It is an important decision but do vote.
I don't agree at all, in fact given peoples views on political parties and our political system in general I think the opposite should be the case.
The general response is if you are unhappy with the current system or party in charge vote for a party/candidate who proposes change etc, but due to the nature of the beast that is the political machine this party or candidate becomes sucked in and the status quo bar maybe a bit of window dressing is maintained. So your vote far from being one for change actually ends up endorsing the status quo. You have been hoodwinked and it is not in any politicians interest to change a system whereby they are the beneficiaries with more or less no accountability bar the ballot box which then encourages inefficiencies of short term over long term planning simply because first and foremost their job is to be elected.
Therefore the only way to affect change would be for everyone not to vote and hence the system collapses and there is no choice but to create a new structure in its place.
An example suppose whatever party comes to power in the next election promises to build x number of houses per year, if we had an accountability proviso attached which basically says if you don't achieve this in year 1 you are kicked out of power, I'm sure the electorate would love that, but politicians of any hue wouldn't want to introduce it, and if we as you advocate continue to vote then there is no pressure on them to do so. You want change yet your thought process ensures none.
The only real situation where your vote has any currency is in a referendum, where you can actually say the public get what they voted for, and maybe that is what our political system should be based upon, vote on policies not parties.
