Tomorrow is Germany's big day. It's their turn to play modern liberal democracy. The polls will be open till 6:00 pm, and they will have barely closed and the first returns are going to be showered upon us. Personally, I have no dog in the hunt. I'm not eligible to vote here, but I will certainly be affected by whatever happens.
Oh, I'm not going to go on about any of my own prognoses on how the election will turn out. I think it's a pretty foregone conclusion that it will very much a lot of the same old same-old. Whichever party does muster the most votes and will be charged with forming a government is going to have to coalesce with at least one other (larger) party, or maybe even two. Though I find a proportional representation somewhat messy, I prefer it hands down to the first-past-the-post model that the Americans dreamed up. There is always some compromising to do, that's for sure, but, well, we've seen where blocking ... or blockhead ... politics can get you.
No, my own personal take on it all is that the system is simply rigged. Those most affected, or at least those directly affected, have little, if no say in how they are governed. I know all the reasons why lots of folks think that's the way it should be, but I really have to ask why it is that I'm good enough to pay taxes and am required to use government-provided services, but I have absolutely no opportunity to cast my vote for whomever I want representing me.
Yes, I'm one of those weirdos who thinks that voting rights should be a matter of residency, not of citizenship. Let's face it, I do not reside in any of the 50 United States, and rightfully, I shouldn't have a say or a voice in who runs the show. I'm not affected, I don't keep up with local affairs. But, in a similar vein, what do I have to say about federal-level elections. My last state of residence was California, but why in heavens should I be allowed to vote in the elections for Congress or the Presidential elections? I am at best tangentially affected by whomever is in office and I am so removed from the goings-on in California that it is simply ludicrous for me to be chiming in about anything, let alone voting.
The situation is very different here. Of course, it's also different, say, for a Brit living in Germany, or an Italian living in Spain, or a Belgian living in Greece. Each of these citizens is confronted with the consequences of each and every decision made from Brussels on down to the municipal level. I think each of these individuals should be allowed to vote locally, wherever it is they are living and working, and not necessarily only there from whence they hail.
Yes, we like to talk about freedom and democracy, but it's just a ruse. Deep down, we find any number of ways to fix it that those affected by decisions have nothing to contribute to those decisions. We don't want openness and freedom. We'd much rather have rules, restrictions, regulations, and reasons-to-say-no.
This is just another example where the system has simply not been able to keep up with the changes that have affected it, and most of us aren't quick-witted enough to realize that you can't solve tomorrow's problems with yesterday's solutions.
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