 You scored as The Operative. You are dedicated to your job and very good at what you do. You've done some very bad things, but they had to be done. You don't expect to go to heaven, but that is a sacrifice you've made for a better future for all.
Which Serenity character are you? created with QuizFarm.com |
I wasn't expecting that, I mean, I'm hardly amoral, I just acknowledge that reality is cold, hard and unforgiving. And yes, most people are shortsighted, venal and selfish, knowing this isn't always enough to keep onself from succumbing to such weaknesses however. I'm not given to blind faith either but I'm open to new information which sometimes radically changes my opinion on things.
Something I read earlier today has stuck in my mind, it's from a forum I contribute to, written by a gentleman who sometimes pops by here. He said:
Referenda work very well in Swtizerland, but the government structure over there is radically different, based far more around a local council-like structures, so you could argue that the public feel more connected with the decisions they are voting on. They have referenda pretty regularly, less now I think than fifteen years ago.patrickgarson
The two things that wouldn't work for Australia are a) referenda here at least are a seriously expensive business, millions and millions and millions.
b) the public is _incredibly conservative when it comes to referenda. In Australia we have only voted yes on a referendum twice. Once, to federate, and once to give indigenous people a vote. That's it in over a hundred years. Not exactly inspiring, is it?
Would smaller scales - say, state-based change this? I dunno, but I've got strong doubts.
You could also argue that a referendum where the public are voting on an issue they don't really understand (and let's face it, that's a lot; policy is bloody hard stuff, no one understands all of it, or even most I would say), is a form of sham-democracy, because it's an uninformed decision.
I've struggled with the biggest weakness of democracy for ages and have come to the conclusion that people are stupid sometimes, and there's nothing one can do about it. That just has to be accepted. The only redemption is that sometimes the punishment for making stupid electoral decisions is severe enough to spark political engagement among voters, for a while, and a resulting revival in political ideas and idealistic politicians. However there doesn't seem to be any way to sustain it. What do you think?
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