Local elections are coming up on May 3rd, and it's the same old joke as usual - a "choice" that isn't one! Instead of not voting, how about voting for Nobody?
Vote Nobody (printable PDF poster)
- application/pdf 167K
Vote Nobody (poster preview)
You should vote for Nobody, because:
- Nobody keeps election promises.
- Nobody has all the answers.
- Nobody will represent you.
- Nobody will improve your community.
- Nobody has your best interests at heart.
- Nobody will make a real difference!
- A vote for Nobody is a vote for Everybody!
OK, seriously now...
It's not just about making a mockery of the farce that is "representative" democracy. It's also about producing more spoiled ballot papers with "Nobody" scrawled across them than the official winning candidate, thus undermining their "legitimacy" (as if they ever had any) to push the same old business-friendly, community-trashing policies that they always do, regardless of who gets in.
Whoever wins, ordinary people always lose! Nobody will change that, so vote for Nobody on May 3rd!
(There's a printer friendly Acrobat PDF attached - the image is just a preview!)
- Nobody keeps election promises.
- Nobody has all the answers.
- Nobody will represent you.
- Nobody will improve your community.
- Nobody has your best interests at heart.
- Nobody will make a real difference!
- A vote for Nobody is a vote for Everybody!
OK, seriously now...
It's not just about making a mockery of the farce that is "representative" democracy. It's also about producing more spoiled ballot papers with "Nobody" scrawled across them than the official winning candidate, thus undermining their "legitimacy" (as if they ever had any) to push the same old business-friendly, community-trashing policies that they always do, regardless of who gets in.
Whoever wins, ordinary people always lose! Nobody will change that, so vote for Nobody on May 3rd!
(There's a printer friendly Acrobat PDF attached - the image is just a preview!)
Homepage:
Thanks for the poster we can use in Australia with date change!
18.04.2007 02:12
Democratic Lost Property?
by Kevin Sunday April 15, 2007 at 02:49 PM
These things are all missing in your so called "democracy" the democracy you think you have!
We are calling for an abundance of people who don't believe in the official truth, which is a MONSTER and a lie all the days of your life, not to vote.
If things are going to change then they're never going to change whilst people give validity and credibility to a totally flawed system.
That means you'll be looking at Lib/Lab until the day you die!
Just Don't Vote or Vote Informal
You don't live in a democracy you live in a pseudo democracy. The democracy you have when you don't have a democracy. Which is a dictatorship!
You don't need a dictatorship! You're not a sheepy.
If John Howard and Kevin Rudd are a democracy then where is the Senate?
COAG is not a Senate! If every time you vote you get a Labor State or Territory and a Liberal Coalition National Govt then you live in a dictatorship.
By the way what would happen with COAG if one party ruled both the National and State and Territory affairs? DICTATORSHIP.
But if you consider that being a well-paid loser isn't a bad job and pays well then also consider the handshake between Lib/Lab that is a virtual one party.
For instance:
Where is the opposition to WAR?
Where is the opposition to WAR Crimes?
Where is the opposition to Draconian Laws?
Where is the opposition to Refugee Detainment?
Where is the opposition to David Hicks 5 year detention?
Where is the opposition to the AWB scandal?
Where is the opposition to Islamophobia?
Where is the opposition to Political Scapegoating?
Where is the opposition to Neo-Colonialism?
Where is the opposition to False Flag Operations by the CIA?
Where is the opposition to the FTA 'Investors Rights Agreement'?
Where is the opposition to Social Services Reform?
Where is the opposition to Desperate and Disabled to Work?
Where is the opposition to 6 week Social Security Payments Cut Off's?
Where is the opposition to Work for the Dole instead of Getting Better Education and Skills for Better Employment Opportunities?
Where is the opposition to Rorting the Social Security System by Corporate Greed?
The Real Dole Bludgers
Mr Speaker!
by Kevin Tuesday April 17, 2007 at 08:00 PM
For arguments sake let's say Lab just happened not to throw the election by coming up with say, an anti strike policy? Just Hypothetical of course?
Then say Lab wins! Yay! No?
At the next COAG meeting there is no real opposition to new Anti-Terror laws for opening your mouth more than five times in one day?
