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Average Voter
Rank: Elder Joined: 1/27/2011 Posts: 1,777
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simonkabz wrote:Let the peasants
be and let's pray that the
average voter gets
empowered(something no
politician would like) so they
would start voting using their
head and stop being used by politicians.
Madammary, So, after the initial tirade, you still contradict yourself n agree the average voter is vulnerable, right? I thought that is what most of us are saying! There is no difference between you n those you castigate. The middle class will always be powerless, simply coz they neither have the numbers, nor the influence/enough money. They are between a ROCK{average voter} n a HARD PLACE{politician}  Shouldn't the middle class just pray that the average guy crosses over to middle class so that they have the numbers? I think that's what is meant by empowerment. Afterall, we all envision a kenya of mostly middle income people in the near future, and the faster this happens, the better for most of us. With the numbers, the middle class will be sure that the current trend in voting will be a thing of the past. And who is vulnerable here? Thought it was the guy caught between a rock and a hard place.
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Rank: Elder Joined: 3/2/2007 Posts: 8,776 Location: Cameroon
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josiah33 wrote:simonkabz wrote:Let the peasants
be and let's pray that the
average voter gets
empowered(something no
politician would like) so they
would start voting using their
head and stop being used by politicians.
Madammary, So, after the initial tirade, you still contradict yourself n agree the average voter is vulnerable, right? I thought that is what most of us are saying! There is no difference between you n those you castigate. The middle class will always be powerless, simply coz they neither have the numbers, nor the influence/enough money. They are between a ROCK{average voter} n a HARD PLACE{politician} Shouldn't the middle class just pray that the average guy crosses over to middle class so that they have the numbers? I think that's what is meant by empowerment. Afterall, we all envision a kenya of mostly middle income people in the near future, and the faster this happens, the better for most of us. With the numbers the middle class will be sure that the current trend in voting will be a thing of the past. And who is vulnerable here? Thought it was the guy caught between a rock and a hard place. Sasa wewe pia unatwist maneno. But im sure you know very well who is vulnerable to political machinations, right? The middle class is just helpless, trapped in between, in the opposition, n largely ignored by the tag team of the elites n the averages. So I say, let them make noise, somebody may just hear... TULIA.........UFUNZWE!
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Rank: Elder Joined: 11/5/2010 Posts: 2,459
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@simonkabz am happy you brought this up.
someone said that the best argument againist democracy is a 5 minute discussion with the average voter. Personally i would trust a group of respected citizens to make a choice for us. truth be told manu chandaria and vimal shah can make a better decision on the nairobi governor than all of us ever will civic education or not.
It is already being done in hong kong where an electoral college of 800 people choose the leader. the results are herebelow for everyone to see.
HKSE is the 6th largest globally.
Hongkong has been voted as the most investment friendly destination globally.
Public debt is at 0.001% of gdp.
Inflation is at 2%.
Gdp per capita is at $32,000.
for obvious reasons, i can't post kenya's figures for comparison. our people say you cannot compare sleep with death.
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Rank: Elder Joined: 7/1/2011 Posts: 8,804 Location: Nairobi
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FRM2011 wrote:@simonkabz am happy you brought this up.
someone said that the best argument againist democracy is a 5 minute discussion with the average voter. Personally i would trust a group of respected citizens to make a choice for us. truth be told manu chandaria and vimal shah can make a better decision on the nairobi governor than all of us ever will civic education or not.
It is already being done in hong kong where an electoral college of 800 people choose the leader. the results are herebelow for everyone to see.
HKSE is the 6th largest globally.
Hongkong has been voted as the most investment friendly destination globally.
Public debt is at 0.001% of gdp.
Inflation is at 2%.
Gdp per capita is at $32,000.
for obvious reasons, i can't post kenya's figures for comparison. our people say you cannot compare sleep with death. When I look at the reasons for praising Hong Kong, I only see 'Capitalism with a free rein'. And now we are being told that the best way for us is to allow some capitalist elite- and they must be few, to make all the decisions and in the interest of capital accumulation and their own luxury expenses. The flip side is conviniently ignored because it involves Wanjiku, who is believed to be irredeemable. So she can as well bear the burden of social injustice, inequitable wealth, and serfdom like the average Hong Kong citizen. If this is what middle class enlightenment is about, then the peasant doesn't need 'empowerment!'
