Who(that can) isn't going to vote on Oct 14th?

[Inferno]

I'm not voting. To me they're all liers and really I have no interest in politics so I'll just leave who wins up to people who care.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Dion

And if Hitler conquered Europe, do you think he would have stopped there?

He would have had no choice. Even at the absolute height of its power, Nazi Germany had neither the manpower nor the equipment necessary to launch a trans-oceanic invasion of North America.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Inferno

I'm not voting. To me they're all liers and really I have no interest in politics so I'll just leave who wins up to people who care.

If the Liberals get in and bring on thier carbon tax, you won't complain when your heating bill goes up, gasoline goes up, and the cost of good in general?

[onetwo_threefour]

I will be voting NDP as I have ever since moving to Calgary. I want them to get some money to contune being a social conscience for the governing party, but know that my vote isn't going to elect them. If I lived in Ontario still, I would probably vacillate between the three parties for any given election depending on their platforms. I will always vote, but as with many, I am not enamoured of any of the parties based on their governance records since I became old enough to pay attention in the early 90's.

[tete]

For those who wish to spoil their ballots in protest, may I suggest that you decline your ballot instead of spoiling it? A declined ballot shows that someone has made in informed choice to not vote, while a spoiled ballot just means that someone couldn't figure out where to put the "X" .

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

He would have had no choice. Even at the absolute height of its power, Nazi Germany had neither the manpower nor the equipment necessary to launch a trans-oceanic invasion of North America.

Okay, I agree with most of your political posts, but this seems just silly to me.

If Hitler had been successful in conquering Europe and creating some kind of Germanic superstate, equivalent to the USA or USSR, we may very well have has a three-way nuclear arms race, with an inherently war-like ideology in place in one of those those three states. I think it is facile to think that Canada's international securtiy wasn't being threatened.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by Dion

If the Liberals get in and bring on thier carbon tax, you won't complain when your heating bill goes up, gasoline goes up, and the cost of good in general?

Not really no. Most of those are non-issues for me.

[Bandit]

Originally Posted by Barnes

I am voting for all the candidates in my riding.

Wow so is my wacko neighbour. He's got his entire backyard fence nailed over with election signs from every conceivable candidate, even ones not running in our area. Apparently he's very active politically

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Do you think your grandfathers would care more about a poppy on your visor, or you getting out to vote?

The poppy comment was in response to Dion for point fingers that I have forgotten about those who fought for our choice.

Originally Posted by Dion

Those vets fought for your freedom and mine and your ability to choose a govt to run our country. Yet you insult them by not taking the time to look at the issues and make an informed vote.

So they would be insulted that I choose not to vote because they fought for my right to have a choice?

[Dion]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

He would have had no choice. Even at the absolute height of its power, Nazi Germany had neither the manpower nor the equipment necessary to launch a trans-oceanic invasion of North America.

http://hnn.us/articles/32084.html

To overcome these practical obstacles Hitler built up the German navy and began work on a long-range bomber -- the notorious Amerika Bomber -- which would be capable of flying to New York and back without refueling. Although the bomber proved difficult to construct, Hitler embarked on a crash building program of superbattleships promptly after the defeat of France. In addition, he began accumulating air and sea bases on the Atlantic coast to facilitate attacks on the United States. In April 1941 Hitler secretly pledged that he would join Japan in a war on the United States. This was critical. Only if Japan declared war would Germany follow.

As long as Germany had to face the United States essentially by herself, she needed time to build her own blue-water navy; it therefore made sense to postpone hostilities with the Americans until Germany had been able to remedy this deficiency. If, on the other hand, Japan would come into the war on Germany's side, then that problem was automatically solved.

[Dion]

Not worth it.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by HOOT

The poppy comment was in response to Dion for point fingers that I have forgotten about those who fought for our choice.



So they would be insulted that I choose not to vote because they fought for my right to have a choice?

I know my granddad was disgusted at the idea of not voting.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Dion

Not worth it.

Come on...

Don't make me post a video of my Vote Card going through the shredder....I know that's your kryptonite

I am sure some people would be upset about some non-voters. However if you don't believe in any of the parties, then what? What is the difference between a spoiled vote and non-vote?

[Azure]

I'll try to vote.....first time ever, but I'm spoiling my ballot. Nobody on there I'd support anyways.

[octothorp]

I'm with HOOT on this. There were many good reasons for going to war, most of them were decided on an individual level and it's a misrepresentation to say that our grandfathers went to war to fight for 'X'. Some went out of fear that our way of life was in danger. Some went out of a moral outrage for what was happening in Europe. Some went because it was the only job they could find, or because their friends were all enlisting, or because their fathers had fought in the previous war. Regardless of motives, we owe a great debt to all of them, but there's nothing in this debt about exercising our right to vote. If our grandfathers fought for the right to practice religion (and certainly some did, given how Nazis were generally labelled godless), are we as a society then obligated to go to church?

