Amicable Reader,
After the reaction to my last political post, I thought I’d be clever enough to avoid continuing on that same wise again for the remainder of this trail of internet that some call a blog, allow me, well-beloved Reader, to happily fail in that goal entirely.
“Never put your political feelings on the internet, it’s just a bad idea” – every wise person ever
I was going to vote leave. That’s the sum of it. As I’m sure the majority of the nation has done in the run up to the referendum, I’d had a gut reaction, googled a few figures, heard some good reckonings at a pub somewhere, and come to a conclusion. Blimey they were some convincing reckonings. I figured I’d do a bit more research closer to the time – google would handle that too – and then whatever I found would probably support my previous feelings, or I’d continue googling things until it did.
If I’m willing to be so easily-swayed and inexpert in my decision making, how many others are the same? What kind of informed decision can a referendum actually bring? – with the result led by knee-jerk reactions, propaganda, and manipulation from both sides, each of which are again being weighed in upon by experts with one-sided and incomplete views. It is not the job of the people of Britain to consider so many ideas and put them together into a reasonable decision looking at all angles, that’s the work of government researchers, who would take months to get anywhere towards a sensible and well-considered result.
As L’Estrange explained 350 years ago, although perhaps not in the most palatable way to our modern tongues, there are paid people in government who are simply well informed in these things, and it is the job of the nation to elect a government that will bring the right people to those roles. It is the job of the government to make the great decisions that, if given over to the public, would simply be an ill-informed guess because hardly any member of the voting population has the time to research the problem as a whole and afterwards recommend a sensible and complete solution.
Will there soon be found a referendum on every idea the government has, so that if it goes well the government can pat itself on the back for wisely handing it over to the people, or if it goes badly to instead blame the people, who took the decision out of the government’s hands?
In my opinion, a government that gives such an important decision over to the public because it is too nervous to make the decision, with its own confused explanation of the facts and splits within itself adding to the confusion, is a very dangerous government indeed.
Do not think, dearest Reader, that I am against the public voice or the public vote – but this is not an election, this is a particular decision that requires much time, thought and, expert knowledge; and it shouldn’t be affected by the waffle and hot air of a hundred different opinions, each shouting to be heard from behind their own hidden agendas. Indeed, if we have such little faith in the government that we demand a referendum rather than accept the decision of those we elected to make informed and forward thinking decisions on our behalf, then it is the government that needs changing, not the method of decision making.
P.S.
I’ll be blogging a bit more again now I’ve remembered my password.