$7 million for the "In the name of the family" referendum—why this headline?

It looks like one of the moderators decided to slap a price tag on the thread title about the referendum, specifically using the phrase "In the name of the family," which really makes me wonder...

Should we just start adding a cost estimate to every single political headline on this site?

I mean, what’s the actual market value of democracy for Americans?

What would it take to buy a government like this one?

How much does all this tax auditing and fiscal oversight actually run us?

And what about the cost of public health education?

Or better yet, how much is Josip Perković worth?

That last one seems to be absolutely priceless, if you ask me...

It feels like some people here have taken their job as moderators far too seriously, as if they aren't just managing threads, but trying to moderate the very intelligence of the users themselves...

If those moderators were even remotely more intelligent, maybe this whole situation wouldn't feel quite so unbearable...

But as it stands, it just comes across as incredibly primitive...

I'm with you—the title ought to be: The "In the name of the family" referendum, or how the right wing and the church are dragging us back to the North America

James Patel20 said:It seems a moderator decided to tack a price tag onto the "In the name of the family" referendum thread title. So, I have to ask:

Should we just put a cost on every political headline from now on?

What’s the price of democracy for Americans?

What does a government like this cost us?

What about tax compliance?

Or public health education?

Or perhaps, what is the value of Josip Perković?

The latter appears to be priceless.

Some moderators seem to think their job is to moderate the intelligence of the users.

If they were even slightly more intelligent, this might be tolerable.

As it stands, it just feels primitive.

Since when is a title an issue?

There were two separate threads about the referendum yesterday. Following standard logic, they merged them, and the title is simply a combination of the two.

This isn't even the first time a thread title includes a dollar amount. Given that our current discussion covers everything from the mechanics of the referendum to the specific legal regulations involved, we might as well include the total impact on the US budget.

Anthony Jackson2 said:I’m on the same page here, I really think the title should be... The proposed "In the name of the family" referendum... it really makes you wonder if the right-wing factions and certain religious institutions are just trying to drag us all back toward that old-school, regressive mentality we see elsewhere in the North America... It feels like a step backward, almost as if we're being pushed away from progress and back into a much more restrictive era...

This is what people mean when they talk about having true "soccer intelligence"...

Charles Fox10 As if I haven't spent enough time thinking about this... it seems like...
So, what exactly is the problem with the headline now...?

There were two separate threads popping up yesterday regarding the referendum, but since it’s just common sense and standard forum etiquette to group similar topics together, they’ve been merged into one... which means the new title is essentially a combination of both subjects...

This isn't exactly the first time we’ve seen a thread like this pop up, and if I had to guess, it probably won't be the last either... you know, those posts where the title is just some massive dollar amount slapped right at the front. Since we already spent all that time over on the main discussion thread deconstructing every single legal detail and figuring out how they actually plan to run this whole referendum process, I figured we might as well look at the actual price tag... specifically, how much of our tax dollars are going to be swallowed up by this entire thing from the federal budget...

And besides, why does that specific number even matter, considering we're talking about the direct will of the people...

I've been sitting here wondering about something lately, just staring at the news cycles and thinking about how we frame things... like, why is it that when we see headlines about our national elections, you never actually see a specific number tucked into the title? It’s such an odd thing when you really stop to dwell on it, because usually, numbers give us that sense of concrete reality, you know... but instead, it's always just these broad, sweeping statements about the upcoming vote... I wonder if there's some underlying reason for that lack of precision in the way the media presents the parliamentary race to us... maybe it's just the way political journalism works here in the States, or perhaps there's something deeper about how we perceive the scale of the democratic process itself... it makes me curious if it's intentional, or if we've just become accustomed to this vague way of reporting the most important events in our country...

James Patel20 said:Some moderator clearly decided to slap a price tag onto the title of the thread regarding the "In the name of the family" referendum... so now I have to ask:

Should we just list the cost in every single political headline from now on?

What’s the price tag on democracy for Americans?

What does a government like this one actually cost?

What about tax compliance software?

What about health education?

Or better yet—how much is Josip Perković worth?

The latter seems to be priceless, apparently.

It looks like some people take their job of moderating the forum as an excuse to try and moderate the actual intelligence of the users.

If those moderators were even remotely intelligent, maybe this wouldn't be so unbearable.

As it stands, it just looks incredibly primitive.

Don't let them get under your skin. We all know who runs the politics section here, so you really should have seen this coming. Just leave it be—look at it from a different perspective. Regardless of what kind of country this is, I am proud to live in a nation where I actually have the right to vote in a referendum on this issue... whether it costs $47 million or $347 million doesn't even matter. Let it stay there. Believe me, it won't stop anyone from showing up to vote, and they'll face the ultimate consequence once the referendum passes anyway. So don't sweat it—everything will be fine, just don't give them the satisfaction of seeing you rattled. 🙂

James Patel20 said:Why does this number even matter if we're talking about the direct will of the people?

For instance, why don't we see numbers in the headlines for general elections?

Look, I already told you the headline is just a blend of two different topics. As for why other threads, like those regarding general elections, lack numerical indicators... don't ask me. Ask the person who actually creates the threads.

Charles Fox10 said:Look, I already told you that the title is just a mashup of two different topics, and if you're wondering why other threads—like those about parliamentary elections—don't have numerical indicators attached to them, don't look to me for answers... you should probably ask whoever actually created those specific threads.

Well, fine then, if you're so sure, go ahead and just remove that price tag entirely.

Since we have no way of truly calculating the "cost" of various political events, there really isn't any point in highlighting the cost of a referendum in the first place...

Trying to put a price on a referendum feels like it undermines both democracy and basic common sense...

Charles Fox10 said:Look, I already told you—the title is just a mashup of two different topics. As for why other threads, like the ones about parliamentary elections, don't have numerical indicators? Don't look at me—ask the person who actually started those threads.

A new thread just popped up, and it overlaps quite a bit with the existing one regarding the Referendum "In the name of the family" costing $8 million.

Since there's an active poll on this current thread, I suggest we just merge them together. Let's go with a new title:
Referendum "In the name of the family": A victory for democracy at the cost of $8 million

James Patel20 said:Fine, go ahead and abolish the cost then.

Since we can't quantify the "cost" of various political shifts, there’s really no point in discussing the price tag of a referendum.

Focusing on the expense of a referendum is an insult to democracy and common sense.

It would be poor etiquette to conflate topics if doing so denies someone credit for their input.

I'm curious, though—how does calculating the cost of a referendum offend intelligence or logic? We've seen countless news outlets, both print and digital, report on the costs of such votes without anyone claiming it's an affront to democracy.
My view of democracy includes acknowledging its price tag, but I suppose that's just my take.

Charles Fox10 said:It wouldn't be right to mash these topics together if it means one of the contributors gets sidelined from their own input.

Thanks in advance for understanding.