Labor agrees with Labor that that's okay now. No one argued at all!
Then on that basis Lab does what it wants?
So how does that work? Come on smarty I'm just stupid! Never went to school either!
Now I put it to you clearly as my proposition that in fact, Labor cannot Win on that basis because the Neo-Liberal Coalition would not allow it, for a start!
Who controls everything? They do!
The second point is that it wouldn't look right to the general public if and when a controversial issue come up.
What line of defence has either Lib or Lab come up with as a proposition to an event whereby one part ruled States, Territories, and the Central Gov't?
I rest my case!
Mr Speaker!
Business Council calls for COAG overhaul
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 18/04/2007 - 07:03.
What did I say!
=================
The Business Council of Australia says the current Council of Australian Governments (COAG) model needs to be overhauled because it is [incapable of addressing important national issues.]
The BCA says the relation between the federal and state governments is one of five key areas that politicians should focus on reforming as part of their federal election promises.
The BCA's president Michael Chaney says an overhaul of COAG will help make any reforms more effective.
[THE LIES]
"We simply can't afford a system of federal state relations which meets only occasionally, this year just once for half a day, decides erratically and follows through irregularly," he said.
"Businesses have really stopped believing in the effectiveness of COAG as it currently stands." [LIES]
Mr Chaney says reforming state-federal relations is the key to progress in education, workplace relations and business regulation.
"Frankly if the states aren't prepared to make regulatory reform a priority issue, it makes sense of the Commonwealth to take over repsonsibility for business rules and reuglations that are inefficient and inconsistent," he said.
"They've made life very costly and cumbersome for businesses operating in this country."
COAG is only for PNAC Neo-Liberal Dictators! This is just a nonsense by the Business Council to say that under a Labor Gov't considering they have control of the STATES and TERRITORIES THAT COAG CAN'T WORK.
OF COURSE IT CAN'T WORK!
That's the real reason because it can't work if one party ruled the nation can it? DICTATORSHIP!
Unemployed to be offered jobs in defence forces
Employment service providers will be encouraged to work with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to help more people take on a military career.
Time to go to war with your country?
Unemployed to be offered jobs in war forces. She says the scheme will provide opportunities to unemployed people who would not otherwise have considered a job in the ADF?
HOUSING - A HUMAN RIGHT
The news that the French government has drafted a law to give everyone a legally enforceable right to housing should be of interest to the 100,000 homeless people in Australia.
While great attention is given to home ownership in this country with 70% of Australians owning or purchasing their own homes, the lack of affordable rental accommodation is ignored.
The main cause of homelessness is insufficient public housing (where rents are normally fixed at 25% of income) and the limited number of private rental properties available being let at around $300 a week - for a two-bedroom unit and $350 a week - for a three bedroom home – all beyond the reach of low-income earners or those receiving unemployment or disability allowances.
The misleading public perception that the homeless have only themselves to blame for their plight or that a homeless person is a male and an alcoholic to boot denies the homeless public sympathy and allows politicians to do little to remedy the situation.
Yet the evidence shows that homelessness is not a lifestyle choice. Such people are in fact the most vulnerable in our community - they are the unemployed, the disabled, women and children fleeing domestic violence and sexual abuse and those suffering mental illness.
Statistics reveal that 42% of the homeless are women (half under the age of 24) and 50,000 children are among those seeking a roof over their heads.
The French government`s endorsement of Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is worthy of emulation as it links adequate housing for all with the health and welfare of people as a human right.
Those without a dwelling in which to reside have the added risk of going hungry, being assaulted (if sleeping on the streets) and never having a secure, private space so important to self-esteem and wellbeing.
While here in Australia we willingly encourage governments to allocate taxpayers funds to provide hospitals and schools for all, it is a serious anomaly that the provision of shelter for all is overlooked.
Federal governments do not leave it to the market to dictate property trends as they continue to grant billions of dollars to housing investors by way of negative gearing and reduced capital gains, tax concessions. (In 2005 tax deductions claimed on rental property were $20.5 billion.)
