Referendums and all that (p2)

I must admit to having got a bit sweary on Twitter as I watched the Salmond vs Darling debate last night. Not because I have a vote in the Scottish Independence referendum and have yet to decide on my position, or am about to put a cross on the voting paper. Like many expats, we are disenfranchised from taking part in such referendums... even if they might have a direct effect on our lives.

Instead my blasphemous outbursts were all down to my assertion and belief that Mr Salmond is a blatant liar and, like many dictators that have come and gone, is fooling many people into believing those lies.

Psychology is a powerful weapon and there is no doubt in my mind that Mr Salmond and his SNP cronies have been well trained in the dark arts of psychological persuasion, revealed in his creation of a social need for independence and his persistent use loaded words and phrases that plays to those needs.

And like this those participants in social influence experiments, such as the Milgram Obediance Experiment and the Stanford Prison Experiment, many "Yes" voters have been swept away on the tide of SNP rhetoric and truly believe everything that is told them... even if those "truths" are merely told to ensure containing obedience and support for their leaders.

You only have to look at the #indyref threads on Twitter to see the vitriol emanating from both sides the debate - many with no sensible argument other than a "he said, she said" mentality and a vague literary command of what can seen as a "debate". At this lower end of the scale, such threads seem to be based on nothing more than who can insult their opposing number the most amount times before the inevitable "block" is put in place.

Conversely, when educated, intelligent tweeters use the platform, in an attempt to discuss the pros and cons of either side, they are all too often "shouted" down by ways of abuse, threats and harassment by those aforementioned types, are unable to argue their way out of a paper bag...

And presumably all eligible parties involved in these social media conversations will be heading to their polling booths on 18 September, as a true democracy allows, to cast a vote that could radically change not only their day-to-day lives, but those of future generations... with many making their choice on the basis of a lie.

And if that isn't enough to make a saint swear...