Sunday, August 27, 2017

ideally, you want an educated society. it's a necessary condition one way or the other; even voting for representatives requires some understanding of where the representatives stand, so it's kind of just putting the question off. further, brexit had a layer of self-determination attached to it that is very real to average voters. the self-interest of the nation as a whole, measured by the likes of mr. dawkins, may not be the same thing as the perceived self-interest of an individual on the ground.

i would not have voted for brexit. but, britain has historically actually not been a part of europe in any meaningful way - that is a recent idea. if you had have suggested to disraeli or to shakespeare that britain, france and germany would be a part of the same alliance under the same emperor, they would have laughed at you. it is the post-war pax americana that we've all lived all our lives in that is historically absurd and unstable. or, to put it another way - did britain vote to join the eurozone in the first place?

dawkins claims he's unqualified to vote. but, dawkins is a man of formidable intelligence. if he had any self-interest in the outcome, he would educate himself. he is unqualified to vote precisely because the outcome will not affect him in any way. the people the outcome will affect are small business owners and farmers, primarily. their self-interest is not the same as the self-interest of the bourgeois and banking classes - by definition.

none of this changes the premise that the vote was held under conditions where access to information was severely distorted by social media. but, the solution is to argue for greater education, not less democracy. and, it's a little disappointing to see richard dawkins, of all people, miss the point about public education.


aug 26-27th vlog, where i enjoy one more warm weekend for the summer, and finally get the all nighter in i was looking for.