Ambiguity and Clarity
It firstly goes without saying that I'm sorry for the lack of posts in recent months but life has happened and time has passed with at a similar speed. But I shall digress for no-one wants to listen to me wittering about my life. Instead I'm going to witter about other people's.
Specifically, I want to get political. Well mildly...
We British folk have decided to leave the Union of Europe. I have my opinions about the decision but once again I shall put these to one side. What irritates me is the type of vote it was. The referendum was an electoral agreement. Something Mr Cameron promised in exchange for the position in power at Westminster. But also the means of campaigning were incomprehensible. Like the Scottish independence referendum, I hoped for information and impartial ideas. Mr Salmond even had the decency of producing a 650 page white paper with a 200 page section of FAQs. It was presumptive yet informed and came from those best in the know about the subject.
Yet Vote Leave stuck a bold and misleading statement on the side of a bus. Then the man known as 'Mr Brexit' in the United States (which is in America) came up with this:
This angers me. The deliberate use of young physically fit men and the distinct lack of vulnerable women and children who also need asylum is just the start. And then there's the colour scheme. A bold red alarm heading on top of 'green and pleasant land'. Evocative manipulation of our homeland with little thought for culture and acceptance. Finally the tagline, the EU has failed us all. These refugees have travelled through continents and war for survival. Not for a luxury life and for depriving us of our pleasures. And anyway, David Cameron committed to taking in 20,000 refugees. Germany took in 100,000. I shall say no more.
Nonetheless we have now entered negotiations, unprepared. The fundamental issue is that we do not know what sort of departure we want. I put this down to turnout. The referendum had an incredibly high turnout which is a good thing. People previously disillusioned or ignorant of politics were encouraged to have their say. However, the snap general election saw turnout drop down again, meaning those who voted to leave didn't indicate their mode of transport, leaving a mish-mash of a government. I heard Benjamin Zephaniah refer to their confidence and supply deal as a bribe.
Therefore we as a nation have a government dependent on the DUP lacking stability around a negotiating table staying stubborn over severance pay. I therefore feel it is most appropriate to end with a quote from Charles Darwin, not that his wise words will influence those of a fundamentalist mindset. But the words carry purpose. Hopefully it will be translated to Brussels. After all, we are such stuff as dreams are made of...
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