The Politics of Ignorance

It's the sheer ignorance which appalls me, the way that people, even supposed political correspondents, think that they can discuss political issues without grasping even the basics of how political systems work.  On a daily basis I see ridiculous statements presented as fact go unchallenged by journalists and other so called experts.  Especially where the Brexit referendum is concerned.  Take the oft quoted phrase used in response to calls for a second referendum or the reversal of Brexit: don't you trust the British people?  Well, obviously not, or we wouldn't have a representative democracy where we elect a parliament to make the significant political decisions on our behalf.  This isn't unique to the UK.  Most democratic states use variations on this system.  The referendum, curiously enough, isn't generally used as a means of framing legislation.  In fact, they are more likely to be used as demagogues and dictators to rubber stamp repressive, but populist, measures, thereby giving them a spurious sheen of respectability, ('it was the public's choice to make homosexuality/the free press/religion/etc illegal').  It's why, when they are used in democratic societies, their results are usually non-binding upon the government, (just like the Brexit referendum).

The electorate at large, sadly, are too easily swayed by the emotional and illogical 'arguments' of the so called populists, prey to the lies and half truths they peddle in pursuit of their dubious ends.  Hence the triumph of representative democracy, where we delegate those decisions to elected bodies we assume are better placed to make an informed decision.  Although, watching the conduct of some the Brexit bastards on the Tory back benches of late, one might reasonably question such a proposition.  The problem, obviously, is that the majority of the public simply don't have access to all of the relevant facts and arguments concerning complex issues such as the UK's relationship to the EU, which simply can't be boiled down to a binary choice of 'should the UK leave the European Union. Yes or No?', as the 2016 referendum did.  (Notice how there's no mention of how the UK should leave the EU< or what its future relationship with the EU should be in the event of it leaving.  Which leaves me wondering how the Brexit bastards can possibly say that anything short of a complete break - so called 'hard Brexit' - wouldn't be what people voted for and would be a betrayal of the 'public will'.  (Ignoring the fact that, constitutionally, in the UK it is parliament which represents the 'will of the people', not a single referendum result).  Yet more unchallenged nonsense).  The advent of the internet should, in theory, have given people greater access to the sort of information they need to make informed political decisions. Sadly, it hasn't worked out that way, with the web rapidly turning into a vast continent of lies.

I know I've said all this before and that it sounds as if I'm giving one of my AS level politics lessons from back in the day when I was still in the classroom.  But I just felt it needed to be said again:  I'm so tired of all the ill-informed bollocks I keep reading in the media which, as I've said, seems to go unchallenged.  It's wearying and depressing.  Is it any wonder that these days political discourse seems to be dominated by lies, hate and rancour?  It really gets me down.  I think I'll try and steer clear of politics for the rest of the week.