Consider this before voting…

[Ourfuturetheirfuture]

We are in a unique and dangerous time in history. We are potentially on the cusp of a world war and climate chaos has started and will get worse. Children are growing up in poverty, public services that we rely on are struggling. There is much that needs attention to give us safety, stability and better life chances.

Today we are choosing who we want to lead us through the dangerous seas ahead and to try and improve our lives.

AIBU to ask you to consider;

Reflecting on your reasons for voting one way or another? Is it driven by feelings or facts? Is it a knee jerk decision based on a headline or a carefully thought choice based on research or somewhere inbetween?

Reminding yourself that the way to solve, minimise or survive the above issues will be complex and slow so anyone promising one quick solution is lying.

Russia are trying to create division and instability and are using SM to do this. Many politicians resort to whipping up fear, anger or other emotions to get you to vote for them. Look out for any information that looks too good to be true or seems to be trying to make you angry - consider fact checking it.

If you are thinking of voting for a party as a protest vote then please reconsider. Your voice is unlikely to be heard and you will still have to live with any consequences. Spoiling your paper is better than voting in a party you don’t really want at the helm.

Checking that it’s your head and not your heart making the decision.

Working class men, and then women, all fought a long hard battle to give everyone the chance to vote. Democracy is a great thing and we all have a duty to use it responsibly, especially now as we all stand at this particularly perilous point in history.

I know IAB a bit U posting this here as it’s not really an AIBU but I’m hoping I’m forgiven. Long time poster (darked on washing, Mexican house thief are in my memory bank). I’m not a Russian bot and I did my postal vote already. I’m a mum and worried about the future. I want the best for us all.

Happy voting day everyone whoever you decide to vote on. I’m so glad we all get a chance to. 😊

Thought so.

I’ve emailed the Labour candidate, as I said. No reply. I’ve also taken down a Reform poster from my street.

That’s the sum total of my political activity in this election. I’ll just have to continue the fight for women once Labour are in.

😂😂 I’m not Kier. I’m a boring middle aged, perimenopausal mum who has a day off work and can’t muster up the energy to do the gardening - too much weeding and nothing is bloody growing so this is mire appealing.

Some have said I’m a Russian bot or trying to keep the current lot in.

I am just genuinely feeling the weight of this election heavily and wanting us all to step away from the ridiculous game playing, hyperbole and interference and connect with the task at hand fully and as informed as possible. We can’t rely on the newspaper headlines or SM to be completely honest. We have to do our own research.

🤣

That’s all you can do and if you have carefully weighed it up and made the best decision you can then that’s all any of us can do. And then have a cup of tea and relax. 🫖 ☕️

I think he’d probably do a fairly good job to be honest. It would certainly be entertaining 😂

I’d LOVE Binface to have been part of this and more so a debate between him and Farage. That would have been spectacular

Another Trump term is a far bigger threat to world stability than Putin, and not because he's likely to go invading anywhere, but because his ignorance, indifference, and (if you believe some of the more outlandish stuff) contrivance with Putin leaves certain countries and territories far more vulnerable to Putin's machinations than they otherwise would be with a cohesive, determined NATO still intact.

About the only place Putin could realistically go after the conflict in Ukraine is resolved one way or another is the Baltic States, but unfortunately for him all three are paid-up, longstanding NATO members, so if he picks a fight with them, he's picking a fight with the entirety of NATO, and as he's already well aware, the Russian military has had it's pants pulled down by a nation a fraction of Russia's size already, and is in no state whatsoever to be getting into a conflict with any sort of serious adversary any time soon.

That changes if NATO falls apart at the seams, and the only thing likely to make that happen is the corpulent orange American idiot.

Yes, all of that is true. And I’m not suggesting‘Armageddon’ but we have the addition of climate chaos added to all of that. We have never faced that kind of existential threat in my voting life. I don’t think my concern and my feeling the weight of this election is irrational. And I’m basing my views on solid stuff, not SM hyperbole. I’m not generally prone to be over anxious. I do have an irrational fear of large spiders though - full disclosure. 🕷️

We are in a unique and dangerous time in history. We are potentially on the cusp of a world war and climate chaos has started and will get worse

Well, aren't you a little ray of sunshine as I sit here opening MN whilst eating my toast. 🙄😁
I'll be off out to vote in a bit, in the hope we get to boot this lot out and that we at least get a chance of a change of scenery and some fresh air in politics tomorrow.
No point in doom and glooming and scare mongering

"Don't panic, don't PANIC!"

