Sunday, October 20, 2019

Suppose UK citizens have changed their minds about Brexit, what's the issue then with having a second referendum?

The more general question here is that if the populace has indeed changed it's mind/mood regarding something on which some sort of referendum or voting has already taken place, should or shouldn't a second referendum/voting take place? There's an important catch here that we cannot know or be sure before a second referendum/vote actually takes place that the populace had/has indeed changed its choice. And since one doesn't and cannot know for sure before going in all the way towards a second polling, what rationale does one have to ask for a second poll in the first place?

A solution to this problem can be in the amount of "calls" that are being made - in newspapers, on TV shows, on social media, etc. - for a second vote. Of course, no strict mathematical definition exists and no easy definition can be constructed regarding what amount/quality/quantity of "calls" should be considered sufficient to invoke a second vote, but a "good" number of "prominent" people calling for a second vote and a "high" number of citizens expressing for a "prolonged" period that they've changed their choice should be good-enough a reason to call for a second vote. Using this admittedly vague, subjective, and unscientific threshold, it seems like a second Brexit vote should be held in the UK.

There's another factor to be considered, and the Brexit example is suitable to explain it. Like it's possible that a guy initially gets attracted to a beautiful girl but after living with her for a year realizes that she isn't worth it [and that his initial judgment about her was incorrect], it's possible that the attraction of Brexit was only initial and that the very detailed discussions, etc., over the past several months have made many pro-Brexit folks realize that it's in fact better for Britain to continue to be an integral part of Europe [and EU]. At least for major issues such as Brexit, a provision for "change of heart" should be kept, especially after detailed discussions have been held and the voters have had sufficient time to understand the effects of their majority choice in detail, so that they can now walk back from that initial choice if they want to.

Saturday, June 29, 2019

Governments should be barred by law from discriminating against those contractors, firms, media outlets, etc., which are critical of the government or expose its wrongdoings [COMPACTIDEA]

Centre freezes advertisements to the Times Group, ABP Group and The Hindu: Report

Modi government freezes ads placed in three Indian newspaper groups

It should be illegal for the Indian government, and more generally for any government, to use budget spending or other government spending as a weapon or as a punishment to harm or control those companies, NGOs, newspapers, people, etc., which hold the government or its constituent politicians to account, including by revealing the government's wrongdoings.

Thursday, March 14, 2019

If only all ministers, officials, politicians, and regulators in the world were - and were required to be - like the current Minister of Transport of Canada, the world would be a much better place [RAWDUMP]

Was surprised to read a much-upvoted comment under an article on FT that:


Headed to Wikipedia and was stunned to read about his education/qualifications [permanent link] and his professional experience(s). Wow! Such an extremely qualified guy. Could anyone in Canada be more suited for this job? Probably not. Astronaut, engineer, military officer, Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Canadian Space Agency, and so many other things wrapped into one man. He can read and interpret complex technical data himself and make sound decisions.

If only the world's ministers, politicians, etc., were all required to be at least highly educated/qualified, this world would be a much better place.