The great Irish philosopher Edmund Burke, as well as being a writer of some renown, was also a Member of Parliament (MP) in the British House of Commons. Such was the tedious nature of his speeches that his fellow MPs took to calling him "Tea-Bell Burke". When the great man rose to speak, many others in the chamber took this as their cue to retire to the tea-room.
It's ironic that a man who in life was known to those around him as someone who would never use one word when ten would do, should be best known two centuries later for a snappy one-liner:
"All that is needed for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing."
How about that for a soundbite? Many people who have never even heard the name Edmund Burke can rattle off this line. And rightly so. There is wisdom in Burke's words.
Elections for the European parliament will be held across the continent this week. With such a large number of countries, and such a wide spectrum of opinion, it's impossible to predict who will do better overall, the left or the right. But one thing is certain, across the European Union (EU), in old and new member states alike, the turnout will be pitiful. In many countries it is likely to be under 50%.
Many pundits ascribe low turnout as a sign of public disillusionment with the political process. This argument is a cop-out. These people aren't disillusioned, they're lazy and complacent. If people were truly disillusioned, truly angry, they would get down to the polling station and spoil their vote in protest. Imagine the impact if, rather than staying at home, the non-voting half of the European populace spoilt their ballots instead.
Vote-spoiling is preferable to not voting for two crucial reasons. Firstly, it clearly sends out the message "I am not happy with the options on offer." Not voting by contrast is open to any number of interpretations. It could mean "I'm not happy woth the options on offer" or it may mean "There's something good on the TV tonight." There's no way of knowing for sure.
Secondly, those who spoil their ballots show respect for democracy even as they display contempt for the political parties who particiapte in its operation. People have died, and continue to die, for the right to vote. Yet millions who have that right don't use it. How disrespectful.
Until the non-voters become vote-spoilers, I see no reason to listen to their views. But even if every non-voter were to go to the polling station and scribble on their ballot paper, they still wouldn't effect the outcome of the election itself.
This is where Burke's words ring true. There was an advert a few years ago in England which aimed to get poeple to vote. It was a picture of a urinal with the graffiti "piss on niggers" scrawled across it. The tagline said: "Use your vote, because you know he will."
That message is more relevant than ever today with therise of the fascist British National Party (BNP) in many parts of England. The party has won council seats across northern England in the last few years. While its support has gone up significantly, the party is still far from a major vote-winner.
But apathy has been its travelling companion. Low turnout in council elections (sometimes less than 30%) pushes down the threshold needed to win seats. A small, well-motivated party can prosper in such an environment. In a very real sense, those who stayed at home in these elections are just as responsible for the BNP's success as those who actually voted for the party. Not to act is to act.
At the start of this European campaign there was a lot of speculation that the BNP could win a seat in Strasbourg. This now seems less likely but my attitude is, better safe than sorry. I usually have no time for Michael Howard, leader of the British Conservatives, but it's hard to argue with his words on this issue:
"Imagine the shame if our great country were to send a member of the BNP to represent us in Europe".
To any British person reading this, my message to you is simple: please vote on Thursday. I find it helps to personalise. Let's imagine there is a BNP voter in your area, let's call him Jim. Jim hates the niggers, the Pakis, the wops, the ragheads, the Paddies and the asylum-seekers. Jim wants to send them all back.
Jim will be voting on Thursday. Will you?