As of today this train (call it a blogmobile) is leaving the station called “Not-Violent Terror” (see LATVIJASPOPULISTI VS LATVIJASLABĒJIE).

The name of the next station is “The Not-Voter”.

It will be a blog about not-voters, non-voters, and voters. There is, after all, a difference between not- and non. The introduction to the blog may be reached through the link here http://the-not-voter.blogspot.com/

Latvian translation:

Ar šodienu vilciens atstāj staciju, kuru sauca “Ne-Vardarbīgs Terrors” (skat LATVIJASPOPULISTI VS LATVIJASLABĒJIE) un dodas uz nākošo.

Nākošā stacija saucās “Ne-Balsotāji”. Tā būs arī par nebalsotājiem un balsotājiem.

Ir tomēr starpība starp ne- un ne, un ar virkni blogiem mēģināšu to nākotnē sev un lasītājiem atšiferēt. Ievads vai “Introduction” atrodams šeit: http://the-not-voter.blogspot.com/

I think I liked it better when you confined this to a single thread. This way I knew that I didn’t need to read it. Now I’ll have two threads to avoid.

Andrejs

Ditto.

Double ditto… though I do read this slop. It’s an interesting porridge, and even Fomenko gets in.

So from now till fall we get urged not to vote, I guess. Cute, Jaņdž.

I think everyone participating in this forum who has the right to vote will vote, except you. I certainly hope so. This is a crucial election—the most crucial since before elections to the Saeima began again.

I certainly don’t want Latvia to be on the list: Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, __.

/P

“jandzš” In “your” blog “you” (gotta stop now) make an analogy between a group getting lost in the woods and democracy. You assert that it is somehow natural to select one leader. Pretty poor analogy. To go into the Gladwellian dichotomy - getting out of the woods is a puzzle, it has a limited solution set and we need a technical skill set to solve it, but a nation and its development is a mystery.  The skill set is different and best handled by not a leader, but leaders. You not voting is a way of conceding the point and continuing the current corrupt leadership (and believe me, they will find a way to hang on) or creating a new corrupt class that will happily whoosh into that void.

THE-NOT-VOTER
2 Democracy as Dictat (1)

The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), a think tank that advertises itself as among top ten in the world, recently published (July, 2009) Working Document No. 317, which goes under the lengthy title “Lost Voters: Participation in EU elections and the case for compulsory voting.” The author of the document is Anthoula Malkopoulou, a Visiting Fellow at CEPS.

The aim of WD (Working Document) #317 is to explore the possibility of introducing in the EU Parliament elections a compulsory voting system. The reason for the study is the decreasing participation of the electorate in EU elections, falling from 62% in 1979 to 43% in 2009. The reason for considering compulsory elections are clearly stated: “…the EU needs credibility for its democracy promotion projects.” The author argues that “…the historical experience of war and military regimes in Europe during the last century, provide an uncontested common ground of conceptual understanding between Europeans…. Therefore, the EU simply cannot afford to be criticized for the quality of its own democratic record. (Blogger’s italics.)”

The author of WD #317 presents the case for compulsory voting because according to the paper the EU is divided in West and East, and manifested that separation when the East gathered 32% of the votes, while the West contributed 52%. The two states with the lowest voting records were Slovakia and Lithuania, with a voter turnout of 20 and 21% respectively………….. (To read the complete blog click on the last link below.)

Partial entries of my blogs may be found at LatviansOnline http://latviansonline.com/forum/ + Forum Home + Open Forum – The-Not-Voter. If you copy this blog for your files, or copy to forward, or otherwise mention its content, please credit the author and http://the-not-voter.blogspot.com/

Jaņdž,

The remarks at your blog (“If the EU would introduce compulsory voting on the Latvian electorate at this time…”) bear no relation to the working document you are discussing; the document talks about compulsory voting in EU elections, not national or local elections. The member states have very different electoral systems; they are not determined by the EU. I’m against compulsory voting in any case, primarily because I do not think it is detrimental that those who are uninformed and disinterested do not vote. No compulsion is necessary to get Latvians to vote; voter turnout in Latvia is very high.

