I'm starting to understand why people don't think voting makes a difference. For instance, I vote for one party, but the other party wins the election, and they get to form a government. They put people that I didn't vote for in ministries and legislative institutions, and they make decisions that make no sense. Specifically the ministry of traffic: last year they decided to lower the maximum speed on bits of freeway around certain cities in the Netherlands to 80 km/h (from 120 km/h).
They throw away a lot of tax money working on a traffic control system that's always broken; instead of shortening the traffic jams the lower maximum speed extends them; instead of improving the quality of air around the freeways the lower speed makes it even worse.
And here's the kicker... they finally own up to their mistakes and pull everything down again, putting everything back to the way it used to be. All I know is lots of tax euros down the drain for zero result.
Now, I'm not that naive to think that my favorite political party would do a lot better (because, hey, it's still politics at the end of the day). But I'm confident the risk of them doing so is far lower.
However, I'm even making a stronger point of NOT voting for the other guys. How much clearer can I be? I told you guys that wasn't a good idea, I voted against you, and you still went out and did it.
In this sense, voting does seem like a waste. You can't stop people from making stupid mistakes. That in itself is human. However, you can't stop stupid mistakes that others make, drag you down either. And this is frustrating.
There's only one way out. I you want something, you got to get it yourself. You have to be behind the steering wheel. You must be in control.
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