Bruce Bisset: Not voting is meek surrender

Democracy is the closest we've come to a just and equitable system for choosing who rules. Photo / File

Sadly this election is more likely to be lost than won by anyone, simply because of the non-voters.

But there's nothing smart or hip or meaningful about choosing not to vote. It's not a protest - it's surrender.

Choosing not to vote is equivalent to lying naked in the street and letting anyone who comes along do whatever they want to you ... and then pretending there's something good for you in that.

Yet on Saturday week there's a fair chance there'll be proportionately fewer people exercising their democratic right to choose the next government than at any time since before women were given the vote in 1893. That is both extraordinary and ironic, given September 20 is the anniversary of universal suffrage.

What makes it worse is that with MMP there's a full spectrum of political parties to choose from - fascist right to loony left and others, like Kim Dotcom's lot, who defy any attempt to fit them on to that scale.

Yet they all have a chance for election. So the old excuse about not having anyone to vote for who fits your values is rubbish. There's every size for all. Pick one. That's all you have to do.

Nor is any vote wasted. Your choice mightn't win, but your vote still helps determine the make-up of Parliament as a whole.

Moreover, there's no need to wait for the official election date. Polling booths are already open, so you can vote at your convenience, which tosses out another ready excuse: not having time on the big day.

Yes, I've heard the disingenuous raves from dysfunctional celebrities like Russell Brand, claiming that staying outside the system is a means to bring it down because if enough people ignore their rights the whole structure will collapse.

Complete (expletive deleted). All that does is prove to the oligarchs who currently run the show that the masses don't care, granting them liberty to rape and kill and pillage on an ever-larger scale. It doesn't diminish their power. It reinforces it.

Democracy is the closest we've come to a just and equitable system for choosing who rules. But it's a frail regime, easily subverted, because it relies on everyone to collectively uphold it.

If you want to be a helpless cog in an oligarchy - ruled by a rich dictatorial elite - then by all means, don't vote. Throw away your rights to be an independent citizen, throw away the long history of struggle that gave you those rights, and surrender to being a slave.

Just don't be surprised if those who still give a damn also spit on you.

Got the message yet? The system isn't broken because it's been captured by the rich. It's broken because YOU have chosen not to use the only viable means you have to change things - your vote.

And if you'd rather wait until you're up against the wall and have no choice but to then pick up a gun to try to fight for what you've lost, you really are a moron.

Do I care who you vote for?

Of course I do. As I've said many times, the future is either green or black; life or death. To me, it's that simple.

But you're (still) free to vote for whomever you like. I mightn't agree with who you tick, but I absolutely respect your right to make that choice.

What you have to realise is that by not voting, you automatically choose black.

And since that default may hasten the death of my children, I think I've every right to call you a fool. That's the right of it.

Bruce Bisset is a freelance writer and poet.