UPDATES
E-mail
to hear about site changes, placing 'update' in body of message
10 good reasons to boycott May 5
Just in case you need them, here are 10 good reasons why you should boycott the May 5 general election and support our campaign for a new political and social democracy:
- the right to vote has lost its meaning because under the present political system it cannot produce a change in the direction society is heading. We are effectively disenfranchised
- the lies and deceptions used to launch the illegal Iraq war are symptomatic of the authoritarian, market state that has replaced the welfare state. Democratic rights and civil liberties are undermined daily
- giant corporate and financial interests dominate political, economic and social life to an unprecedented degree. Parliaments and government willingly dance to their free-market tune and shareholders' interests count for more than the will of the people
- the political system is incapable of dealing with the ecological crisis, world poverty or inequality because it would involve challenging global corporate power
- key decisions are taken not by parliament or elected representatives but by appointed bodies like the European Union and the World Trade Organisation
- the major political parties - the only ones capable of winning the election - all agree with each other on major policies. There is no choice
- none of the major issues facing people, especially climate change, have figured as issues in the campaign by the big three
- the existing political process is neither fair nor democratic. New Labour could win a massive majority with support from just one in five of the 44 million electorate
- the House of Commons has no independent power or authority over the government
- withholding your vote will deny legitimacy and authority to whatever government is elected.
A World to Win wants to turn the negative act of not voting into a positive force for fundamental change. You can be part of that by coming to June 4 launch and campaigning to renew and extend democracy beyond parliament and corporate power.
