What decides how you vote?

[Qkkid]

Huh? That has nothing to do with what I said

I actually commented on initial post about how his sons opinion may be different.

I agree with voting on what you think will be the best for the country
but the strangers post attacking xwhatsit for acting selfishly was rather hypocritical
when you get down to it everything we do is selfish...some things to a higher degree than others

Sorry its got nothing to do with being selfish.
I still put it down to being part of society and having your say in a demorcratic way.
All parties have their pros and cons

[rachprice]

Sorry its got nothing to do with being selfish.
I still put it down to being part of society and having your say in a demorcratic way.
All parties have their pros and cons

Well maybe you think I'm disagreeing with you but I'm not, thats exactly what I think!
Obviously didn't state that too well from the start huh?

I was just saying he shouldn't be calling him selfish...but I guess a lot of people do what they shouldn't hey?

[MadDuck]

I have voted for the same party in every election except one....my very first vote, which was a vote for the New Zealand Party (Bob Jones)

Hmmm ... I spent most of my life in the Tamaki electorate. Yep home of Mr Muldoon! And what a charcter he was in real life. Never seemed any point voting for any other party.

Now the problem...I find myslef in the Rodney electorate which doesnt have Muldoon...it has Lockwood Smith

[Lucy]

The other day I was having a conversation with one of my boys and I asked him who he was going to vote for. He replied that he was going to vote labour as they had the best lollies (well ok, he didn’t say lollies) for uni students.

I was aghast, why would a son of mine do such a thing, I had thought I had raised my kids better than that. I did what any right minded father should do and I gave him a well deserved beating - thank goodness there are no laws against disciplining your children.

He was making his decision based on what he could get for free from others and on what was best for him as an individual and not on what is best for us as a nation.
That to me is greed and selfishness; I didn’t raise my kids like that.

I vote for who/what I think will be best for the country and everyone in it. My parents were Labour voters, and being selfish was a Cardinal Sin, so it's amazing to me how nowadays Labour seems to survive by 'buying' the votes of the students and welfare recipients. (Maybe it always has, but my family were neither students OR welfare recipients). I've actually never voted for either Labour or National, as I consider it the equivalent of choosing between DB draught or Lion Brown. I prefer beer with a higher alcohol content, and better taste.

This year I still haven't decided who I will vote for.

[DougB]

Some years ago I parked my bright blue, police special, Moto Guzzi on the main street in Tauranga. Winston Peters stopped short when he saw it and commented on the beaut bike. So I would vote for him. That is as good a reason as any I can think of.

[The Stranger:Me]

Hmm I agree with xwhatsit, can you really call ANYTHING you do selfless?
Even charity work and the like isnt selfless, you do it because YOU feel good after you have done it, that you have made a difference
So it isnt really selfless at all...

There is no way to prove beyond any doubt an answer to your question one way or the other. Any attempt to convert a disbeliever such as yourself or xwhatshit would be futile.

However, the important point is that others benefit from the selflessness also, which is better than the giver being the only beneficiary.

What you are proffering is simply an excuse to be mean spirited and shows a lack of faith in human nature. Must suck to have such a pessimistic view of people.

[rachprice]

There is no way to prove beyond any doubt an answer to your question one way or the other. Any attempt to convert a disbeliever such as yourself or xwhatshit would be futile.

However, the important point is that others benefit from the selflessness also, which is better than the giver being the only beneficiary.

What you are proffering is simply an excuse to be mean spirited and shows a lack of faith in human nature. Must suck to have such a pessimistic view of people.

Interesting.....

I'm just pointing out that you should get off your high horse and stop telling people what they do is selfish when what you do is selfish also!

I am a huge believer in the greater good, why I vote labour, we need a beneficiary system, granted its not perfect and its often taken advantage of but better we have that than nothing.
I see the merits in both parties but don't think heading towards privatising everything is the answer.
Often the people who vote for a party for what they will do for them just dont understand politics, don't understand the implications for the nation of each party being in government.

What did you say assumption is the mother of all fuck ups?

I have volunteered for search and rescue since i was 16, instead of going where I could get the money (i.e. dentistry) I chose medicine because I want to make a difference in this world.
But I dont think for one minute that I'm not a little selfish or faulted, everyone is....maybe its pessimism, maybe its realism.


Also interesting that you go straight into attack mode when xwhatsit put up a good argument, calling him dum and the like. By all means disagree, you have the right to your opinion but acting like that really just reflects badly on you.

[Yakman12]

I think you should be proud of your son for choosing to vote differently from you, it shows he has the ability to think for himself and make his own decisions without simply doing what his old man thinks is right.

too many people in this world do not think for themselves, they simply take what the authority figures say as gospel

Labour and National are so similar is scary, your son voting for labour actually shows his political leanings are very close to your own

You can never be wrong for voting for a different party, you can only have your opinion on what is the greater good

You are most likely white middle-aged, middle class male, so chances are you will vote national (assumptions yay!)

