Steve, on his Deep Calls to Deep blog, was posting about some research he has done into the manifesto of the British Nationalist Party. While I think there are many things about the character of Britain that are worth preserving and cherishing, their drive (in effect, towards an “Aryan nation”, although they aren’t quite brazen enough to express in those words) is deeply flawed. At their heart, they trade on fear of what is different rather than confidence in what is familiar and hope for the future. Fear is an inevitably bankrupt currency, although that doesn’t stop it being widely used (and not always by such obviously narrow-minded bigots as the BNP).
It’s now just over a week to many local elections round the UK. My concern is that too many people won’t bother voting at all and thus provide openings for groups like the BNP to increase their influence because their small core of supporters will have a disproportionately large effect on the results.
Personally, I think that voting should be compulsory (although ballot papers would then need to include a “none of the above” option). However, if you can’t be bothered to exercise your right to cast your ballot, you may well end up effectively voting for parties you despise because you didn’t ensure any of the alternatives were better supported.