— Andy Baio commenting on a Financial-Times piece about a series of elections resulting with the incumbent party loosing their mandate:
inflation was a painful global phenomenon, and every ruling party was punished for it regardless of political leanings
Overly simplistic explanation for the phenomenon. It assumes, for instance, that 14 years of Tory rule preceding this year’s election didn’t happen in the UK; and its constant lying, series of scandals, cronyism, corruption, law-breaking, and gutting of public-service funding.
— Even if you’re not eligible to vote in Australia, there’s enough reason to get up bright and early on a Saturday and head to the polling station: Democracy sausages.
Small stalls selling bacon-and-egg buns for breakfast or sausages later in the day are a familiar sight outside Australian polling stations. Just as the canvassing volunteers and their last-ditch attempts to convince voters with rehearsed statements like „I stand for integrity politics, “ whatever that means.
The proceeds of the sausage sales go to the institution hosting the elections, often local schools. Or so; I hope that’s where the money goes, and not towards the teacher‘s end-of-year party. Voting is compulsory in Australia, so there’s a good chance to prop up the funds for the school‘s art department.
Nobody knows precisely when the beloved tradition started. There have been sightings of election-day bake sales as early as the 1930s, although the popularity and omnipresence of democracy sausages are a recent phenomenon, amplified, of course, through social media. Today a crowd-sourced map shows where there’s a sizzle going, what they serve, and when. And the bake sales are coming back too.
The bacon-and-egg bun from Edithvale Primary School was a good, solid 4 out of 5; would vote again.
