9 October 2011

Political programmes

One should always read in detail and think about the programmes of political candidates running up to elections. Are goals reasonable and achievable? Have the ideas worked in other countries? Are they making sure not to favour one particular community at the expense of another? Have the candidates proven to uphold a strong sense of ethics? At the very least, get an understanding of their high level ideas and suggestions (see my last paragraph on what you can do about it).

And don't forget to vote, please. If you do not, you are giving up a very precious right and silently approving whatever the winner(s) of elections will do once in power. If you find no candidate worthy of your vote, then stand up: run for elections. It doesn't matter if you do not win: you will have expressed your ideas, which may spread or allow others to brainstorm on top of them. It's not easy of course, but shy away from just criticising without doing anything yourself to change the situation.

So here is one thing you can for the next elections in your country and to the benefit of all citizens to help them make a decision: create a simple website (or just a public Google spreadsheet or Fusion table) comparing the programmes of all candidates, as Le Monde has done for the socialist primaries. Try to remain unbiased and cite all sources of information you have used to compare programmes - keep it simple and link to the details of the programmes on official websites for instance. Don't worry about making mistakes as long as you correct them and keep your emotions and political opinions on the side.

Please share examples you have seen or that you create yourself. Good luck.