Will you read Referendum Commission booklet?

arcadegame2004

I will. I think we all should. No-one who has gotten this in the post as I have can really claIm not to understand it, unless they are being too lazy to read the damn thing. I am fed up with the trend since Nice I for people to start moaning at referendum time "Oh I don't understand it" blah blah blah. Has our economic-prosperity spawned a loss of interest in politics compared to previously?

Frank Grimes

Originally posted by arcadegame2004
Has our economic-prosperity spawned a loss of interest in politics compared to previously?

Nah, that's the asylum seekers' fault too.
Anyway, I'll take a read through it. It's not going to change my decision on how I'm voting however.

PhilH

Anyway, I'll take a read through it. It's not going to change my decision on how I'm voting however.

Surely that's not the right approach. Shouldn't you retain an open mind, ready to be swayed by valid arguments?

I read the booklet, and it's pretty good. Objective and technical, but then the issue is. It's a far better starting point for a discussion than any of the ranting you get from radio/papers/tv.

Frank Grimes

Originally posted by PhilH
Surely that's not the right approach. Shouldn't you retain an open mind, ready to be swayed by valid arguments?

I've made my mind up from the sources available at the moment, the booklet isn't going to contain anything that could change my decision.
The facts are all there at the moment, that thread with the 500 odd posts isn't based on specualtion.

chewy

i thought it was good but in a way it sez nothing....

somebody pointed out before that it doesn't try and clear up the pro and con arguements for the ref and then of course someone else said that's not its job, but clearing up the question is one thing but creating somesort of basis for making a intelligent decision on the ref, evading all the confusing stats and claim on both sides would be nice

arcadegame2004

Well Chewy, when that was tried in the Nice I referendum, it led to false claims such as "Irish people being conscripted into European army" being mentioned as "arguments", even though no such conscription was part of the Nice Treaty. The referendum commission ought to concentrate on facts, not putting unproven arguments out there as if they were facts, which is why I approve of the changes brought about to the role of the Commission after the "No" vote to Nice I. The false arguments of the "No" side were given undue credibility in the Nice I vote by their inclusion in the Referendum Commission literature and especially that infamous TV ad.

Imposter

Originally posted by arcadegame2004
The referendum commission ought to concentrate on facts, not putting unproven arguments out there as if they were facts...

Well it's not just the referendum commision that does that now is it?;)

PhilH

I've made my mind up from the sources available at the moment, the booklet isn't going to contain anything that could change my decision.

Fair enough if you've arrived at an informed decision.

The facts are all there at the moment, that thread with the 500 odd posts isn't based on specualtion.

I think your being slightly too generous about the huge thread though. There's plenty of nonsense in there (which is why it is so large). Also, some good stuff.

I thought the leaflet did a good job of omitting a lot of the crap that is swimming around the media, thereby reminding people what the referendum is actually about.

For example (I'm not trying to turn the thread to this, its just an example), you don't hear many people on the media pointing out that if the ref passes, children born in the country will still have a right to citizenship (through legislation). The gov are proposing a change in this legislation (not finalised), but the debate around the referendum barely mentions this. The fact that this is pointed out by the booklet, instead of spurious statistics either for or against the referendum means that the booklet is doing its job well, and avoiding propaganda for one side or the other.

Hobbes

I read the booklet when it was available on the net (no surprise Arcade you didn't bother to read it over a week ago when you started your threads).

It is about an impartial as your going to get.

Saying you will read it but won't change your mind is kind of stupid. The book isn't trying to get a yes or no vote out of you. What it is doing is explaining the facts to what the vote is about.

Villain

Nope I know what its about dont need to read it.

Frank Grimes

Originally posted by Hobbes
Saying you will read it but won't change your mind is kind of stupid. The book isn't trying to get a yes or no vote out of you. What it is doing is explaining the facts to what the vote is about.

I was pointing out that I know why I'm voting at the moment, so reading the booklet will not affect how I actually vote.
It's possible that some peoples' minds will be changed from reading it. I don't see anything stupid about that.