Hey there IS an opposition in Ireland after all. This is a rejection of almost the entire political class in the country! The people just don't trust them.
Or possibly it shows that US right-wing style disinformation and propaganda works nicely in Ireland, especially when backed up by the British media that dominates a large chunk of the market here.
The problem was that there were a dozen spurious reasons to vote No, and very few compelling ones to vote yes, and that the main political parties fumbled the whole thing anyway, have been fumbling the whole thing for a decade or more.
the main political parties fumbled the whole thing anyway, have been fumbling the whole thing for a decade or more.
It's also true that democracy just doesn't work in the face of media control and manipulation
Yep.
media control and manipulation doesn't work in a democracy, redefining democracy a little perhaps!
simply giving un- or misinformed people a vote is not full democracy, methinks, and if people are allowed and encouraged to follow, observe, critique and participate more, (which is happening at a rapid rate), then politicians get away with spinning and psywarring, and the public are continually buying a pig in a poke.
an uninvolved electorate is a sign of luxury in a society, that things are going so (sink or) swimmingly in material terms that people cast but a shallow lookaround at the big wheels turning overhead.
in harder (and better informed) times, i think politicians will have to be a lot more real and accountable, cognitive dissonance is already at snapping point,recent world events making it ever more obvious how much we've been played for fools. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
oops, i meant until people... ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
I do believe I'm going to puke listening to the spin the anti-EU side are going to put on this.
However, it could have been a vote against the entire EU political class that gave us this Treaty. Would that be more acceptable as a reason? When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
So the problem is the lack of compelling reasons to vote yes. Just making life easier for the politicians when they want to make things happen in Brussels is not compelling for anyone other than the politicians. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