Vysu lobu,
/P

THE-NOT-VOTER
3 Democracy as Dictat (2)

History has become like jelly in a container that has been upended and now shakes on the plate before the dinner guests as desert. On the menu card, the cook has named this apparition “Original Research”, and has received accolades for his wit. History is indeed in flux these days. It shakes every time someone goes by the table, and whenever someone takes a bite of it, he-she exclaims: “How original!” Indeed, this is a more serious shake than when Immanuel Velikovsky wrote his “Worlds in Colision” (1950) and Alfred Wegener proposed the theory (1912) that the continents were granite froth which had floated up from the iron heavy core and become plates were drifting apart or together again.

Today controversial theories have become even more so than in the 20th century, and some even say that they have got “out of hand”, especially when someone like this blogger questions the holy cow of Latvian history as officially constructed and suggests it compares well with jellied tongue at the Delicatessen shop. 

When I recently clicked my Search button on “Weimar Constitution” and opened the window to Wikipedia’s explanation of it, before I got into the text, I was warned by the following top line: “This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed….”

If you do not know what is meant by “original research”, here is a clue: Wikipedia and the Chinese government are vying with each other as to who will be the first to stop the imagination of the public contradicting officialdom. For both Wikipedia and China the real of reality threatens to go to the beach swimming: a) for the China government “original research” among its citizens may find it (the government) in a leaky boat, whereas b) “original research” for Wiki changes history itself. Of course, Google is involved, too, as the facilitator of all this “original research”, whether for good or for bad…........................To read more please click on the last link below.

If you copy this blog for your files, or copy to forward, or otherwise mention its content, please credit the author and http://the-not-voter.blogspot.com/

Jaņdž,

This gets dumber and dumber. Here is the Wikipedia policy on original research, one of only three core content policies. It is meant to keep whackos like you from mixing Fomenko with your John’s grass tea and spewing Bog knows what wherever every morning. That is all. Call it a global conspiracy against idiocy.

Vysu lobu,
/P

THE-NOT-VOTER
4 Democracy Unleashed

A disunited leadership almost always steps into a ditch instead of finding a path across what seem insurmountable mountains. Once the leaders fall into the ditch, the natives spear them and have a cookout. Indeed, this is what justice looks like; unfortunately, it leaves the people who followed the leaders at a loss of what to do next.

In the mind of this blogger, the situation of Latvians under the present leadership has them marching under the banner of “Salvation is just around the corner!” However, the first corner they came to turned to the right, but it did not turn out to be the right right turn. So, they turned left, but discovered that a left turn from a right turn still leaves them on the right side of the center, which is why they turned left again, which took them back to the center.

So, should the Latvian leadership move left once more to be sure that they are in fact where they began? The Latvian PM recently confirmed that Latvians were now indeed where they began twenty years ago.

The latter is the direction taken by the political party known as “The Tuned Center Party”, re Saskaņas Centrs. Having first taken a right turn—something that all Latvian political parties did when they broke loose from the very left Soviet Union—the party, feeling that it was different for all that, turned left. This still left it a left-right party. So they took another left. This put them in a neutral-center position, which is where they started from. So they have now taken further steps to the left. Which makes everyone ask: So, just where is it that “The Tuned Center-Left Party” is really at?

To answer the question, we must first find out why the party, now back where it started from, is tilting center-left.

For one, “The Tuned Center Party” has promised that given the financial and economic crisis caused by the right wing parties through excessive borrowing (which process allowed them to briefly feel they were on the road of perpetual wealth), it would not reduce the pensioners’ pensions come what may. This declaration leaves one to imagine that the party will reduce child support instead. A Latvian mother with four children who now receives Ls 32 ($64) total monthly support may receive even less and, thus, accelerate the demographic death spiral of Latvia’s population, while the pensioners or elderly will perhaps not freeze in the winter and live a little longer……………………… To read more, please click on the last link below.

If you copy this blog for your files, or copy to forward, or otherwise mention its content, please credit the author and http://the-not-voter.blogspot.com/

THE-NOT-VOTER
5 Reneging On Democracy

If of 1000 eligible voters, 500 vote (for whatever party), but 500 do not vote, then 50% of eligible voters have expressed—as the laws stand now—a disinterest in the state. As long as the voter is not formally identified by an electronic mark on h-h (his-her) ID papers, the 500 not-voters are anonymous and are collectively referred to as nonvoters. More accurately, they are abstentionists or even better—not-voters.

