Hooray for uninformed decisions!
I always make an effort to try and really understand what I am voting on before a poll. I also always end up feeling even more like I have no idea what or who I'm actually casting a vote for as I read. And I know that the vast majority of people don't even bother to do anything more than read the signs and bumper stickers plastered all over the place around election time. It really makes me wonder how some well funded sinister cartel hasn't secretly taken control of everything, puppet masters in the shadows operating by subtly influencing people through TV ads and confusing propositions. I mean, if there were really were some Illuminati-esque secret society, would anyone even notice? Or care?
(No, I haven't suddenly started believing in the lunatic rants of conspiracy theorists. I'm just sayin')
More than anything I just don't feel like there is any source of information I can actually trust. For the past few weeks, near my office there have been two signs, right next to each other, one proclaiming that firefighters unanimously support measure J, the other rebutting that firefighters oppose measure J. I have no idea what the fuck measure J is, that doesn't seem to be as important as letting people know how firefighters feel about it. I guess it doesn't really matter since I don't live in the city to vote on it, but I know that (at least) one of those signs is lying. Of course the people that talk the loudest about an issue either have the largest vested interest or are just very passionate about it. Unfortunately both of those scenarios are very bad for factual information. I'd really like to get my political information from someone who couldn't care less about it.
So I've got fallacious signs and people or organizations who have abandoned reason in favor of emotion and/or personal gain feeding me info, that's a great start! Maybe I'm being too hard on the signs though. Not all of them lie. I've seen plenty that just come right out and say what's on their mind: "No on 86!". Is that really enough to sway someone? I guess it must be, it's a popular approach. As naive as it may be though, I like to believe that no one is going to just check the box that matches the last thing they heard relating to that number, having no idea what it actually means.
The TV commercials are really helpful though. For instance, I've learned that Cruz Bustamante lost over 70 pounds and that Phil Angelidas hates children, or something.
I've tried reading the official summaries and arguments on the ballot. The summary will usually give me enough information to come up with a stance. I like to follow that up by reading the dissenting argument as a test of my resolve. Invariably, I find it offensively pandering and overtly misleading. Of course, so is the argument for the side I chose.
Whatever. "I'll just read the actual text of the proposition", I think... And that is where everything falls apart all over again. As an example, Prop 86 adds a 13 cent tax on each cigarette. That seems simple enough, so why does it takes 14 pages to spell this out? It's full of stuff that I know enough to know that I don't fully grasp because I'm not a fucking lawyer. It creates a slew of funds and accounts with all sorts of special rules. It talks about specific ways in which doctors are compensated, covers hanging signs in certain types of clinics. There is a whole bit about how any fluctuation in consumption of tobacco products that affects the revenue they generate for some other fund created by a proposition in 1998 will be offset by revenue from this new tax. I think. Although if I got that wrong, it doesn't really matter because I have no idea if that is a good thing or not.
I'm going to be a good little citizen and vote today, but I can't say that I feel good about it.
(No, I haven't suddenly started believing in the lunatic rants of conspiracy theorists. I'm just sayin')
More than anything I just don't feel like there is any source of information I can actually trust. For the past few weeks, near my office there have been two signs, right next to each other, one proclaiming that firefighters unanimously support measure J, the other rebutting that firefighters oppose measure J. I have no idea what the fuck measure J is, that doesn't seem to be as important as letting people know how firefighters feel about it. I guess it doesn't really matter since I don't live in the city to vote on it, but I know that (at least) one of those signs is lying. Of course the people that talk the loudest about an issue either have the largest vested interest or are just very passionate about it. Unfortunately both of those scenarios are very bad for factual information. I'd really like to get my political information from someone who couldn't care less about it.
So I've got fallacious signs and people or organizations who have abandoned reason in favor of emotion and/or personal gain feeding me info, that's a great start! Maybe I'm being too hard on the signs though. Not all of them lie. I've seen plenty that just come right out and say what's on their mind: "No on 86!". Is that really enough to sway someone? I guess it must be, it's a popular approach. As naive as it may be though, I like to believe that no one is going to just check the box that matches the last thing they heard relating to that number, having no idea what it actually means.
The TV commercials are really helpful though. For instance, I've learned that Cruz Bustamante lost over 70 pounds and that Phil Angelidas hates children, or something.
I've tried reading the official summaries and arguments on the ballot. The summary will usually give me enough information to come up with a stance. I like to follow that up by reading the dissenting argument as a test of my resolve. Invariably, I find it offensively pandering and overtly misleading. Of course, so is the argument for the side I chose.
Whatever. "I'll just read the actual text of the proposition", I think... And that is where everything falls apart all over again. As an example, Prop 86 adds a 13 cent tax on each cigarette. That seems simple enough, so why does it takes 14 pages to spell this out? It's full of stuff that I know enough to know that I don't fully grasp because I'm not a fucking lawyer. It creates a slew of funds and accounts with all sorts of special rules. It talks about specific ways in which doctors are compensated, covers hanging signs in certain types of clinics. There is a whole bit about how any fluctuation in consumption of tobacco products that affects the revenue they generate for some other fund created by a proposition in 1998 will be offset by revenue from this new tax. I think. Although if I got that wrong, it doesn't really matter because I have no idea if that is a good thing or not.
I'm going to be a good little citizen and vote today, but I can't say that I feel good about it.