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Brain/heart

By on September 14, 2012

Congratulations to Clover Moore on earning the title of Lord Mayor once again, and while I made my support for the independent no secret on election day, I did discover something quite curious.

Our politics have reached a point whereby social issues such as same-sex marriage, climate change and boat people are, somewhat, becoming ‘more important’ than issues relating to the economy or money – especially within the younger demographic.

The views vary widely from not voting for Liberals based upon Abbott’s outdated views, Labor because of the Carbon Tax and for the Greens because they’re ‘socialist’ progressives.

Of course, all those (terribly simplified) reasons to not vote for the above parties are also someone’s reasons to vote for one of the above parties, and there are a lot more reasons I assure you.

I’ve heard time and time again the old saying, “If you vote Labor you don’t have a brain, if you vote Liberal you don’t have a heart”.

Insulting, I guess, but is it really so bad to vote based upon your moral compass?

A surplus means nothing to me (and many my age) if we turn boats around, don’t move on climate change or aren’t progressive on social reform like same-sex marriage.

Do we as a country have to socially freeze until our debt is paid off? Does saying that make me a fool, naive or ‘too young to understand politics’?

Campbell Newman is a perfect example of what I’m talking about here. The LGBTI community in Queensland was stripped of certain rights as soon as Newman took over, a strange priority given his pledge to prioritise economic reform.

I implore all young people to use both their hearts and their brains when voting in upcoming state and federal elections.

Don’t vote solely on economic issues or on social issues but do some research and see how policies affect you and your family.

About Jesse Matheson

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