British public wrong about nearly everything

[Glaucus]

The problem is that whilst the public make poor decisions based on little to no political knowledge...

the government makes poor decisions based on actually being "in the know".

That, to me, is far more scary.

However that's based on the public. If government where to do what they knew they wouldn't get back into power. You can not separate the two.

 

[elmarko]

How do we KNOW benefit fraud is only 70p in every £100? Fraud, by it's nature is hidden and therefore unaccountable.

Furthermore that figure comes from the DWP, who are essentially marking their own homework. What makes them look less incompetent that benefit fraud is rife or that it is very low?

Actually the DWP state that mistakes made by the DWP are much higher than fraud if you look at the breakdown (Which does imply incompetence).

It's hardly surprising, just have a 30 second political conversation with the average person & you see how little they actually know about the entire proces.

 

[phonemonkey]

How do we KNOW benefit fraud is only 70p in every £100? Fraud, by it's nature is hidden and therefore unaccountable.

Furthermore that figure comes from the DWP, who are essentially marking their own homework. What makes them look less incompetent that benefit fraud is rife or that it is very low?

There is no way of knowing for sure, but presumably it is possible to extrapolate the data we have on the frauds that have been identified into the wider benefits population to give us a figure in which we can have reasonable confidence.

The fact that the figures have been taken up by both the Royal Statistical Society and Kings College lead credence to the idea that they must have some statistical validity.

 

[arknor]

Crime: some 58 per cent of people do not believe crime is falling, when the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that incidents of crime were 19 per cent lower in 2012 than in 2006/07 and 53 per cent lower than in 1995. Some 51 per cent think violent crime is rising, when it has fallen from almost 2.5 million incidents in 2006/07 to under 2 million in 2012.

are police forces still fudging the figures?

How do we KNOW benefit fraud is only 70p in every £100? Fraud, by it's nature is hidden and therefore unaccountable.

With the way the government goes on with atos it's no surprise the public think benefit fraud is rife.. as it's the impression the government presents

 

[phonemonkey]

are police forces still fudging the figures?

Even if they are, presumably the level of fudging has remained constant, and therefore the figures are still statistically valid, and reflect a real reduction in crime?

 

[arknor]

Even if they are, presumably the level of fudging has remained constant, and therefore the figures are still statistically valid, and reflect a real reduction in crime?

or maybe they just got confident in their ability to mask the results and take it further and further each year

 

[phonemonkey]

or maybe they just got confident in their ability to mask the results and take it further and further each year

It's always possible.

 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

I can't say I'm surprised tbh.

Agreed with this comment..

 

[Tute]

However that's based on the public. If government where to do what they knew they wouldn't get back into power. You can not separate the two.

Well I tend to think the government is there to run the country to the best of their ability.

The difference is that their intentional or unintentional **** ups actually do make a difference.

 

[Glaucus]

Well I tend to think the government is there to run the country to the best of their ability.

The difference is that their intentional or unintentional **** ups actually do make a difference.

of course they make a difference, however you can not separate what they do, to how the public think.

Governments should be left to run the country how their experts in each field feel free, and the public should not get all outraged about it.
Unless the government fires said expert as it didn't agree with their opinion.

 

[badcompany]

Left don't like public opinion ?

 

[Destination]

Or just educate the public about critical thinking and get them to look at more sources of news before believing something?

This would do, but when the idiots won't learn anything at school anyway, you are not going to get them to apply thought to things they don't care about.

A govt newsletter from each department with exact info and figures once a year or quarter, put into words the public understand would be an amazing step forward by civil servants.

Unfortunately, whatever party involved would try to spin, then labour would do similar in the opposite way. Then Ed would make a political issue of it, look like an utter tard again, and finally the law would over rule everyone, as someone's rights would be infringed.

 

[glenimp617]

NEWS FLASH

The general public are idiots......SHOCK HORROR!!!!

I've been saying this for over a decade, yet everyone gets on their high horse and says 'we're not stupid'....'i'm not stupid' WAKE UP!

You guys think this is bad now, just wait till the next generation grows up.

Unfortunately I have recently been working with 18-25 years old.....I go home quite stressed. I've now lowered my expectations, significantly.

Sorry, I've not been shown how to do that
Madeliene who?
What missing plane?

I AM A ROBOT AND I CAN NOT THINK FOR MYSELF

 

[estebanrey]

There is no way of knowing for sure, but presumably it is possible to extrapolate the data we have on the frauds that have been identified into the wider benefits population to give us a figure in which we can have reasonable confidence.

The fact that the figures have been taken up by both the Royal Statistical Society and Kings College lead credence to the idea that they must have some statistical validity.

Problem is using the above method depends entirely of the competence of detection though. If you put lots of time, effort and money into it you'll catch far more people which then when multiplied up gives a much bigger end figure.

 

[arctine]

NEWS FLASH

The general public are idiots......SHOCK HORROR!!!!

I've been saying this for over a decade, yet everyone gets on their high horse and says 'we're not stupid'....'i'm not stupid' WAKE UP!

You guys think this is bad now, just wait till the next generation grows up.

Unfortunately I have recently been working with 18-25 years old.....I go home quite stressed. I've now lowered my expectations, significantly.

Sorry, I've not been shown how to do that
Madeliene who?
What missing plane?

I AM A ROBOT AND I CAN NOT THINK FOR MYSELF

Whereas the conclusions that you draw are clearly never rash.

 

[zoomee]

If the media was regulated with stricter punishment for unfounded stories we might not have such a twisted notion of what is right and wrong.
I am one of the public and I get a lot of extra info from even this forum that tbh I wouldn't normally be subjected to, if I didn't do it myself. The papers are to blame for rallying the masses in the wrong directions. IMO anyway.

We as a society need to find out who is accountable for this misinformation and public scaremongering.

+1 - Its too easy to spread blatant rubbish these days for the media, and they are not left accountable for most of this due to not everyone being able to afford to 'sue' like the celebrities are for example.

The BBC has to spread current government propaganda and this should be addressed with huge concern (read their charter - Anything major involving our country has to be vetted through the home office first).

I also think the people at the top who lead us - should be held to account for what they say and do - for example leading us to war over false pretences:

http://stopwar.org.uk/article/londo...blair-should-be-prosecuted-for-his-war-crimes

Basic jist is - MORE ACCOUNTABILITY! and less of the buck passing.....or is that whitewashing?

 

[413x]

This is why I am terrified of the concept of a referendum

i was just writing about this in the who would you vote for thread!

 

[MrMoonX]

This is why I am terrified of the concept of a referendum

+1

 

[Rilot]

This is why I am terrified of the concept of a referendum

+1

Scares the bejesus out of me. A decision that important shouldn't rest with the hysterical uneducated masses.

 

[mattyfez]

+1

Scares the bejesus out of me. A decision that important shouldn't rest with the hysterical uneducated masses.

Important things like an open in/out EU referendum would be a disaster if open to the public.

I only hope the Conservatives have already planned a 'U turn' strategy (they have hinted at a public vote) for this as most people would vote according to what the 'red tops' tell them. That would be out of the EU.

It's just one example of where true referendum style democracy would be economic suicide, most of the public, never mind how intelligent they are, are not exposed to the true picture, by default cannot make a balanced decision as they do not know the facts.

We have to be able trust our government to make sensible, forward thinking high level choices without knowing the nuts and bolts of the situation, (because some of those things would be simply dangerous for the general public to know) that's what it basically boils down to.

The general election for me, is not a question of who do I want to vote for, it's a question of voting for the party that's least likely to **** everything up. Running a country is like running a stupidly massive business, except there are less rules.