POLITICAL IRONY IS PREVALENT IN TAMESIDE

With General and Local elections looming, Tameside council have published a news release on their website announcing that there’s ‘no time like the present’ for young people to learn about the power of their vote!

“Those who vote decide nothing...”  

In their release they tell how students from Ashton Sixth Form College and Hyde Clarendon College took part in a ‘Bite the Ballot’ Democracy Day, organised by Tameside Council, -  apparently to demystify the voting process and switch them on to the world of politics by informing them of the influence they can have on society and their communities.

A noble cause! 

But, the very mention of the word democracy and Tameside’ in the same sentence should cause students who may be studying democracy to go and lie-down in a dark room and contemplate another career choice.

Because attempting to study democracy on a course organised by Tameside council, ostensibly in an effort to “demystify” the voting process in order to ‘switch students on’ to the world of politics, is like taking a group of vegetarians and teaching them how to slaughter sheep, pigs and cattle in a progressive abattoir!

I was taught that ‘democracy’ comes from two Greek words: demos – the people; and  kratos – power. So ‘democracy’ can be most simply defined as ‘people power’. 

Put simply, democracy is supposed to be rule by the majority! - In Tameside,democracy is easily redefined by the snake-oil salesmen of the Labour council, who manage to twist the truth by launching their propaganda machine.

"Those who count the vote decide everything.”

Now, I can understand the theory of a party neutral, not for profit community interest organisation aiming to increase the number of young people registered to vote and thus increase the turnout of young people at elections, but to run the event in a borough where the council operates on a cabinet system; where a small group of very powerful councillors make all the decisions; on an average 32% turnout; even if everyone eligible to vote chose to kick-out the ruling junta, the outcome would not change!

Tameside offers voters as much actual choice as a Stalinist one-party state.

Therefore, in Tameside, to say that any elected official is chosen by the people through majority rule is blatantly dishonest. What this says is that democracy is not ruled by the majority. It is merely ruled by the majority of voters.

So if one looks at democracy as practised in Tameside with a critical eye, democracy is revealed for the ridiculous and idiotic concept it is.