Politically Correct

There are presidential elections in Argentina in 2007. No one told me this or anything. But it's a fact impossible to ignore when travelling around this country. Along highways and roadways all over Argentina, any flat surface, from overpass to fence to brick wall, gets hijacked into a political billboard. Nothing more complicated than simple hand-painted notices telling you to vote for so-and-so, vaunting a certain politician's partnership with another, or a one sentence resume of a candidate's platform. I'm not sure if they're officially sanctioned, or if they're the work of Juan P. Party-Supporter, but they're impossible to ignore.

The Argentine people's interest and participation in politics makes me more than a bit emabarassed of the apathy surrounding Canadian politics. When was the last time you saw such anticipation of Canadian elections? And what was the rate of participation in the Canadian elections last January, like 30%? ( And if you look at the numbers for the percentage of young people that vote, it's even lower...)

Here in Argentina, voter turnout is VERY high. It's illegal not to vote, and you can be fined if you don't. But I don't think the high turn out at elections is due to any law. (On the contrary, when Argentines want to ignore any given law, such as traffic laws for example, they don't think twice about doing so...) There's just a wide-spread interest, awareness and knowledge of national politics. It's not a taboo subject, and anyone is happy do go into details of their political opinions should you ask.

Some argue that in a relatively prosperous country like Canada, for the vast majority life stays comfortable no matter who's in office. So people lose interest - the outcome of the elections doesn't effect them. Or that in Canada younger voters or those from lower social classes or more marginalized segments of society (who also have a lower rate of turnout at the polls) don't feel like politicians listen to them or take their interests into account. They become disenfranchised, and just don't participate in the political process.

But here in Argentina you have a country, where if you follow this logic of disenfranchisement, NO ONE should want to participate. Here's a country where they've lived under a military dictatorship, and even to this day under the democratic system politics are full of scandal and corruption definitely exists. Where stories of exploitation and widespread economic hardship are impossible to ignore. Where the disparity between rich and poor can be downright vulgar. And where politicians have made major decisions that have had huge repercussions on the people of the country.

But Argentines don't back away from the democratic process. The streets are still covered in posters and flyers, impromptu murals get painted on brick walls, people travel huge distances to vote, and downtown traffic is disrupted practically everyday by some protest or another.

I wonder what would it take to get Canadians to display this much interest in politics...