For What Do We Vote?

 

 

 

For what do we vote

And do we get it

And if we do,

To what extent do we profit?

 

Do we vote party

Or do we vote individual

And how does either

Benefit the people?

 

What really do we get

When we cast our vote?

From my recent recollection,

Very little of note.

 

Let me define recent

And say for argument’s sake,

The last two decades,

Relatively here of late.

 

This is across four PMs

And you know who they are,

Of course, the present PM

Is an international star.

 

Elections are usually lost

Not generally won

And fairy tales saturate the air

From the boom of the gun.

 

Those in are pulled down

Regarding perceived failures

As the “wannabees” paint

A most enticing picture.

 

So, we vote for a promise

They won’t do like the other

But we end up invariably

With the same bother.

 

Too many Ministers!

But they are increased, not cut,

And the Government that’s in

Digs a deeper rut.

 

Them that were vilified

In order to capture the vote

Get even more big contracts

To keep the state afloat.

 

A vote for freedom!

What an alluring slogan!

And after the initial illusion…

Still at rock-bottom.

 

All that changed

Remains almost the same,

A little more exacerbated

But little we’ve gained.

 

 

For what do we vote

And do we ever get it

And if we do,

To what extent do we profit.

 

Reform/transformation

Bombards our ears every day

But the change anticipated

Is forever delayed.

 

Monies unaccounted for

At least, that’s how it appears

And if not to you

Surely, to me this is clear.

 

$0.40 dollars per litre

At every single petrol pump

Must be a significant amount

At least, by my account.

 

This tax on petrol

Raised over the last five years!

Surely, we should see it reflected

Here, there or somewhere.

 

It was earmarked for roads

But the roads still deteriorate

As more money is borrowed

To improve their state.

 

And the money borrowed

At home and abroad,

Are we borrowing from Peter

To pay back Paul?

 

And as the grass grows

The horse starves for food

With presentation and oration

Being comfort to fools.

 

Two parties as I see it

In opposition to the people,

The people being the Government

Seen as unnatural.

 

A democratic divide

Which favours our rich leaders

At the expense, I dare say,

Of the most vulnerable.

 

Trickle down policies

That scarcely trickle down

And the occasional handout

When things are brown.

 

A powerless people

But possessing pseudo power

Waiting every five years or so

For one glorious hour.

 

 

For what do we vote

And will we ever attain it?

I am not sure we ever will

But I know who profits.

 

They have it good

At the taxpayers’ expense

Having even robbed the poor

Of their commonsense.

 

The plantocracy reigns

And we are still enslaved

As we suck up to our oppressors

Deluded and dazed.

 

With a brand of politics

Drunkenly partisan,

We vote for who and not what

To our own destruction.

 

Stewart Russell © February 28, 2024