Therefore, with a change of policy on such inequitable taxation concessions and subsidies, funds could be made available to increase affordable public housing stock (either by way of construction or by the spot-buying of existing dwellings), at the same time involving insurance and superannuation companies in worthwhile rental housing projects as is the case in some other countries.
Those of us who have the security and enjoyment of owning our own home or are struggling to pay a high mortgage must demand that governments provide secure, affordable housing for the unlucky Australians – the homeless.
In this way we will be upholding a basic human right for all.
Keith McEwan ACT
Youth homelessness inquiry head tells of 'crisis point'
A national inquiry into youth homelessness has been told an accommodation shortage is one of the main reasons the problem is getting worse.
It is estimated there are about 35,000 young homeless people in Australia and the number is rising.
Democratic Lost Property?
These things are all missing in your so called "democracy" the democracy you think you have!
We are calling for an abundance of people who don't believe in the official truth, which is a MONSTER and a lie all the days of your life, not to vote.
If things are going to change then they're never going to change whilst people give validity and credibility to a totally flawed system.
That means you'll be looking at Lib/Lab until the day you die!
Bush (Custer) Last Stand In Iraq - War Drums in Washington
The majority of American citizens have the delusion that they actually decide who governs them, when in practice the Democrats and Republicans are only two wings of the same ruling class that owns Congress, just as it owns the land, the banks and big corporations, the newspapers, and radio and television companies.
Stop Voting - Stop Supporting Pseudo Democracies
Just as communicating with the Feds about abandoning the way we live now is a futile process that only buttresses the legitimacy of old ways of thinking and living, continuing to vote within centralised political processes only reinforces their continuing relevance. Citizens who continue to reside within totalitarian-democracies can, at least partly, abandon them by not voting at elections that will never lead to abundance and a better way of living.
Where voting is compulsory, as it is for all three levels of government in Australia, it will be preferable for dissenting citizens to cast informal ballots. If large numbers of citizens do this the numerical legitimacy of the victorious party will be reduced. Whenever the Feds introduce electronic voting machines that do not allow informal ballots it will be time to leave the present nation state, just as it was time for many people to leave Nazi Germany in 1935. Once totalitarianism shows its face openly it is time to go. Leaver-givers who decide to leave their nation in such circumstances are sure to prefer to relocate to a free city or region, where they will be among like-minded people with the same goal of laying down the base for a Level 4 Civilization.
People living in countries that appear to be heading towards a violently totalitarian future should plan their move early and have several options thought out and provided for. In this case not voting will not be enough, there is a need to ensure the safety of loved ones. Those citizens who left Germany before 1933 were generally able to take funds and possessions with them, those who scraped out after 1933 were less fortunate. Many who stayed were dispossessed, imprisoned, raped, slaughtered, or otherwise mistreated by the Nazis or the "liberating" armies. If you're going to leave, do it early.
=========================================
War criminals need time, not a timetable: Community
Not only has Labor left the Iraqi's in the lurch by being complicit in the illegal and degrading act of aggression killing over 655,000 people in a holocaust but now they say, after the fact, that they won't leave the Iraqi's in the lurch. So why have we been left in the lurch?
THE MONSTER
The MONSTER destroys itself, so why do we fight the MONSTER? Why not just build our own world? Think of cost benefit of our time, money and our investment in building a new world - opposed to trying to stop the MONSTER who is always right. I know! We might save some lives! Nah! The monster said… that those people had to die and they'll have to lock people up if they disagree. So we say… well lock us up then. And they do! Then they go off and continue to do the killing while people are locked up. Because that was the right thing to do - because they were just terrorists and you were just a wild animal that doesn't understand capitalism and the way the system works. I know! We'll stop the war in Iraq? But Afghanistan is okay so well just keep on building democracy over there?
Lib/Lab Truth Scale TV
Yeah there was Johnny Howard lecturing about how the Liberals could lead NSW with a Peter Debnam's 'Let's fix NSW' campaign. But the way I see it they know how to 'fix it', all right! In more criminal ways than one. You just have to think like a war criminal and invite the spirits in for a chat about history...
