One morning a few weeks back I woke up to note that the world was on fire. It seemed peculiar at the time, but I carried on as I typically do since I had lectures to attend that day. After my usual breakfast routine, I ventured out into the crackling inferno and commenced my daily commute toward higher learning.

As I drove I witnessed chaos and violence amidst a sea of ominously prophetic little signs and emblems that had seemingly appeared overnight. Curious as to why Armageddon seemed to be happening that day, I turned to talk radio in search of information. Anticipating an Environment Canada firestorm warning, I was disappointed to hear nothing but a cacophony of moaning and screeching, as though the guests to the radio show had all been transformed into daemonic bogeymen. It was at this point I finally realized that I had seen these signs before, albeit on a much larger scale, during the recent federal election.

Although firestorms might be on the heavy side of hyperbolic license, there’s no denying that election periods tend to be a bitter and polarizing time for many people, from political candidates to opinionated lay-persons. Indeed, the caustic nature of today’s politics, with its lackluster, repetitive rhetoric and increasingly notorious attack advertisements, is reflected in most of the headlines. Throughout this campaign, we have read and heard far more often about who called whose mother what and how the public feels about it, rather than the brilliant social and economic policies these ambitious leaders aren’t going to be spearheading.

So now “The Hugh and Greg Show” finally winds down to its finale, and we get to witness the usual post-election shenanigans: The opposition will begrudgingly accept their defeat and vow to fight the despicable new government along all avenues available to them. The new government will recant on things said and declare their campaign — and campaign tactics — an unremitting success, probably just after congratulating their defeated opponent on his own campaign in a much-too-late display of professionalism. And ultimately, whether statistics are up or down this year, there will be a whole lot of talk about voter turnout.

Everyone and their sock puppet has an opinion on voter turnout. Although many of those opinions differ in letter and syntax, at the core of most of them is almost always two main points: First, some unnamed soldier died in an unnamed war, all in the name of freedom and voting. Second, people who choose to abstain from voting are contemptible scum.

It’s a very easy position to keep. There was, in fact, a great deal of bloodshed involved in achieving universal suffrage and the freedoms we enjoy today, and many places in the world do not partake in an iota of those freedoms. Even more so, there really is no united and active defence speaking for the folks who don’t show up on election day — most likely because people avoid politics in the first place to dodge the contention and argument, and the need for defences.

When I listen to people berate non-voters, and occasionally even go so far as to suggest that all Canadians should be compelled to vote by law, I can’t help but feel like maybe we’re starting to miss out on some of the finer points of the word “freedom.” Canada isn’t great just because people of every sex, ethnicity and socioeconomic status are involved in our politics; Canada is great because all those different people are exactly as involved in our political system as they want to be. Some run for a seat in parliament, some enjoy their democratic rights on election day, and some just avoid the political hullabaloo altogether. It’s their right to do so; why should we revile them for it?

We’re always quick to attribute the voting gap to the electorate and the so-called lazy, uneducated culture of today, but it’s our political parties who are asking for the nod of confidence. They’re the ones who are selling a product, and people shouldn’t be blamed for not buying in when it stinks. Our entire culture is built upon merit; if the top corporations of the world were failing to bring in the income they should be, no economist anywhere would even begin to suggest that it could possibly be the customer’s fault.

If you want people to give a damn, you have to give them something they want, and many of them don’t want grown men yelling incomprehensibly over one another. Most don’t want to be indirectly insulted by political tacticians who think the only way to win votes from this crowd is to smother them in completely baseless animosity toward the other side. They want to be inspired, or at the very least, engaged with some degree of respect for their intelligence.

The freedom to vote as a Canadian citizen in democratic elections is truly a privilege of the modern world, but there’s nothing to be surprised at when we discover a few people would prefer to stay at home when it’s been raining fire from the sky for the past month.

Gerald R. Jacobs believes that if our politicians want us to vote, they should offer us a better product.