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Twitter is an unpredictable beast - you can't even be sure what it's called, though no one will manage to get any other name to stick, it's the Opal Fruits of the internet. I would never guess that the two most controversial tweets that I would end up getting days and years of shit for would be one mildly suggesting that you should think first before using disablist language and one wondering if we should generally just call people whatever they want to be called. I've done so much offensive and ridiculous crap on there that it seems crazy that the only two times that I tried to be reasonable created the most waves.
I try to be funny on there usually and occasionally find a joke that resonates, but rarely know in advance which ones those will be. And then sometimes you do a joke that enough people enjoy that it goes beyond my audience and to people who then get upset about it, or don't get that it's a joke or which has too many subtleties for the medium.
Today, in light of the unexpected Tory decision to pretend they intend to bring back National Service and Labour's slightly different idea of giving the vote to everyone over 16 I tweeted (or I Xed- ha, who would ever say that?)
"I think we should give the vote to 16 year olds and take it away from anyone over 65. Then let's see who ends up doing national service."
Now it's quite a nice joke as it works on a lot of levels. I hate to explain my jokes - I leave that to lesser comedians whose audience aren't intelligent enough to get it without the help - but here we go. Clearly it's not a serious proposition - imagine the reaction if you disenfranchised a big group of people just because of their age. It'd be like forcing them into unpaid labour or making them join the army. But it still has the feeling of a good or just idea. Many of our problems come from a growing elderly population voting in their own self-interest, often the expense and in opposition to what the average young person would want.
It's still an unreasonable proposition but comes on the back of an unreasonable proposition from the Tories. And you might see old people claiming that a 16 year old's brain isn't developed enough to be able to make important decision, whilst a young person might claim that someone whose brain is in decline shouldn't be involved in making important decisions.
But possibly the main joke is that I myself am almost 57, so am essentially arguing that I am 9 years away from being disenfranchised. Or is it just the delicious shit-stirring that this comment will inevitably wind up people who don't realise that it's not meant to be taken seriously. Or is it that, in spite of it being wrong on many levels, it is also right on many levels. It doesn't seem fair that at least 500,000 old people who swung the Brexit vote in their favour would not have to live with the mess they had created, but the young people who largely opposed it, have to live with the consequences. Should young people have more of a vote than old people? Should it be proportionate to how long you are likely to have left? If people have voted for 40 years and their votes have led to things getting worse rather than better, shouldn't they lose the right to vote?
I didn't really think about all of this as I posted it. I just thought it was funny and very nearly a good idea, whilst actually being a terrible idea or at least an idea that might make people think a little bit about where democracy gets it right and wrong.
Let's face it - hardly anyone who will be voting in the next election will have done National Service (my dad is nearly 88 and I don't think he ever did it- correct me if I am wrong pops). In the end maybe it's a joke about the hypocritical way we are treating youngsters. I am angry on their behalf, whilst comically trying to make out I am one of them.
Anyway, a surprising amount of people got annoyed by it. Most of them would be over 65, I guess and many of them saying that they hated being lumped in with right-wing Brexiteers (though the tweet had said nothing about that - it was actually very unprejudiced, the cut off is purely about age, regardless of politics). The number of replies certainly made me think that people over 65 had trouble identifying jokes and so maybe my joke was actually a good idea and thus not a joke at all, so thus the over 65s who complained were right about it. Huh?
It was nothing compared to the furore I got for those pleasant tweets I did about disablism and accepting people for who they say they are, but it was nonetheless a surprise. And it changed my mind. I now think that voting should be like the smoking ban idea. So people who are 18 years old this year are the last people to be allowed to do it and to ensure that democracy continues, everyone over 65 is now allowed to cast a vote for every future election right now, so they can keep voting for 1000 years or more. Even though they won't be alive to be affected by the result or to listen to political arguments (let's face it, most old people just vote for the same party as always regardless). So just like Brexit.
Don't take me seriously. I'm just dicking about. Or am I? I don't know. We'll be dead soon. But still voting.