THE POLITICS OF CRIME IN AUSTRALIA TODAY
How is it that Prime Minister John Howard can accuse other people of some crime or lies? No, you do not need to be clairvoyant or have any special supernatural talents to meet up with or to see one of the more see-through inhabitants of politics in Australia today. You just need a strong heart and an eager mind. While other people, who are being accused, belittled, tainted or desecrated by numerous criminal politicians and their media allies. Politicians who don't lead us by any form of example and who break their own morals, principals, values, and ethics. Politicians who break their own laws in order to deceive us and to suit their own political ends.
Australia: The New 51st State
John Howard's servility to the US is even greater than Tony Blair's and has earned him the nickname Bush's deputy sheriff. The conspiracy between Washington, the media and politicians is eroding the country's freedoms
If you're waiting for Lib/Lab then you're just waiting for a catastrophe!
What about all the scapegoats the Howard government has produced for their war on terror/resources? Most, still languishing in isolated segregation prisons and still waiting to be heard. Rendition and torture of our citizens? 20 years for thought crimes? Jury asked to push on when they couldn't make up their mind? Rules of evidence and standards lowered in our local courts? 5 years in Guantanamo without trial or charge? Military style Kangaroo Courts, Control Orders? Detention Orders? Indefinite Detention? Then we have Australian citizens being held in detention and even being deported?
Possible Torres Strait survivor sightings ignored, inquest hears
The coronial inquest into the sinking of an Immigration Department boat in 2005 in the Torres Strait, in far north Queensland, has heard survivors may have been spotted alive in the water during the rescue search.
Kevin
nice idea, but....
18.04.2007 10:34
nobody
Leaflet
18.04.2007 12:46
Nobody
e-mail:
votenobody@riseup.net
Homepage:
http://www.myspace.com/votenobody
what is the consequence of this?
18.04.2007 21:52
This can be taken 2 ways though. 1] they're as bad as each other, so you get much the same whatever. 2] If you try to ignore it and hope it will go away, it wont! What ever the minority of vote, the winner will still claim legitimacy, and carry on, being a government and doing stuff.
During the last french elections, appathy about the voting process gave a huge boost to the fortunes of Jean-Marie Le Pen, a right-wing nasty
Remembering what happened last time, this year, I understand there is a rush to register, and folks that have never voted, are now going to do so in large numbers.
Me, I've never not voted. But, I have never been able to vote for what I want. In this system, I can only vote against things. I have always had to vote for who I think will keep the heaviest nasties out. A sad democracy perhaps.
I would like to see a "None of the above" box though.
This cartoon I have kept all this time, best expressed this to me. I hope you see what I'm getting at .......
tash
Some answers on the point of these posters
19.04.2007 10:35
Think outside the box a little - there are many uses for these posters, beyond putting them up in your own front window.
They could be posted through people's doors - particularly those who are proudly proclaiming which party they are going to vote for.
Then there's also the city council "I'm having my say" propaganda billboard campaign, urging people to vote and have their say, when of course in reality, that's exactly the opposite of what happens when you vote in this system. Something can be done about countering that propaganda, and a simple poster is an effective way to do it.
It's not so much about proclaiming my own opinions as challenging other people's, and hopefully giving them a little prod in the right direction to see through the bullshit of "representative" elections.
Finally, despite being an anarchist, I am not against voting. In fact, I want more of it, because I want to have a direct say in the matters that affect me - "direct democracy".
Direct democracy is as much about originating ideas as it is about approving of them. I want to really have my say by discussing, voting and acting directly on issues myself, rather than on people to (not) do it for me. Being an anarchist, I am also opposed to coercion, so the "democracy" I have in mind would be different to the "democracy" that is enforced now - it would be libertarian democracy, not authoritarian.
With Nobody in government, this would become possible. Communities could form their own groups - probably some kind of federation of small-scale neighbourhood assemblies - and make their own autonomous decisions from the bottom up, acting for themselves and each other with mutual aid.
Simply ignoring politicians isn't enough - we've got to organise and undermine them so they become completely irrelevant.
Certainly in this country "not voting" is thought of as apathy, when I think far more often it's actually antipathy, in the realisation (whether conscious or subconscious) that whoever we vote for it makes no difference.
