4 Ways To Fuck Up A Simple Yes / No Question
On Sunday, December 17, Chile will (again) go to the polls to vote on the new constitution proposal. In very very general political terms, while the first proposal a couple years back was seen as “leftist”, the new one has been prepared by a predominantly right-wing group. It is a simple vote: Do you approve of the new constitution? Yes or No. Simple question. How hard could it be?
It’s pretty easy to fuck it up, if you think about it (which, unfortunately, I have). So, here are 4 ways to fuck up a simple yes/no question:
- Answer Unprepared: To vote on a new constitution, you need to read it. You can argue all you want about how it’s long, not everyone has the education level to understand it, etc. If you are reading this, you can read the constitution. Is it long? Hell, yeah. Over 170 pages. Is it really interesting? Not so much. But considering it is an overreaching document that serves as a sort of national guide for maybe at least 100 years, it might be important. And considering how much time we spend on phones, on Netflix, on stuff that really isn’t essential to the day-to-day, it’s more irresponsibility or laziness that we don’t bother. Even if you don’t read it all, at least read some parts. Maybe the ones you feel are the most important.
- Copy Someone Else’s Answer: Love this one. People all the time complain about how everyone is only interested in themselves and their own well-being; government is only interested in keeping power. But when it comes time to vote yes/no on a constitution, we open it, see how many pages it is, and resort to…. The opinions of other and/or the news. It hurts to think for myself, please think for me. My favorite is when people bitch and moan about how politicians are corrupt, then check to see what their favorite political party is going to vote. Lovely.
- Vote Based On Who Is President: This one is absurd. A constitution (democratically prepared) is larger than one (or several) administrations. Some people will vote in favor (or against) on Sunday based solely on who is currently president. The current president, by the way, has nothing to do with the new document. It’s a bit like saying, “The football team I hate uses blue uniforms, so I hate football.”
- Don’t Answer The Question: Annulling your vote for president or senator or what have you is one thing (still think those annulled votes should have some consequence). But this is a document that will be around for a while (if approved) so good to have an opinion. And also, not voting will expose you to a fine.
Well, we will have to see how this turns out on the weekend. I’m sure there are many other ways to fuck up a simple yes/no question, but you need to start somewhere. And now you know.
Photo used: unsplash.com