And if exercising this right was just a motive for war, you'd expect a big uptick in post-war voter turnout in Canada. Prewar 1930s voter turnout was around 74% percent, while the first two post-war elections had only 70%. Still above last election's 65%, but there's nothing to suggest that our grandfathers' generation viewed voting as a more important or sacred act than we do today.

Personally, it frustrates me to see the dwindling voter turnout numbers. But these numbers are merely a symptom of the problem: people just aren't interested or motivated or inspired by the political process in our country, and individuals voting out of some false obligation to another generation only masks that apathy.

If your own grandfather tells you that he fought in the war so that you can vote, then I would suggest you do so. It would mean a lot to him, and you'll probably feel good for having done so. But it's not something that should be extended beyond that sort of personal relationship to all of society.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Come on...

Don't make me post a video of my Vote Card going through the shredder....I know that's your kryptonite

I am sure some people would be upset about some non-voters. However if you don't believe in any of the parties, then what? What is the difference between a spoiled vote and non-vote?

Come on what?

My grandfather would have spat on the ground you walked on!

There are people dying in other countries fighting for the right to choose a govt they believe in. Would you be willing to trade places with one of them so they could have a chance at voting?

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Nothing annoys me more than people that say that they aren't going to vote because they can't find a party that fully represents them.

Let me give anyone who thinks like that a little bit of advice.
There are 5 people in this country who agree whith the entire platform of a party.
Care to guess who they are?
Stephen Harper
Stephan Dion
Jack Layton
Gilles Duceppe
Elizabeth May

See what I'm doing there.
Of course you aren't going to agree with everthing a party stands for, but you can find the one that is closest to your view on what you think are the most important issues and cast your vote for them.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by onetwo_threefour

Okay, I agree with most of your political posts, but this seems just silly to me.

If Hitler had been successful in conquering Europe and creating some kind of Germanic superstate, equivalent to the USA or USSR, we may very well have has a three-way nuclear arms race, with an inherently war-like ideology in place in one of those those three states. I think it is facile to think that Canada's international securtiy wasn't being threatened.

We're now getting waaaay off-topic, but needless to say we've moved beyond the realm of historical reality and into "what if" scenarios.

In June of 1940, Germany had just finished steamrolling Western Europe in a matter of weeks. This is widely regarded as being the peak of the Nazi's power. They next set their eyes on the UK -- as Churchill said, "The Battle of France is over; I suspect the Battle of Britain is about to begin." The popular re-telling goes like this: the Wehrmacht was ready to use their blitzkrieg tactics to invade England, but first they needed the Luftwaffe to achieve aerial superiority by destroying the RAF. A plucky band of Spitfire and Hurricane pilots gallantly took to the skies and fought many a dogfight over the summer of 1940, never capitulating, and eventually forcing the Luftwaffe to end their raids when the Autumn arrived.

That's the romantic, mythical version of the Battle of Britain. The reality, though, is that German ground forces had no way to cross the English Channel and invade England. Despite Churchill's words regarding the skill and bravery of "The Few", the British Isles weren't in any real danger of a land invasion. Even in 1940, at the very height of Nazi Germany's power, the Wehrmacht wasn't capable of crossing the English Channel, let alone the Atlantic Ocean.

So Winter came and went, and in the Spring of 1941, Hitler abandoned his idea of invading the UK and launched a surprise attack against the USSR. Now let's hypothetically say that Germany somehow beat the Soviets. Let's further say that, after defeating Stalin's forces, Germany eventually did gain the capability to cross the English Channel and invade Great Britain, and they incredibly succeed in doing what nobody else has been able to for nearly 1000 years. Now do you really think they can cross the Atlantic Ocean and successfully capture and hold a landmass the size of North America? While simultaneously maintaining occupation armies all throughout Europe and the Soviet Union to suppress partisans and resistance fighters? And this is all after losing many of their best troops fighting a terrible war of attrition against Russia and Great Britain?

I suppose if we grant a German pan-European superstate enough time they could have developed the bomb and long-range bombers capable of flying across the Atlantic to deploy it, but now we're really getting into the realm of hypotheticals.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Dion

Come on what?

My grandfather would have spat on the ground you walked on!

There are people dying in other countries fighting for the right to choose a govt they believe in. Would you be willing to trade places with one of them so they could have a chance at voting?

That's great for your grandpa, I would do the same to him right after! It's funny people who fight for choice would spit on those who take that choice not to vote.

However you are still not answering my question.

What is the difference between a spoiled vote and a non-vote? How does it make me a better person to go in and put an X beside undecided vs not going in at all.

Also no I would not trade places with them. I enjoy living in a place like Canada were I have choices like if I want to vote or not. I bet even those countries that are fighting for the right to vote would still have people like me who would not.

[missdpuck]

BTW fotze thanks for the Halloween idea.