So, the reason I would like to encourage people to turn up and vote for "Nobody" is because turning up and actively spoiling your ballot paper shows that we are not apathetic, but antipathetic. That's not legitimising elections - it's actively undermining them, instead of doing nothing.
Finally, to answer Tash - supporting someone you oppose less in order to keep out someone you oppose more just helps the status quo, I'm afraid. If there's Nobody to represent you, then that's probably who you should vote for!
Bill Bored
Don't just (not) vote
19.04.2007 11:50
In the US there was actually an election where absolutely nobody turned up to vote. Even the one candidate managed to forget. Needless to say, the area in question has not declared itself an anarchist commune and seceded from the States.
Link:
The state will not disappear because we stop engaging with it. Hell, if it really wants people to vote it can just make it a legal requirement (which it is in some other countries) or have people frog-marched to the polling booths.
I'm also dubious about the implication that an anti-voting campaign is likely to encourage interest in anarchy. In the 2005 election, the most vocal boycott campaign in Nottingham was organised by a Maoist. (The relative merits of Maoism v. anarchism are not really my concern here, this is simply a useful illustration of my point.)
Link:
For what it's worth, I've always appreciated the "don't just (not) vote" approach, advanced by Crimethinc in 2004. They argue that whether you vote or not is less important than what you're doing in between the quadrennial spectacles and focus on positive things people can do.
Link:
Disillusioned kid
e-mail:
disillusioned_kid (at) yahoo.co.uk
Homepage:
http://disillusionedkid.blogspot.com
Libertarian Democracy is still democracy
19.04.2007 12:43
Bill Bored:
>Think outside the box a little
Yes Mr Anarchist Sir! There was me thinking that anarchy was about having the confidence that other people were already capable of directing themselves. How silly of me! It's just a front for some people to 'organise' and dole out instructions.
>despite being an anarchist, I am not against voting. In >fact, I want more of it, because I want to have a direct >say in the matters that affect me - "direct democracy".
But what about the fact that democracy will always lead to a tyranny of the majority. What about diversity and the autonomy of minorities? What's so bad about consensus decision making, where the process aims to respect everyone's perspective? Voting is often used to simplify a debate and bulldoze through a decision, without really examining the complexities or the issues for minority view-holders, regardless of how 'direct' or otherwise it is.
>Communities could form their own groups - probably some >kind of federation of small-scale neighbourhood assemblies >- and make their own autonomous decisions from the bottom >up, acting for themselves and each other with mutual aid.
Sounds like you've got it all sewn up. Why not stand for office on a Nobody slate? Sorry, did I rumble you there.
>So, the reason I would like to encourage people to turn up >and vote for "Nobody" is because turning up and actively >spoiling your ballot paper shows that we are not apathetic, >but antipathetic. That's not legitimising elections - it's >actively undermining them, instead of doing nothing.
Yeah, but answer the points above. If you think elections are fundamentally illegitimate, why are you using them to register your dissent? It's not actively undermining them at all, as the only person who's going to register your 'protest' vote is some bored council official throwing it in the bin. Even if you got half the country doing it (which I think is highly unlikely) it could easily be ignored and news of it suppressed.
As Disillusioned Kid says, elections are just a distraction, and it's what you're doing for the rest of your life that's important.
Withered Bill
I'll be voting...........
20.04.2007 10:30
well done op the flier, my one critism is that I think the flier would be better with a link a website explaining anarchism and how to reclaim real democracy, and how to get involved locally. other than that. nice one!
Fly Posters
It's a Bad Idea.
30.04.2007 15:11
I empathise that voting has become dull and that middle of the road politics are the norm, but if we fail to exercise our democratic rights then we can't really complain when the same ineffective politicians return to power again and again. Worst still we could have a situation like in France when so little of the population voted that the French equivalent of the National Front became the majority leaders.
Do we really want to let everybody else decide who gets to run the country?
Joshua Rogers
ON VOTING FOR NOBODY
01.05.2007 11:55
Many other "mature" (!) deomcracies have on their voting papers something like "one of the above".
Can organise Vote Nobody stickers in time to circulate to a large number and stick these on the voting papers?
liz else