[nebabyte]

> > How in the hell are the people of the UK supporting something like this?

> As a person from and living in the UK, I'm equally shocked and appalled as you. Everybody I know is baffled by and vehemently against these ridiculous proposals. Quite frankly I have no idea who is voting for the Conservatives

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14374899

It is important for anyone who does not wish to be continue to be blindsided by what "appears" to be surprising to be aware of and correct their own biases.

The trends in UK policymaking (namely, the fact that they're continuing rather than having been ousted) suggests a pattern, and while comments like the above feed into the denial I cite in that comment [0], objective observations (one way or another) serve to clear the air - but only when they're objective. Comments like these - that're "I'm just as confused as you are" - just end up setting discussion back, as people end up being misinformed (as I feel I have been from them in the past, and continue to be unless I make a conscious effort to consider what by all accounts seems the more likely alternative). Hard census-like data would be better than anecdota for this reason, for instance.

Perhaps as you say your anecdotal evidence supports "Everybody [you] know" being 'baffled', but as you're chiming in as a UK citizen, please be aware of any other potential selection or location biases. You're in a better position than outsiders to gauge and figure out where your blind spots are, and it's seeming more to me that the news doesn't bear out the easy-to-jump-to-conclusion (especially in the net-biased echo chamber) of your countrymen at large sharing the same view.

[rorygreen]

I'm not sure why your comment has been downvoted, this is a very reasonable point. I agree with the linked comment in that I know I am in the minority (votes-wise) but the point I was making is exactly that. Many many people have completely lost faith in politics because it seems that no matter what goes wrong or the number of insane policies presented by the Conservative party, the public opinion seems unchanging. I think there is a very complex set of reasons for this, a lot to do with the media here and the internet communities you mention.

For the above reasons I contend that these are biases, merely observations. I observe everybody around me supporting significantly more libertarian ideals and so I wonder who and where are these other people who hold opposing ideals. I'm sure I could find out the answer from census and statistical data but that doesn't bring me any closer to understanding the reasons why these people vote as they do. Part of my theory is that these opposing ideals are not ideals at all and are in fact a reflection of the efficacy of the marketing campaigns of right-wing politics.

[nebabyte]

Yes thanks. If I'd allocated more time to that comment I'd likely have edited to better get across that I'm also actively trying not to jump to conclusions on the other end of the spectrum, but I don't particularly care about votes either way and was/am just using this and the past comment to note what I might later look back on as the biased POV I was under at the time.

For GB's sake I hope some minority subdicision forms and at least manages to secure some of the crucial points of privacy or otherwise figure out how they can coexist with their system or one more suited to them... shrug The scarier aspect of globalization.