<runs around MN flapping arms>

😁

Not some much fresh air as hot air my friend!
And a fucking enormous tax bill to boot, so enjoy that last slice of toast whilst you still have the means to eat it!

Thank you for your feedback. I am genuinely sorry if I come across as patronising- that wasn’t my intention.

I stand by my view that this election weighs heavier on me than others. Climate change has never been such a current and significant threat as it is now and I do think that this, added to the risk of war and the current state of public services is going to put more and more of us at risk and continue to reduce our chances in life.

I also stand by my view that a spoiled paper is better than trying to vote in a party you don’t actually want as a protest as we all then have to live with the consequences.

I think, now, more than ever in my 30+ years of voting, this election feels utterly pivotal and I feel that weight. I genuinely don’t know which party will be better, I am clear about the ones that I believe will make things worse. It does feel like my decision was made with more gravitas than previous years. Previous years I didn’t feel this weight.

That’s fine if you disagree though.

Your comment ‘Have you not studied History at all?’ Was unnecessarily rude and far more patronising than anything I have written, however.

I’m not sure who you are agreeing with there but it’s not me. I haven’t said that.

Yawn
Because we're so brilliantly off in the position to buy bread and essentials at the minute as we are, matey doo (seeing as we're getting familiar, pal)

If you want to move away from hyperbole you could start with your own OP.

@Hummingbird75 it is directly linked to the maternal age of Mothers, thrombosis is the biggest killer of expectant Mothers. Most likely to occur in. Women over 30 and women that are overweight. Which also links to the poorer outcomes for women from certain ethnic minority groups and poverty levels.

The percentage of spoiled ballot papers is available from previous elections so a surge in the numbers might make headlines I guess.

I wasn’t 100% happy with any manifesto so I went with the best fit for my top few concerns/hopes. I had to let some things go.

If you don’t feel you can do that then I think a spoiled paper gets your voice heard more than abstaining but that’s my opinion rather than fact.

I feel gutted though that you don’t feel able to vote for anyone (as many have said in other threads).

I know. Are you another turkey voting for Christmas?? 😳

We have no Party of Women candidate where I live. Are they only standing in London/ South East? Genuinely interested to know.

Ffs can you not just trust us as adults to already be asking these questions?! Honestly it’s so god damn irritating to have random people to ask you to rethink or reflect - we’re not stupid. We do research. Let us vote for who we want to.

Honestly it’s not. I don’t think no change is always the least scary option and in terms of a government with a long track record, my firm belief is judge them by their actions. Have they done a good job in your eyes? Past behaviour is the best prediction of future behaviour.

Another poster called me Kier 😂

I am deliberately not sharing my preference on this thread. I just genuinely want us all (me included) to step away from the hyperbole, the emotion raising statements, the slagging off the other parties, the biased headlines, the interference and if I had a slogan it would be ‘make politics boring again!’

Apologies. Didn’t mean to come off as patronising. That wasn’t my intention or how I feel. I am just utterly sick of the way we are manipulated and that we have to be so attuned to it. I am just feeling the weight of the choice this year more than ever before.

I've voted labour for the first time ever, essentially by flipping a coin.

Politically, I would describe myself as a lib dem and while I do support a lot of their policies, their obsession with womens rights led me away. Now I don't think that labour are much better (hence the coin flip) but I think that the fence sitting is much better than the green/lib dem approach, and things can be tempered much more. I also think that there are some really good named labour candidates, whereas I can't actually name any decent lib dem candidates.

Voting labour also ended up a tactical vote to get rid of the Tories.

But I do feel very much like I've been asked to choose whether I want to cut my arm off, or my leg off - I can't remember the last time I voted when I ACTUALLY believed in the candidate. My last two GE votes have been for the independent candidate purely so I could have the right to bitch and moan

I would say:

Please use your vote.

Please don't vote on tribal lines.

Please read the manifestos and think about voting for policy.

BUT also think tactically, given our first past the post system.

Lots of people are stupid though. They do vote on tribal lines. They've never looked at a manifesto and then they go in and vote for Reform because they think they're different. Well, they are, but not in a good way!