Your son is different, so allow him to have a different opinion, in fact be proud of him for having a different opinion

[Finn]

The cool thing is that we all CAN vote. Sure beats the alternative...

Like over 80% of the country wanted less Government... Labour increased it significantly, or like 80% wanted tougher sentencing... Labour went soft or like 86% of the country was against the anti smacking bill yet they passed it... or when the majority of NZers voted against Labour in the last election yet they still governed (albeit very poorly) or, or, or...

[Hemex]

Something for everyone watching the elections!! Vote for Bill and Ben!!

[Finn]

The other day I was having a conversation with one of my boys and I asked him who he was going to vote for. He replied that he was going to vote labour as they had the best lollies (well ok, he didn’t say lollies) for uni students.

As his father I think it's time you taught him a valuable life lesson. He votes for Labour effectively putting you out of pocket so this will be compensated for by charging him higher rent... assuming he still lives with you. If not, just exclude him from your will.

[vifferman]

My voting preference goes back to the '70s, when my father was really concerned with Muldoon getting in and fucking up the country, which he did.
So for years, I voted mainly for Labour. Last election, our local Labour MP was feckin useless, so I voted for the National candidate, who's been very good. Can't remember where my party vote went, but the last two times it wasn't to Labour.
I've become increasingly bemused by all the socialist programming and bullshit policies passed by the Gummint, and by the chronic waste of taxpayers money on employing bureaucrats, sycophants, overpaid 'consultants', and whatnot, while not spending it in basic areas where it's needed, e.g., spending it on health service providers, not administrators. Also, while I believe Helen Clark was a better prime minister than anyone else available, she's become too arrogant, as is usual in Noo Zilund once any gummint is in power for more'n two terms. Time to go...

As for the rest of the family, for the first time we now have the whole 5 of us able to vote . I think my wife will vote the same as me, but I dunno what the others will do, and as the middle one is refusing to vote at all: "waste of time - won't count for anything, won't change the system, too far to walk (about 500m)", the youngest might follow suit, even though it's his first time voting.

So what decides how I vote? Apart from the bollocks above (who the local candidate is, etc.), I don't think there's much to go on. Over the years, the gap between Labour and National in terms of philosophy and how that affects their policies has narrowed so much that it is just down to personalities. The scrambling around for bedmates shows that this even applies to what sort of coalition we'll get. I'd like the gummint to be a bit more right wing than I have in the past, because I think it's become too mired down in trying to control our lives (what we eat, what we do in our bedrooms, how much energy we use, what we think/do) and has lost focus on what is REALLY important for a Gummint - running the damned country properly, rather than social programming and passing stupid laws (we have TOO many already).
Ideally, I'd like whoever gets in to concentrate on financial matters, step back a bit from wanky environmental stuff (apart from doing a decent job of cleaning up pollution and recycling), and on the basics: trade, education, health, law and order, motorcycling.

[Yakman12]

As his father I think it's time you taught him a valuable life lesson. He votes for Labour effectively putting you out of pocket so this will be compensated for by charging him higher rent... assuming he still lives with you. If not, just exclude him from your will.

Nice one, good way too force the poor kid to vote a certain way, basically forcing what you think is right upon others

can you get any more fascist?

fool

you should be praising the kid for thinking for himself!

[Morcs]

every student I know is voting labour.

get jobs ffs.

Im not paying taxes so you can earn more than me because you have a pretty piece of paper, but dont actually know shit.

[The Stranger:Me]

when what you do is selfish also!

In what way? You mean suggesting that people consider others before themselves?

I am a huge believer in the greater good, why I vote labour, we need a beneficiary system
--snip political clap trap as thread is not about which party is better--

What did you say assumption is the mother of all fuck ups?

If you are optimistic of human nature, why is it then you feel that the greater good needs to be compulsory?

I have volunteered for search and rescue since i was 16, instead of going where I could get the money (i.e. dentistry) I chose medicine because I want to make a difference in this world.
But I dont think for one minute that I'm not a little selfish or faulted, everyone is....maybe its pessimism, maybe its realism.

Oh I didn't think for a minute you are not a little selfish, indeed my assumption was that you were, then you tried to shoot me down for it, now you admit it - and women wonder why men don't understand them.

Also interesting that you go straight into attack mode when xwhatsit put up a good argument, calling him dum and the like. By all means disagree, you have the right to your opinion but acting like that really just reflects badly on you.

He put up a stupid ill-considered argument, just as you did. Then set about attempting character assassination in post #17. This is not school or daycare. Get used to it.