Lastangel

Boycotts aren't effective alone. Neither is one person deciding to vote for the other party. Telling your boss 'Uh, no, I'm not going to do that, that's illegal and immoral and probably a war crime or something' is not actually effective. Sure, I could switch providers or go sailing the high seas but that won't eradicate fascism, so why bother?

So I guess the only solutions are 1, carry right on supporting, validating, and participating in any bad practice or evil that comes your way, 2, some hitherto undiscovered way to Stop Evil in one fell stroke, or 3, engage in change as a process, on the understanding that the bad guys are hopefully not the only type of people who can work together to get shit done over a longer timeframe than 'now or never'.

I'm going for 3, because frankly if there aren't enough decent people in my community to put in a fraction of the effort the dangerous idiots are putting in, it's not worth saving. And I can't be bothered to do the whole 'judging myself, my family and friends and neighbours and country and society and finding it wanting' at the moment, so it's easier to just do what little good I can, wherever I see the chance

This week has passed in about 24 hours. I swear it's still July, maybe August. I don't wish to alarm anyone, but I think there's something wrong with the passage of time.

(Why yes, I am getting old, why do you ask?)

Fun thought experiment: have you ever met anyone who has replied to opinion polls?

I asked my dear 80 year old mother that a while ago, she hadn't. I haven't.

They are generally conducted by phone, cold calling landlines, or by someone going door to door with a clipboard.

Many unofficial (but still very influencial, including gov.uk) polls are online, and users have to complete hundreds of them to get a nominal payment, £5 I believe.

Now imagine the sort of person who answers their ringing landline/ door and says 'why yes, stranger, yes I do have 10 minutes to discuss my voting intentions', and you have the entire 'over 40 years old' demographic represented in these results.

Imagine someone who has actively sought out survey websites and sits though at least 100, over 6 months or so, for a tiny amount of pocket money - or even weirder, someone who just decided to do it anyway - and you have the entire 'under 40 years old' demographic in these results.

And now, thinking of those door-answerers and survey-clickers, imagine how colourful and exciting their lives must be, and then ask yourself what possible incentive they have to tell the truth when absolutely nobody will ever know if they liven up the tedium slightly by claiming to be a 45 year old self made millionaire with 12 lovely children all planning to vote Jedi in the next election.

And that is why opinion polls always come out way, way more fringe than the reality ever is. Because normal people do not answer them unless they have a strong opinion or an incentive, and those with an incentive generally have no incentive to be honest.

(For reference, I'm not dunking on people who have done these things. I spent about a year answering yougov surveys until it dawned on me that it worked out at less than 5p an hour. If you're bored or just want to contribute to the national knowledge pool, awesome, but you probably already know you're not exactly an average voter)