Public Pah! by P.Lunch

    How often do you hear phrases such as 'this has caused a public 

outcry', 'the public do not want that', 'public opinion demand this'. 

Who is this public exactly? And how are they able to take-in, group 

together & form a collective opinion ready for the six o'clock news. 

How often have you seen news items that tell you what this public 

opinion is before you have even had a chance to take in the event 

itself? 



    Am I not a member of this public? Well obviously not since I have 

never once been consulted on any issue - bar the

inevitable do I have double glazing yet, and I find it hard to believe 

that my status with regard to double glazing ownership

can be extrapolated to formulate my opinion on a whole host of 

political and social issues, but perhaps that's how its done !


    It is also clear that the chief spokespersons of the 'public' does 

not ever go to bed, since a news story can break in the

night and by the time your morning newspaper arrives on your doorstep 

the 'public' have announced their stance and are

usually suitably outraged and forcing politicians, businessmen or 

paradoxically the public to act! What a powerful force this

'public' is. 


    Now it strikes me that the 'public' must be just one person, an 

insomniac, someone with a very firm opinion about

everything and ready to take a stand given only the tiniest piece of 

evidence or information. In addition I postulate that

maybe this one person named 'public' isn't even real. Perhaps he is a 

fictional character, a bit like an imaginary friend.


    Who's imaginary friend you ask? Well most notably the media & 

politicians - who ever can use him most effectively to

manipulate and control others. Now we must ask which others, who are 

these mysterious 'others' that have now be

introduced into this equation? Well here's the thing - its the Public 

- the true silent, manipulated & at time worryingly

sheep-like, stupid and mute Public that everyone belongs to but which 

is never represented.


The 'public' does not represent the Public, but spoon feeds the, tells 

them what to think, when to be outraged, when to laugh, when to cry, 

when tocomplain about taxes and spongers on the welfare state and when 

to go out and buy more meaningless crap that every discerning member 

of the 'public' should have. 

    Let's stop referring to the 'public' as a representative 

cross-section of the population and see it for what it is - an 

invisible, imaginary person - without any real friends, who can't 

think for themself and probably wears really horrible cardigans. In

fact let's stop using the term 'public opinion' and replace it with 

'pooka opinion'.