p2pnet news view | P2P | Politics:- I’ve never voted before. Why bother? I’m lucky enough to live in a country where people largely get on with their lives in spite of whoever happens to be in power.

We have our troubles — too many homeless people and poor families living below the poverty line and far too many fat cats with a lot of money and zero desire to help anyone but themselves. But that’s the way it’s always been.

I’m married to Liz, an amazing (and amazingly tolerant ) woman. And Emma, my 12-year-old daughter, is a smart and funny kid who keeps me on my toes 28 hours a day.  And that’s the way I like it.

It could, though, very easily change for the worse.

Same old same old

Canada, once feted around the world as the home of the free, is fast becoming the land of the fee, and it’s not getting any better.

The only time politicians go anywhere near the people who elected them is when they want to be re-elected. So they show up on your doorstep with all kinds of promises about what they’ll do and not do.

But this time it’s different. We have the Net on our side and because of it, we have the power to make sure there’s no more of the same old same old with the Liberals and/or Conservatives calling the shots — for the corporations (mainly American), not you and I.

I’m an ordinary person, but I have something most ordinary people don’t have: a web page which has been online long enough to have acquired a reasonable number of readers not only in Canada, but around the world. So as part of the effort, I’m putting p2pnet where my mouth is in what I believe will be a first, online or off.

From tomorrow until October 14, the date of the elections, I’m devoting the site — all of it, every day — to news and events centering on the elections, with the spotlight primarily on the New Democrats.

I’m being partisan because there isn’t much time left and I think we have to decide what we believe needs to happen, and then go for it.

My friend Russell McOrmond will be looking after things in Ottawa from a much more generalised point of view, and posting from there, and between us — and anyone who wants to help with articles, comment posts, you name it — we’ll try to provide an honest elections resource for Canadians.

We’re counting on P2P People Power — Canadian P2P People Power, young Canadian P2P People Power — to make the difference.

“Young people don’t vote,” said a friend when I told him what I intended to do. “But they like to take stands and do neat techy things …”

I disagree. They’ll vote.

They know as well as anyone else we don’t need the Liberals running things any more than we need the Conservatives at the helm.

We’ve been there and done that.

Look where it’s gotten us.

George W Harper

Why the NDP?

Frankly, the chances of Elizabeth May becoming the new prime minister aren’t high, so I believe the next best outcome is for the NDP to either form a new minority government, or return as a powerful opposition party.

And IMHO, the best chance of  making that happen is for the the young people of Canada, 99.9% of whom are online, to get behind Layton and his crew.

If they can’t bring themselves to do that, they should put their X next to May’s name.

With the NDP and MPs such as Vancouver Centre’s Michael Byers and NDP digital issues spokesman Charlie Angus acting for us in parliament, the future would look a hell of a lot rosier than it does with George W Harper in charge.

Meanwhile, as I said in an email earlier today:

“[…] if Harper’s Conservatives get in again, but this time with a majority, we’re in danger of becoming another corporate division.  We’re already two thirds of the way there.”

In another email, I was telling a friend in Europe not to expect the same content as usual. Here’s his response »»»

wait, so no tech, p2p, etc articles at all? and i’ll just wait on the sidelines until whenever the election is over? i don’t even know when that is. i didn’t even know there were canadian elections. i barely know anything about US elections.

i pay no attention to politics because every politician in every country is a liar. they’ll say anything to get elected. just the thought of politics puts me to sleep.

let me know when it’s all over.

Will do and in the meanwhile, I’ll post two or three headline roundsup every day so I don’t miss everything. BUT if something of world shaking significance happens, please tell me. (I’d hate to find Stephen Harper has crossed the floor and joined the Greens and not know about it. )

If you’d like to contribute something to the count-down, send your submission to p2pnet @ shaw dot ca or russell -@ flora dot ca.

Or post it as a Reader’s Write.

But whatever you do, don’t just stay tuned.

I plan to put my X in the box this time around.

If you’re Canadian, vote! And tell your friends online and off to do the same.

(But not for the Cons or Libs )

Cheers, everyone! And thanks …

Jon Newton - p2pnet

Los Angeles Times - , September , 2008

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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 5th, 2008 at 6:45 pm and is filed under Politics, P2P. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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