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Perhaps the media are to blame or it might be the reluctance of the three major parties to provide a coherent "vision" (too much like old-fashioned ideology when today's alleged taste is for pick 'n' mix politics based on the latest results of focus groups). Whatever the cause, an unfortunate whiff of "What's in it for me?" is already suffusing coverage of voters' intentions in the general election campaign.

The Independent, for instance, reports the case of a bar worker who wants the minimum wage to rise to tackle low pay in the licensed trade; a student wants more help for undergraduates; while Tarquin Stephenson, 23, president of the students' union at the University of Hertfordshire, says: "The one thing I want to hear from any party is the truth."

Fat chance - but, as an electorate, surely we're intelligent enough to realise this: unless those at the bottom of the social pyramid are given maximum support to break the cycle of deprivation; unless those damaged by family break-up are given adequate investment to make the most of their lives; unless our shocking rate of poverty is seriously tackled (not least by raising benefits), then, no matter how low the taxes or clean the hospitals or efficient the schools or constrained the alleged "troublemakers", the democratic endeavour will be doomed to failure, generating more discord, unemployment and misery.

Evidence shows that the most productive and stable societies are those in which the gap between the lowest earner and the highest is narrow. In these societies there is a strong, well-funded and proactive system of social care and a resilient notion of inclusive citizenship.

Labour has much about it that I loathe, not least its timidity of recent years which contrasts with the boldness Tony Blair promised would have built strong foundations in social care. But its various projects are too vulnerable to abandon now - among them, Sure Start, the national child care strategy, the ramifications of Every Child Matters and a slow but growing awareness that disabled people and older people have shamefully neglected needs.

Labour is conservative, applying the dictionary definition of the word - a disliking or opposition to great or sudden change.

Consequently, the voter's choice is limited. Even so, to vote Labour out now is to hole the only ship that carries dreams of a better society for all, on the grounds that you despise its captain and many of his crew.