Opinion

Opinions, we all have one. In fact we have two.

The whole purpose of Focus Voting is to create a discussion on issues that are important to us as a Community.

Unfortunately, in this "Social Media Age" any time you want to have a serious discussion on a particular Issue, the "Key Board Warriors" or "Trolls" hit the Indignation button and make aspersions about your character as a person or organisation, when in fact they actually have no Idea about who you are or what you believe.

This is the strength of this process, it gives ordinary Australians (yes, even the Trolls) the ability to make submissions expressing their Opinions on any of the issues at Focus without being the target of aggressors.

We all have two opinions, Personal and Community.

Personal Opinions

When you hear or see something you, as a human being, instantly form an Opinion. Sometimes you are not even aware of it, but you do.

This initial thought process is your "Personal Opinion", often without logic (We are emotional beings) and generally without the full story.

However, sometimes we will take the time and look at our Opinions to get more information to form a better more informed Opinion. When we do this it removes the initial emotional reaction and replaces it with a logical reaction.

Whether it reinforces or changes your Personal Opinion really comes down to how you as an individual process the information gathered.

If you give a group of People exactly the same information, they will all take away something different. That's what we do. We're Human.

Community Opinion

Community Opinions can differ (but not always) from you Personal Opinion.

We believe that if you give people the responsibility generally speaking they will make responsible decisions.

This is where the Community Opinion comes in.

What you believe as an individual my not transcend effectively into a community wide decision.

To give an example;

"I  should be allowed to run my business from my home"

At an individual level, this makes perfect sense, and in a lot of cases it can be done. 

However should it be a blanket right?

What if your neighbour is a Butcher, Panel Beater or a Widget Manufacturer?

Their business would have an impact on your right to "Quiet Enjoyment" and that is why we have zoning laws.

What's best for the community as a whole, is often different to to what an individual may think.  We can make that distinction.

7 out of 10 people are perfectly able to make reasonable, well informed decisions that are in the best interest of the community at large. That is you and most of your friends and colleagues.