If the 500 nonvoters did not vote because the government in their opinion is so corrupt that in the name of good government h-h have no choice but to not-vote, their just reasons stands to be unjustly accused of disinterest in the state and government—because there is no mechanism that allows h-h to cast a not-vote. THIS IS WHY IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE SEE THE INSTITUTION OF A NOT-VOTE.

If the not-vote is formally recognized as a legitimate vote (and why should it not be?), then of the 1000 eligible voters, 500 will have voted for the government, but 500 will have cast not-votes for the government. Therefore, the result will be hung elections and 2nd elections will need to take place. Because a 1000% accuracy of 500 vs 500 votes is unlikely, lawmakers and statisticians can work out the percentage of “error” that is allowed and will allow the elections to stand. Of course, those of the 1000 who did not vote and chose to remain nonvoters, risk a penalty. For example, a life-time 4x not-vote will cause one automatically to lose citizenship, which will effect, say, whether one is or is not eligible for a pension and certain expensive health care.

Given that we live in the IT age, and statistics has replaced the absolutism of a simplistic ON vs OFF vote—an instrument which makes the Constitution an absolutist document—the time has come to institute a NOT-VOTE. The Latvians are certainly in a great need of it.

How this is to be done in a state (actually all states), where the Constitution allows for no replacement of itself is a problem. Why would one want to change or rework the Constitution that has outgrown its usefulness or its usefulness has been compromised by its capture by an autocratic power?

As stated earlier, the IT age makes it possible for this difficulty to be resolved. If you have a voter’s card imbedded in your mobile phone or home computer, your ID, besides for being a pro-vote, nonvote, and not-vote would also register the voting public’s instant reaction on a visual graph to all questions of importance to the society as a whole. If the percentage registered a 70-80% unity on a question, the issue would be automatically put to a formal referendum (in effect a seconding) that would then be put to a formal vote 3 or 4 months later.………… To read more, please click on the last link below…………….

If you copy this blog for your files, or copy to forward, or otherwise mention its content, please credit the author and http://the-not-voter.blogspot.com/

Sorry, I am not a statistician, so perhaps could explain this to us lay-people:

Because a 1000% accuracy of 500 vs 500

1000%????????????

And a

visual graph

. Is there some other kind of graph that I (the lay-fool) am not aware of?

THE-NOT-VOTER
6 The Importance of The-Not-Vote (Cont.)

Even as Mick Hume wrote his pre-election blog essay “The abstentionist elephant in the room” at “Spiked” site about English politics, Latvian politics (elitely handled by government and Latvian media hacks) waddles (a sort of balancing act) toward October 2, the election day on which Latvian voters are supposed to discharge their pent up rage against a corrupt government in a NO CHOICE orgasm on the behalf of a dysfunctional government.
That the government has well earned the contempt of the public for its corruption and inability to carry through a reform itself (the so-called ‘structural reforms’) is a fact.

It was worse than a sad day though when the Latvian media became anti-populist in its political orientation. Such an orientation is best illustrated by the endless flow of anti-populist references embedded in off-hand negative references to “populism”. Such an orientation is also observable in the media shows known as “What Is Happening in Latvia?” (Kas notiek Latvijā?), where Mr. Domburs, the host of the show, every week—now seemingly for an eternity—interviews government officials, ministers, party officials, NGO chairpersons, and an assortment of “politologues” about everything under the sun, but what is happening in Latvia.

One such elitely irrelevant “Mr. Domburs Show” (as the show ought to be more properly called) occurred last night as the host interrogated a half a dozen economists and bankers on the subject “Whether the economy in Latvia has reached its low point”. Those who understand Latvian can judge for themselves the irresolute (vapidly inconclusive chatter) offered, while the catastrophe of unemployment thrust on top of an already dire economic condition known as mass poverty marches on unnoticed by the show.
…………………………….
What appears to be an illegal intrusion by the Latvian Security Police (Drošības Policija) into a highly respected journalist’s apartment [the intrusion into the apartment of Ilze Nagle, an investigative journalist of   the Latvian TV program known as “De Facto”, occurred on the evening it the intrusion was approved by a Latvian High Court Judge, but before it was approved by the Court post-fact the following morning] is being followed by Juris Kaža at his blog site. I suspect that Mr. Kaža will have lots more to write on the subject.

………………….To read more and find links, click on last link below.

