A referendum on Lisbon - why bother?

There are a great many unsolved mysteries in this world, such as why cornflakes taste better with a soup spoon and why the phrase “soft underbelly of a Ford Transit” never made is past the editors of Homer’s second novel, The Little Lad. Such things trouble me deeply and keep me awake all day.

Why do people voluntarily participate in opinion polls only to click “Don’t know / No opinion”? Why did I say “click”, not “tick”, “answer” or “respond”?

All children, and some of the more inquisitive household pets, ask “why is the sky blue?” Why do so few parents or dog owners respond by outlining John Tyndall’s work on nephelometry. Is it because “Tyndall” is difficult to spell or nephelometry sounds rude or 19th century Carlow-born scientists just aren’t hip or they simply never heard of him?

Was George Boole the father of computer science? Or was it Alan Turing? Or Charles Babbage? Konrad Zuse? Howard Aiken? Herman Hollerith? Why is Vincent Atanasoff called the forgotten father of computer science if I remember his name?

Was Ada Lovelace or Admiral Grace Hopper the mother? How did they get time to write programs or find bugs with all those fathers milling around? Why is Hedy Lamarr more famous as a movie star than an inventor?

Why was Nice I rejected? Why was Nice II ratified? Why was Nice important? Why will the Lisbon Treaty be good for Ireland? Be bad for Ireland? Be good for Europe? Be bad for Europe? Why do we need a referendum at all?

I’m not asking for your answers. As readers, even if only of blogs, you have them. Or at least opinions. If you haven’t asked yourself the above questions, you’ve asked similar. The vast majority don’t.

Why is diesel suddenly more expensive than petrol? Why have property prices slowed? Why do we have such a poor health service? Why is Irish-made whiskey cheaper in France than here?

These are the questions asked by the majority. The road haulier; the house-seller; the ingrown toenail sufferer; the holidaying drinker. These are what matter now. Right now.

Holding a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty is a pointless exercise because most people just don’t care. It doesn’t effect them right now. The use of scare tactics by both the Yes and No camps makes great fodder for the media, but that’s about all. It won’t prompt them to investigate further. People are just so used to hyperbole that they ignore it. Both camps might as well run off posters warning “if you don’t vote Yes/No your knob/tits will fall off”.

11 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

I love all the signs up on the lamp-posts; especially that Sinn Fein forgot to print on the back of them but had some poor sod go over each one with a red marker: “NO NO NO”.

1. Annie Rhiannon on May 21st, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Annie M.A. ~ Missed opportunity. You could’ve designed a really cool NO NO NO for them. Tudor style maybe. And with little angry faces on the Os.

But maybe Sinn Féin have their very own No-designing department.

2. Primal Sneeze on May 21st, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Why are laptops now called notebooks? Why is Madonna pretending to be a teenager in a sweet shop? Why am I not allowed to vote?

3. conortje on May 21st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Conorín ~ Because they fit better in carrycases that way;
Because that’s what she is - an up and coming shop assistant;
Because Kerry never joined the EU.

Next!

4. Primal Sneeze on May 21st, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Why long is a bit of string?

5. problemchildbride on May 21st, 2008 at 4:54 pm
2ft 13in and 2 strokes, Sam.

Next!

6. Primal Sneeze on May 21st, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Democracy doesn’t work! We’re having a referendum to prove it (again).

7. 5h4mr0(k on May 23rd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Person-with-numbers-in-his-name ~ Democracy works, but only when people make choices. In the case of Lisbon, few will even think about their choices. Less will act on their choices. Yet many will vote, but not know what they are voting on.

8. Primal Sneeze on May 23rd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
We could follow Berlin’s example, and abstain…

9. aonghus on May 23rd, 2008 at 10:12 pm
“In the case of Lisbon, few will even think about their choices. Less will act on their choices. Yet many will vote, but not know what they are voting on.”

My point exactly!

Democracy doesn’t work.

10. 5h4mr0(k on May 24th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Aonghus ~ Or everyone else’s example, and let the government decide.

Person-with-numbers-in-his-name ~ But if there was a vote in the morning on whether taxes be doubled to pay for the health service everyone would have an opinion - it would affect them here and now.

11. Primal Sneeze on May 24th, 2008 at 6:11 am