Middle class voters - absent again!

Photo: Contributed

As an atrocious example of voter apathy, in Vernon during the last civic election, there was less than a third of registered voters casting ballots, and a huge percentage of that pathetic number was seniors. It seems a vast percentage of the demanding middle class, had better things to do, than show up and do their civic duty.

The Okanagan is a location, and lifestyle aspiration of many citizens in Canada. The fact that each and every one of us can shape it, give it direction, and support our own vision for its future, seems to escape a majority of those too self-absorbed to get out, get involved and ultimately vote. And amazingly, a lot of the most vocal critics of current governments, who could in reality affect change, choose silence as their voice. The most influential demographic, the middle class suburbanites, just don’t seem to give a damn; content to let others decide their community’s fate.

It is getting increasingly hard to pry suburbans away from their self-serving pursuits, to actually get involved with real life and real issues. Almost every aspect of social duty has declined in the last decade, as a generation of middle class parents have shunned civic accountability and sought a never ending indulgence in trendy personal comforts and self-serving lifestyles; all the while voicing a litany of complaints and objections to the many characteristics in their communities.

In a world filled with dramatic demonstrations of civil discontent, why is it so hard to motivate the middle class to affect change by the simple action of voting? The occupy movement may have gone sideways, but at least that generation attempted to voice discontent through some tangible action.

The middle class likes to play the victim to the many circumstances outside their control, yet fails to act on their immediate future today.

Vernon is a great example of choice, 3 mayoral candidates, with 2 candidates offering completely different visions. The incumbent, offering little in the way of change, keeping the status quo, stay the course, and all will be fine, something the seniors seem to like. The second, a long term resident, a family orientated business man, who is offering a visualization of change, a design for families and the future. With the current high number of seniors carrying the voting load, the future doesn’t look too optimistic to our young, or the potential business investors eyeing the North Okanagan as a home.

Perhaps the vision of the incumbent is that of the majority, but we won’t really know if the voting demographic is not properly represented by all age groups, and people from all walks of life. The status quo may be a seemingly stable model, but hardly one that families and business will flourish in for much longer. We do know that our young adults and young professionals are leaving to seek opportunity elsewhere, and that won’t support the aging population that will need support in the near future. If we don’t look now, at how to develop a model to keep our young adults and families here, we will face a severe problem in the future.

Perhaps this Election Day we could set aside our personal wants, set the PVR to record Dancing with the Stars or the Canucks game, get out, get responsible and do something that will net results tomorrow, instead of just living for today.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.