The youth are becoming more active in politics worldwide after years of apathy. In the US, sub-30 year olds helped carry Obama to presidential victory. And now in Sweden, the youth vote has propelled the Pirate Party (wait, what?) out of Sweden to one seat in the 785-person European Parliament. Well, at least we can say we care about something…
Formed in 2006, the Pirate Party is not anti-pirate or pro-booty, but is instead focused solely on free internet content and deregulation of copyrights - per our favorite internet file-sharing site The Pirate Bay. While the site and the party claim to be unlinked, they sure have similar agendas, and the latter can thank the former for the mounds of press surrounding the conviction of 4 Pirate Bay masterminds in April.
Of course, in a parliamentary system one vote isn’t going to get you very far. The party will have to join a coalition to get any piece of their agenda through, but are bound to grow in power if they can continue to keep the youth enticed. My one request is that the legislator the party sends to parliament be required to dress up as a pirate. If they want press and attention, that is a sure fire strategy.
Source: Reuters
