I agree with everything you said about "Why Protesting and Voting Don’t Bring Change". I haven't voted for many years because I understand that it makes very little difference if your views are outside the status quo, and because I think most MPs are the scum of the earth.
However, I recently had a very enlightening conversation with a politically minded friend, which changed my outlook.
I now think that until we have a significant number of people with similar views, not voting at all is counterproductive.
This is because there is a majority of voters that will always vote for the politically right-wing parties (I'm in the UK, so the main right-wing parties are the Conservatives and UKIP). The voters for these parties tend to be very traditional and will exercise their vote without fail.
Many of the people that don't vote have more liberal views, this means that by not voting for the most forward-thinking left-wing parties they are giving more power to the right-wing voters, thereby increasing the chance that the Tories or UKIP will become more influential.
I have decided to exercise my vote in the next election (not because I think any of the candidates will be any good, but because I'd prefer less influence from dumb right-wing parties in Parliament).
I suppose I'm looking at the system like a game - I will be voting not for the party/MP I most agree with, but for the one that will be more likely to beat the Tories or UKIP.
Hopefully in a few years there will be some better options, we can but dream...
