Miami Mortgage News

If RE is compulsory in school, surely politics should be too

Is the absence on the curriculum of politics because the public are easier to manipulate if they are ignorant of the inner workings of Westminster, asks the government's former mental health championBefore the 2015 election, I attended an event organised by VInspired, a campaign group set up to engaged young people with politics. Two graffiti artists had been hired to engage in an ‘art battle’.A volunteer circled the crowd of 18-25 year-olds with a microphone, encouraging them to shout out policies which would encourage them to vote. The street artists were then tasked with drawing whatever they heard, the idea being that they were creating a composite image depicting the assembled young people’s vision of a better society.The ideas the artists were tasked with illustrating included more funding for the NHS, cheaper public transport, reduced student fees and better mental health education in schools.Not voting only works alongside anarchyThe irony was that pretty much every person I spoke to at that event was convinced that none of the existing parties were offering them what they wanted, despite what they had listed being (predominantly Labour and Liberal Democrat) actual campaign pledges.It struck me that this was symbolic of a generation perceived to be politically apathetic but who, as anyone who works with them will tell you, are in fact incredibly passionate about social change.Of course, there are those who would maintain that the way to bring about a better Britain is to abstain from voting altogether (Russell Brand I’m looking at you), but the problem is that not voting really only works within the context of more widespread anarchy.Until there is a box on your ballot paper which says "I have made the effort to come here and my vote is up for grabs, but none of you f***rs are worth it", a non-vote is an exercise in silencing and disempowering yourself.