Speak now or forever hold your peace. NOBODY, should ever be excluded from democracy and seeing commentary suggesting people shouldn't be allowed to vote is offensive.

Our forefathers who founded this great nation would be rolling in their graves at the thought that people don't value democracy. These are the people who fought for our right to speak our mind. They fought for our right to a voice. They fought so that everyone could have a say on the running of the nation.

In 1895 South Australia gave women suffrage, and in 1901 NZ allowed women suffrage - the right to vote. Previously only men had been afforded that right. Prior to that it was only property owners. This was a major innovation.

Our forefathers then fought in World War 1, World War 2, after 9/11 and even now against ISIS so that we maintain our right to a democratic voice which so many people in the world do not have.

ANZAC Day may officially be celebrated as a commemoration of when the ANZACS (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) arrived in Gillipoli but today it is effectively a day when we celebrate democracy and remember those who lost their lives fighting for our right to air our thoughts.

Unfortunately it seems people have forgotten what the meaning of democracy is. Democracy in a nutshell means that everyone participates. That is the fundamentals of democracy according to ancient Greek democracy. Hey I guess I was paying attention in Political Participation 342 at uni (actually I was, I really was, I've always been big on political participation).

Anyway, I digress. Getting back to the point, people are disenfranchised all over the world. They're worried about the likes of Trump, Cameron, Johnson, Gove, Abbott, Turnbull, Key and many more controlling our lives, but it takes two to tango.

You can't influence politicians and societal outcomes if you don't actively engage in politics. You can't achieve change and make a difference if you don't bother.

So when I see commentary like this in the NZ Herald:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11668086

I'm extremely disappointed. Democracy doesn't work if you say only certain people can vote. It goes against the very fundamentals of democracy.

It's not concerning that bad decisions are being made, although that is concerning.

It's more concerning that most people seem to have forgotten why our ancestors fought in the world war. They fought so we would have freedom to vote. They fought for democracy and it seems like people are willing to give up that right and say "meh, I don't care about making a difference. I don't want a say. Let others do it for me."

It's not right. If you don't vote you don't have representation. If you don't have representation then the consequences of that are that policy decisions which are bad for you may be made.

People, if they're so disenfranchised with the system need to participate and get out and mobilize. They need to tell their politicians that they're not happy with how things are being run, because, if they don't, they soon may not be able to.

If you don't speak when you can you may lose the ability to speak. And that's serious. I don't think people realise just how serious the right to a voice in democracy is.