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Rank: Veteran Joined: 12/4/2009 Posts: 1,982 Location: matano manne
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Shotgun wrote:I totally agree that it is the average voter who decides the leadership of a country. The politicians know this too well and thats why they feed the country with BS day in day out and still get elected.
Waititu once said the definition of a Governor's role in Dandora is very different from someone in Karen.
Another former minister once told a crowd to resist Mau Restoration because rain come from the skies and not the Mau trees. The crowd cheered.
These my friends are the one who will decide our leadership in March 2013. They registered in droves and will queue for as long as it takes to elect their person (maybe motivated by some Ksh. 200). This average voter doesn't care about the ISSUES per se, he just knows their local vernacular station (owned by a politician most of the cases) has said that is our person and its a done deal.
What will the educated middle class citizen do, he will be rushing to the bank to clear some cheques, do some shopping, hang around coffee shops in malls reading newspapers, complain of IEBC inefficiencies creating to many long queues...and then NOT vote.
Whats is the solution? Civic Education!!! How many organizations are currently doing that right now? Very few and the ones who try we condemn them as "NGOs trying to promote the agendas of the West"(Ok, maybe some are, but not all). In the US, a middle-level school knows what the First and Second Amendments are. Heck, we even know them and we are not even Americans. Does the average voter know what is contained in the Chapter 6 of the constitution? Other than the buzzword "Intergrity", can even an average Wazua quote any other clause contained therein? (Very few)
In my county, the leading candidate (as per the word on the ground) has been accused of a myriad of corrupt and criminal deals, is flexing his financial muscle right left and center and yet he is the most popular guy in the county.
What is the solution. As an educated, well informed Kenyan, make it your duty to "change" just one average voter to be issue-based. Talk to them about Foreign Policy, Fiscal Policy, National Debt, Government spending, Integrity and break it down to how they come down to affect the price of unga and create employment. With that you will slowly change that average voter to an informed voter in a few years to come (Unfortunately not 2013, that one is going tribal all the way).
If we dont do that, they will continue being misused and misled by the politicians we have and they will continue seeing you as elitist with a Nairobi mentality.
Think about it.
. Well said congrats. Let me comment about the solution on NGOs and civic education: I don't believe in this thing civic education and the various attempts to rope in criminals (in jail) to vote, mentally challenged persons to vote, elderly illiterate persons to per take to the exercise even being ferried by very odd means. To me the solution would be: to limit the right to vote to persons who can demonstrate functional political literacy especially on critical constitutional issues like integrity and good governance. Our neighbours Tanzania boost a very highly literate population and maybe its due to this that they have a highly developed democracy. I rest my case.
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Rank: Elder Joined: 7/1/2011 Posts: 8,804 Location: Nairobi
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The peasant won't lose the gains brought by the levellers; the elite were compelled to bring FPE, and now the peasant has a smartphone, he is on his way to nobility.
Mjinga kasha erevuka. Sasa mwerevu, 'on your marks!'
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Rank: Member Joined: 8/7/2010 Posts: 728 Location: Wazuaville
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As Winston Churchil said, democracy is not the best sysytem we just don't have a better system. If you ask me the best option is a benevolent dictator, but that means leaving too much to chance like the probability that he/she will be benevolent "Money never sleeps"
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Rank: Elder Joined: 1/27/2011 Posts: 1,777
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Rank: Elder Joined: 7/1/2011 Posts: 8,804 Location: Nairobi
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If the average voter is a Mormon, then democracy is in big trouble. A tour to the JREF forum shows that the scientific spirit is quickly challenging the Mormon position. And when I say 'science' I mean 'atheism'. But 'Science', is telling us that democracy needs ignorance to survive, and that democracy is the best form of government! Therefore, while Mormons lose ground so does science and atheism! Democracy as we have known it is dead.
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Rank: Elder Joined: 12/6/2008 Posts: 3,588
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I adore the average man, for the genius is almost mad, and the moron believes he is a genius, at the end of the day, the average one is the normal one. Ras Kienyeji Man
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