Sunday, May 6, 2018

Waiting for Godot by bus or train: On why I am not voting today.

Le Pouce - Cesar
So there, today I am not voting.
I had three options, either to vote (full list plus one preferential vote), or to vote a blank ballot (which this year is not even allowed), or not to vote. I am choosing the third option. At this stage my faith in the system is close to nil.
Obviously you are going to ask - why not vote civil society?
OK, there was on candidate I seemed to liked, and was wondering is he/she could sway my vote (for a full list only to vote for him/her).
I went to his/her facebook page and it seems that he/she found the perfect solution for the traffic jams in my region: The train.
I am an engineer and an environmental economist. So honestly I find this pseudo-appalling on the same level that Kataeb wanted a metro in Beirut in the last elections in 2009.
Why is this appalling for me you ask?
Because as someone who does not drive, and does not live on the main arteries where public transport - contrary to myth - is incredibly easy to navigate and is super efficient and eco-friendly, once one goes out of the highways, it becomes nonexistent. In the 2009 elections I was promised a bus that would go from the nearest main city to the place where I live.
Wonderful! Even the last bit of distance from the drop off point to my house, I could walk and do my sports with it I thought.
I am still waiting for that bus to materialize.
So if a simple bus route took forever no to materialize. Why revitalize a defunct industry just for electoral hype?
So there, the one candidate I might have voted for turned out to be a lunatic, and I am still waiting for Godot to arrive by bus - or train? Or am I waiting on the wrong platform altogether?