Editor’s Letter: “You won’t vote”

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]here are better things to do. You have essay deadlines and exams to revise for. This is your future we are talking about. What is the point of listening to tired, predictable suits who are obviously telling the same old lies?

The same people that promised you that tuition fees wouldn’t change and then tripled them. Who told you that tuition fees wouldn’t change and then tripled them. Who told you that they would make rents cheaper, and now you are paying astronomical accommodation costs and dealing with untouchable landlords.

You won’t vote because you don’t think it makes a difference. When you did a survey online, the policies that matched your views related to that small party, but they won’t win so what is the point in voting for them?

It is always going to be the same way, and Russell Brand would have us not vote at all, but that doesn’t stop us from talking about this Election. People keep telling you how lucky your are to even have the power to vote, when other human beings fight for this right across the world.

Yet you feel powerless. It’s nothing to do with you. Cooped up in the library, reflecting on the stress of the next few months, it is easy to lose the wood for the trees.

It is easy to start thinking about how difficult these exams are going to be, or what the hell you are going to do once you get out of this place, but it is more difficult to make a decision. A choice about where you want this country to go.

You can’t really see it yet. How it is going to affect you in the long run.

We are conditioned to think 10 weeks at a time, to take less of an interest in what is going on outside of our bubble and to forget that the decisions made in that antiquated chamber with the green seats has an impact on you.

That is what politicians want you to think, because silencing your ballot is easier than being accountable.

They don’t want you to vote. So you won’t. No one in government advertised for registrations, because they are happy ignoring completely.

They’d rather make empty promises like cutting tuition fess, than actually listen to what you have to say. They will even come to your campus, but won’t invite you to attend, because it’s better to keep you out, than to let you in. They are scared.

And they should be afraid. We are the most successful and aspirational generation for decades, with the opportunity to shake the foundations of Westminster and swing an election. You only get this chance once every five years, so don’t waste it. Prove them wrong. Vote.
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Photo: flickr/nottheviewsofmyemployer