a smaller party. Even if the Tory party is a Libertarian party it doesn't make much sense for half of the population to be voting for a Libertarian party... if everyone is a Libertarian (or at least half of the population) then there is no point in having elections because there is nothing we want the government to do for us. The Tories are not an anarchist party and so the choice between two statist parties is frustrating to those who would like more freedom. The Tories are the same thing as Labour but less so in which case it makes sense to vote for the real thing. If we do not like Labour we would want to vote for what is the opposite of Labour not what is the same as Labour but to a lesser degree. Fptp offers no opportunity for Libertarians and anarchists to effectively make their voice heard and for that reason if favours the left. The left are able to vote authentically for the political theory they espouse but that is not also true for those on the right. Only pr offers those on the right the opportunity to have their voice heard... unless the Tories become true anarchists.

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