Democracy and the right to speak
If you are a social media friend I would be surprised if you were not aware of how I voted in the EU referendum, but just in case you are not, I voted remain.
Over the last couple of days, like many people I have been watching the response to the referendum and I don't like a lot of what I am seeing, so I felt I had to put down a few thoughts.
Firstly, let me just say that I do not subscribe to the view that all those who voted for Brexit voted for racist reasons and they were all stupid. I know lots of people who voted the way they did for deeply- felt worries about what it was costing us as a country to stay in the EU. They voted leave for economic reasons and researched the subject and came to a decision. They voted leave for reasons that were linked to controlling our borders but not because they were racist or xenophobic.
I think some older people also voted from some difficult-to-articulate sense of feeling that this country was missing something that had been there before and they wanted it back.
I think that the leave campaign used and abused some of these genuine feelings and played a clever game. They played on the fear of terrorism and conflated refugees, immigrants and extremists into one homogenised whole. We heard so much of how it was immigrants/refugees who were raping women in Cologne, of how the NHS was failing because of the swathes of people entering this country; of how letting in immigrants was letting in terrorists. We are all familiar with Schrodinger's immigrant, who was simultaneously scrounging benefits and taking all our jobs. Listen to the interviews of people who were asked why they voted leave and we hear how this was to stop those Syrians coming into our country, a country that can no longer cope. I could go on but you will have heard it all. You don't have to read far on social media to know it has worked and it sickens me. I feel they have been misled, and because they have been misled more people voted for leave than would have done had they been given more facts. That makes me angry, I feel some people made the decision for the wrong reasons and we might still be in the EU had there not been this sort of campaign.
I keep seeing posts on social media from both remainers and leavers telling remainers to shut up. The people have spoken they say, it's a democracy they say, you just need to accept it they say. We remainers have been accused of spitting out our dummies, throwing our toys out of our pram, being cry babies, sore losers, the list goes on. There's a theme to this language. It's the language used when someone's lost a football game at school or when they bruise their knees when they fall down. It's likening us to pre-school children who can't get to play with that toy for a bit or have exactly what they want when they want it. And that is where these people have got it so wrong.
The thing is, the result of this referendum isn't a game. After 90 mins we don't get the chance to start again, it isn't a toy we have to wait to play with or a bruised knee that will skin over and be just as good as new. I am not a child having a tantrum, I am an adult who is deeply worried about the decision half of this country made. This is going to have a major impact on my life and my children's lives. It's going to have an even bigger impact on my grandson's life. I believe it will reduce his life chances. I think it will send us into an economic depression and we will suffer for this for many years to come. I think this is the most insular, backward-looking decision this country has ever made
I am worried that this is a victory for the extreme right wing, that the xenophobic leave campaign has validated the likes of Britain First and the EDL. We are being congratulated by Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump for crying out loud. I am worried that this will open the floodgates
Yes this is a democratic decision and in a democracy the majority wins and we are going to leave the EU. I can't change it.
That does not mean I can't say I am unhappy. It does not mean I won't keep fighting. It does not mean I have to be quiet. That is also what a democracy means. I don't have to be silent, I am allowed a view.
I am not spitting out my dummy. This is bloody serious. This is not a general election where if they fuck up we can elect another lot and hope they get it right next time. We are out of the EU. I am angry, I am scared for my kids and grandson and I am going to keep saying that.
Over the last couple of days, like many people I have been watching the response to the referendum and I don't like a lot of what I am seeing, so I felt I had to put down a few thoughts.
Firstly, let me just say that I do not subscribe to the view that all those who voted for Brexit voted for racist reasons and they were all stupid. I know lots of people who voted the way they did for deeply- felt worries about what it was costing us as a country to stay in the EU. They voted leave for economic reasons and researched the subject and came to a decision. They voted leave for reasons that were linked to controlling our borders but not because they were racist or xenophobic.
I think some older people also voted from some difficult-to-articulate sense of feeling that this country was missing something that had been there before and they wanted it back.
I think that the leave campaign used and abused some of these genuine feelings and played a clever game. They played on the fear of terrorism and conflated refugees, immigrants and extremists into one homogenised whole. We heard so much of how it was immigrants/refugees who were raping women in Cologne, of how the NHS was failing because of the swathes of people entering this country; of how letting in immigrants was letting in terrorists. We are all familiar with Schrodinger's immigrant, who was simultaneously scrounging benefits and taking all our jobs. Listen to the interviews of people who were asked why they voted leave and we hear how this was to stop those Syrians coming into our country, a country that can no longer cope. I could go on but you will have heard it all. You don't have to read far on social media to know it has worked and it sickens me. I feel they have been misled, and because they have been misled more people voted for leave than would have done had they been given more facts. That makes me angry, I feel some people made the decision for the wrong reasons and we might still be in the EU had there not been this sort of campaign.
I keep seeing posts on social media from both remainers and leavers telling remainers to shut up. The people have spoken they say, it's a democracy they say, you just need to accept it they say. We remainers have been accused of spitting out our dummies, throwing our toys out of our pram, being cry babies, sore losers, the list goes on. There's a theme to this language. It's the language used when someone's lost a football game at school or when they bruise their knees when they fall down. It's likening us to pre-school children who can't get to play with that toy for a bit or have exactly what they want when they want it. And that is where these people have got it so wrong.
The thing is, the result of this referendum isn't a game. After 90 mins we don't get the chance to start again, it isn't a toy we have to wait to play with or a bruised knee that will skin over and be just as good as new. I am not a child having a tantrum, I am an adult who is deeply worried about the decision half of this country made. This is going to have a major impact on my life and my children's lives. It's going to have an even bigger impact on my grandson's life. I believe it will reduce his life chances. I think it will send us into an economic depression and we will suffer for this for many years to come. I think this is the most insular, backward-looking decision this country has ever made
I am worried that this is a victory for the extreme right wing, that the xenophobic leave campaign has validated the likes of Britain First and the EDL. We are being congratulated by Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump for crying out loud. I am worried that this will open the floodgates
Yes this is a democratic decision and in a democracy the majority wins and we are going to leave the EU. I can't change it.
That does not mean I can't say I am unhappy. It does not mean I won't keep fighting. It does not mean I have to be quiet. That is also what a democracy means. I don't have to be silent, I am allowed a view.
I am not spitting out my dummy. This is bloody serious. This is not a general election where if they fuck up we can elect another lot and hope they get it right next time. We are out of the EU. I am angry, I am scared for my kids and grandson and I am going to keep saying that.
You have articulated exactly how I feel. As a teacher I have seen young people (too young to vote) whooping with triumph shouting "Go Boris!" as if their favourite buffoon has just won I'm a Celebrity. They simply don't get the seriousness of the situation. Johnson, Farage and Trump are seen as cartoon characters by the young and that is the worrying thing.
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