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So as I'm sure some of you are aware Scotland recently had a vote on breaking away and becoming independent. Results aside the level of political engagement was something I've never seen before in this country and likely never will again. The turnout was just under 85% compared to 50% in the most recent Scottish Parliament elections. I live in Glasgow and the whole city spent the week in the lead-up deep in some sort of referendum fever. Everywhere you looked were the stalls of campaigners. People would come up to you in the streets and ask you how you were going to vote and try to change it if they could. Every pub and workplace was awash with discussion, Facebook was virtually unusable for any non political purpose. Through it all I saw a lot of people who firmly and passionately believed that they were right...and I was jealous. Ultimately I voted for independence but it was by the narrowest margin in my head, I wasn't as heartbroken as many were by the result. But the result if anything has galvanized the pro independence side and people are getting involved in politics now more than ever, the result be damned, these people still passionately believe in their cause. But seeing that just makes me wonder more and more. How do these people hold such strong opinions on issues? My stance on almost every major issue is "it's complicated and I don't know". Be it politics, economics, ethics, it's all so complex. And it's not from lack of interest. When something like this comes along I read up on it, but that just seems to make the matter even more complicated and hard to hold a view on. Combine that with the fact that almost every piece of information on a controversial subject is framed with bias to one side or the other and I just wind up more undecided than when I started whenever I try to read into things. So, you guys seem as good as any to ask. How and why do you hold strong opinions on subjects? Or are you happy sitting on the fence?
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Sep 27, 2014 18:31
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 21:08 |
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