If you copy this blog for your files, or copy to forward, or otherwise mention its content, please credit the author and http://the-not-voter.blogspot.com/

Please stop. You beat on KNL when that is one of few places where we get something approaching and honest conversation. Domburs is very cynical about govt and regularly calls BS on officials.
I suppose that makes me one of the elites. It seems much more reasonable to say that you, jandžs, are an elite. Piece of country property, no need to work and seemingly endless hours to spin theories out of mid-air.

Please go back to building your temple and stringing your bizarre mythical webs.

THE-NOT-VOTER
7 Save the Children of Latvia
[On the trail of Why “The-Not-Vote”.]

Sometimes someone writes a wonderful essay, says the right things, but when a reader is done, hh (he-her) would like to rewrite it their way. This happened to me recently after I read an insightful essay by Per Bylund “On the Meaning of Voting”. I give the relevant link below at “Asterisks & Other Readings”. What follows is my reset and some additions to Bylund’s arguments.

If one votes because one feels one has the responsibility to vote because hh is a responsible citizen, but at the same time votes not because hh likes any of the candidates, but because one is “a lesser evil”, this choice may be likened to a choice of either shooting one’s self in the foot or the head. Thus, a vote for a lesser evil means that one will shoot one’s self in the foot. An utterly cynical vote is to shoot one’s self in the head.

There is however a third choice: let the bullet fly at a target, the individual who set up the system, or if the individual has since died to let the bullet fly at the system itself. Let is imagine this third choice as a target and call it THE-NOT-VOTE. A shot at THE-NOT-VOTE and hitting it in the bull’s eye (re, getting the majority of voters to “not-vote”) results in loud bells ringing.

The voting systems the world over are at this time on the system, which we call “eager for the lesser evil system”. Nevertheless, we could also call it the “Vetoless voting system”. The system of voting that serves “liberal democracy” is surely a Vetoless voting system. When you vote at any of the voting events of the world today, you vote for liberal democracy as well. In short, you give the “liberal democracy system” the power to veto any other system. If you would rather not vote for liberal system, there is no choice today. You either become a nonvoter or shoot yourself in the foot. Some would call the latter to be practically the same as shooting one’s self in the head.

So, if you wish to take away from the present system its monopoly over violence, you must NOT-VOTE. You must shoot at the target, try to hit the bull’s eye, and set all the bells ringing. It will wake everyone up, and the system will be angrier than hell, but at least the people will have exercised their sovereign right to NOT-VOTE.

A traditional vote cast for the present system is an offensive act on behalf of the present system (yes, support for corruption including). Your vote for the present system allows the police in black masks to push peaceful demonstrators off the bridges at Bauska, Latvia, and the break-ins of the same at a late night hour into a journalist’s apartment to confiscate a personal computer. It allows for an assortment of intrusive acts with no validity if the system were truly a democracy, i.e., one that provided that the outcome of voting results is one of three, not just two choices.

Interestingly, a voting system that serves liberal democracy, the unisystem that rules the West today and will be ruling over it tomorrow (so it is presumed), has set itself up as an enemy of the people. The argument that one hears on the behalf of this system is that it is capitalist, thus oriented toward a self-regulating market economy, which for all its problems remains as Churchill is alleged to have said: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” (from a House of Commons speech on Nov. 11, 1947)

Churchill is quoted tirelessly, because his statement seconds the liberal democratic system in its self-regulating ways, and vetoes any defensive action by the people other than a vote for “a lesser evil”. In short, to vote today—whether the vote by on October 2 in Latvia or anywhere else—means, as Per Bylund has it: “…the solicitation of violent services offering as only payment an anonymous statement of support for an unenforceable advertised political program”.
………………………………………………………..
The President of Latvia, Valdis Zatlers, has hit upon a wonderful solution for the financial crisis in Latvia: teach the children how to save money. This is a fine idea, except that President Zatlers is asking the savings from those whose relatives (somewhere around 200,000) have left Latvia to work in other countries and send some of their savings home to support those relatives who have remained in Latvia.
...........................................
To read full text with links and photos, please click on the last link below.

If you copy this blog for your files, or copy to forward, or otherwise mention its content, please credit the author and http://the-not-voter.blogspot.com/

Your elitist postings are just designed to keep people poor and to not have any hand in their own destinies.