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Following the Brexit shenanigans it has become abundantly clear to me that the general population can't be trusted.
I have heard a lot of whinging about the politicians for the last few months and many have them haven't covered themselves in glory but the biggest factor in this debacle is us lot....the ordinary joes. Take us out of the equation and this would have gone very differently.
I have to admit when Cameron started floating the idea of a referendum, I had a feeling of foreboding. I have always been of the opinion that the general public once they have voted in a government at a general election, shouldn't visit the poling stations again until the next election (with the exception of local elections).
I am a bit angry that I didn't raise this issue at the time and start a petition to keep us lot out of government matters. Although our politicians can be slimy and corrupt and in some left of centre cases, badly dressed, the vast majority at least obey and understand democracy.
But what of the general public? Despicable behaviour if you ask me. Since the result of the referendum, the masses have bellyached, bitched and moaned and started campaigning for another vote....this has only encouraged some of the weaker and blatantly careerist politicians. Thankfully the majority of or MPs have some sort of respect for democracy.
If we should admonish the politicians lets save it all for Cameron. He is the one guilty of handing responsibility for a key decision over to us lot and to quote the words of Peter Fonda in Easy Rider "we blew it"
This is basically a long winded intro into asking the question:
Should the population be asked to take part in referendums in the future or as I believe do you think we should consider everything when we vote in an election and after that trust the democratically elected Government to make decisions?
Last edited by CAMiller; 19-11-2018 at 07:01 AM.
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I think people should vote on referendums regardless on how you voted and why you voted the way you did our motivations for voting and politicians motivations are far from being the same, take nick clegg before the referendum him and Blair were lined for jobs inside EU would he vote in parliament for good of the country or for the good of his bank account?
However voting on whether we have changed our mind is fked up.
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Depends what we are voting on , if we feck up in a GE at least we get another opportunity five years down the line .
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have them all the time in Switzerland and they're not doing too bad, richest country in the world just about.
Moderator
Having experienced it both ways, vote on your representative every five years and leave it up to them (UK) or have a multitude of votes every November on a multitude of issues (US) I'm unsure which I prefer.
For example, in the recent polls here, the voter pamphlet (explaining all the measures to the voting public) was 150 pages long. How many do you think would read that and digest? There were 4 statewide initiatives that were basically:-
Should gun laws be tightened up? Public votes 60/40 in favour. NRA have already filed suit against the result.
Should fossil fuel providers be charged a clean energy tax? Vote was no, possibly due to the $40M spent by the big oil companies to advertise against it.
Should cities be allowed to charge a sugary drinks tax like the one just introduced in Seattle. 1.75c/oz tax on the likes of Coke/Pepsi etc. that has raised $18M in its first year. Result was no, possibly due to the $40M spent by the big soda companies to advertise against it.
Should police be trained not to shoot innocent people. Vote was yes. Expecting a lawsuit any day now.
On top of these there are a myriad of local issues that are voted on for things like adding $100 to property taxes to build new schools etc.
As a non-voter the build up to these votes becomes excruciating on TV as every commercial break is flooded with advertising for/against the issues. Mind you, that all stopped after polling day and now we have the Christmas ads
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Different people , different culture, unfair to compare it to the UK in my opinion fire .Originally Posted by great_fire
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Referenda are referenda.
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I'm pained to reply to any ibs bull, but i'm a bit fascinated with how the US vote.....on the face of it the options seem brilliant, giving local people a chance to vote on local issues, i think that's great myself, but that process has obviously been hijacked by the money, by the elite, once again...i have no real answers, but it really does show what and who really does run the show in our 'democracies' eh.....Having experienced it both ways, vote on your representative every five years and leave it up to them (UK) or have a multitude of votes every November on a multitude of issues (US) I'm unsure which I prefer.
For example, in the recent polls here, the voter pamphlet (explaining all the measures to the voting public) was 150 pages long. How many do you think would read that and digest? There were 4 statewide initiatives that were basically:-
Should gun laws be tightened up? Public votes 60/40 in favour. NRA have already filed suit against the result.
Should fossil fuel providers be charged a clean energy tax? Vote was no, possibly due to the $40M spent by the big oil companies to advertise against it.
Should cities be allowed to charge a sugary drinks tax like the one just introduced in Seattle. 1.75c/oz tax on the likes of Coke/Pepsi etc. that has raised $18M in its first year. Result was no, possibly due to the $40M spent by the big soda companies to advertise against it.
Should police be trained not to shoot innocent people. Vote was yes. Expecting a lawsuit any day now.
On top of these there are a myriad of local issues that are voted on for things like adding $100 to property taxes to build new schools etc.
As a non-voter the build up to these votes becomes excruciating on TV as every commercial break is flooded with advertising for/against the issues. Mind you, that all stopped after polling day and now we have the Christmas ads
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But isn't this the mistake the EU make and assume we Europeans are all the same when clearly we aren't ?
Moderator
I think it is the right way to go but as you say you are up against big money on some issues, or with big money dependent upon your position. For example on the gun issue, the big money of the NRA came up against the big money of the late Paul Allen (Microsoft founder and owner of the Seattle Seahawks) and his friends.
As a non-voter I just get to pay the taxes. However, I do benefit as I work for a publicly funded agency who 2 years ago were granted $54B over 25 years to plan, build and operate public transportation in Seattle and surrounding areas. Mind you the lawsuits are still going on from the people who now feel they were tricked into voting yes. Sound familiar?
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