I started NOTA UK ten years ago because it was clear to me then that a system that offers up two indistinguishable political parties of establishment power, and nothing else, is plainly undemocratic and not fit for purpose in a world of clearly ineffective and failing systems of governance – failures that have real world, often devastating implications for many millions of people.

A lot has happened in UK and world politics since then. Plenty of reasons for true democrats to be hopeful and despairing in equal measure.

But I think it’s fair to say that now, fully immersed in the shit show that is 2020, we have officially come full circle.

This is not democracy. It’s perception management. It’s propaganda dressed up as discourse. It’s the drip feed normalisation of lying, cheating and bullying as a way of life. It’s the elevation of the values and agendas of a small minority of hugely privileged and powerful people over and above the day to day needs of millions of ordinary citizens, all living at the sharp end of the massively unstable and unsustainable world that these people have created.

Enough is enough. A serious and prolonged fight back is long overdue.

At the VERY LEAST we need to be able to reject all that this plainly rigged and utterly corrupted system has to offer at the ballot box in a formal and binding way. That’s what ‘None of the Above’ represents (read all about why this simple reform is so important here).

But more than that. We need to take on and dismantle any and all anti-democratic forces that hold humanity back wherever they exist.

Democracy is impossible all the while our elected representatives can twist, distort and outright lie with impunity. It should literally be impossible to do that in any truly democratic system.

Democracy is impossible all the while bought and owned media can twist, distort and outright lie with impunity. It should literally be impossible to do that in any truly democratic system.

Democracy is impossible all the while powerful vested interests can control elected representatives and manipulate people’s perception of reality to the point where they believe in pure fiction and are willing to vote against their own interests year in, year out. It should literally be impossible to do that in any truly democratic system.

So – as much as I continue to believe in the democratising power of a formal and binding NOTA option on ballot papers as the start point for reforming any and all electoral systems, I hereby propose to expand this campaign to encompass all that is plainly wrong with the sorry state of affairs that passes for democracy in the UK and the wider world.

KEY ISSUES:

REFORM OF PARLIAMENTARY STANDARDS – provable outright deception by elected representatives should be 100% illegal and punishable in the harshest terms.

MEDIA REFORM – provable outright deception by supposedly independent media entities should be 100% illegal and punishable in the harshest terms.

LOBBYING REFORM – attempting to exert influence on government policy for purely selfish gain should be 100% illegal and punishable in the harshest terms.

Seriously, this is basic stuff. Why do we put up with it? Why do any of us go along with the pantomime lie of periodic elections between awful and ever so slightly less awful establishment puppets/muppets?

IT’S RIDICULOUS.

Get involved. You can find out more and support our campaign for formal, binding NOTA in the UK by following the links below and signing our petition:

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NOTA UK website

Jamie Stanley
NOTA UK
30/10/20

Tagged: Democracy, Electoral Reform, None of the above, NOTA, Progress