Friday 8 June 2007

Are voters really pig ignorant?

Just saw a fluff piece on TV. A UK farming organisation (The Linking Environment And Farming organisation) has done a survey. It seems many British people have no idea where a lot of what they eat comes from. Many didn’t know that produce such as bacon, porridge, bread and beer comes from farms.

It seems some 22% of the adults questioned didn’t know that bacon and sausages come from pigs on farms and some 47% of people didn’t know porridge's main ingredient comes from farms.

What is horrifying is that these people can vote. The horrifying part is that they will decide how to cast their vote without basic information that should make a difference on how they vote in relation to issues that impact, on say, farming for instance.

How can someone, so lacking in basic facts about life, have any chance of making a reasonably informed decision? What other basic, but vital, information don't they know?

Making decisions based on partial information and inadequate knowledge would give a massive boost to the law of unintended consequences. Under the wrong circumstances it could actually be dangerous. How can people sleepwalk through life like this?