There be Dragons: Nasty Fire-Breathing Polarizing Dragons!
My answer to the article’s headline this piece refers to is fear: Fear and trepidation! Would you want to be the one responsible for such a seismic change?
Section 41 of the Constitution of Ireland presents a formidable challenge regarding change. Before we can even begin to address this, a legally-binding definition of ‘family’ is required. This definition is a daunting task in today’s multifaceted society, with family structures spanning from single-parent, same-sex, blended to foster or adoptive, and the list continues to expand.
If we proceed with redefining ‘family’ to its modern iteration and removing gendered language, the implications are far-reaching. For instance, questions such as, ‘Who then by their “life” within the homegives the state support?’ arise. That’s where things start to get complicated: is it the biological parents, adoptive parents, primary caregivers, etc? These are the nuanced dilemmas that we must grapple with.
Now, section 41:3: there be dragons! “The State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the family is founded, and to protect it against attack.” Any changes to 41:3, as stated in the article, are likely to be interpreted as an attack upon the institution of marriage. I could go on ad infinitum on the delicate path through the minefield represented by the daunting task of changing section 41.
Suffice it to say: there will be civil unrest, comprising disinformation campaigns, misinformation and a concerted effort from the far right to stifle positive change. Social media platforms will light up with polarized views: the tribes will take to their sides on the battlefield, and there is great potential for that to spill over from the wire to the weeds. The catalyst formed at the intersection of politics, sociology and culture is potent.
Conditioning by Social Media algorithms (the ghost in the machine) is extremely efficient in the current chronosystem. The age of reason is subservient to the crack-like appeal-to-emotion provided by the injection of confirmation bias through algorithmic enslavement. Emotionally retarded addicts hooked on far-right Kool-Aid and subservient to their filter bubble captors will rise in protest regardless of the wording of the changes. This diatribe is my prediction for this constitutional dilemma.
We live in the epoch of post-truth: we live in the epoch of Tribalism and polarization. The battle for positive change in section 41 of the Irish Constitution will be hellish.
References
Spain, S. (2023). Why is Govt struggling to agree on referendum wording? RTE. Retrieved from https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2023/0730/1397105-women-in-the-home-referendum/
