but boaty mcboatface was vetoed (because priorities, i guess?)
I'm numb. Numb or just not processing this.
I remember feeling like this when I was on holiday and the London riots broke out. I felt so helpless. I'm stuck halfway across the world and I want to cry, and everyone is greeting me with a cheery smile and a "Happy Friday!" NO, don't you understand, everything is awful and is just going to get worse.
I'm so, so angry. All those idiots who voted to leave because they thought it would benefit them or because they thought it would never pass, or because they thought it would be 'a laugh'. All those who are complaining that they were lied to, when - consider the source. At some point, you have to accept responsibility that you listened to Nigel Farage and to Britain First and to the EDL and decided to be a xenophobe and ignore the reams of experts telling you that you're fucking up. Coalitions of doctors, teachers, economic experts, industray leaders all lined up to say you're going to do the country and the world an injury, and did anyone listen? "Everyone is at fault except me, because I didn't think my vote was actually a vote."
And then you have places like Cornwall. Where they voted overwhelmingly to leave, and then went - "hold on, but we still keep all that EU money we get every year, don't we?" No, Cornwall. What you've voted on is to land the UK into a 2 decades-long recession, and to bear the brunt of it. Because no one is going to give you anything. You think Farage or Johnson have any interest in sending money your way? You will sink further and further into deprivation and I would have more sympathy if you hadn't done this to yourselves.
I am so tired of people refusing responsibility for their own stupidity. The tens of thousands googling "what will leaving the EU mean" in a panic after they've already voted and the result has been called. Those who argue that somehow we're in a better negotiating position for having given away everything that matters. And that cunt Farage, for saying "without a shot fired" after a political assassination not even a week ago. The white rose from Jo Cox's memorial is still fresh on my bureau. And he sits there and disrespects her life, and her death. It's inhuman.
And yeah. Boris Johnson. A man so self-serving that he attached himself to a campaign he doesn't believe in, assuming it will fail but he can paint himself as the underdog. Guess what, Boris, you fucked the country. You and Cameron will go down in history as the politicians who killed off Great Britain.
Finally, what does this mean going forward? Well, if the EU has any sense, they will slap the most punitive measures imaginable on the UK. They have to persuade other countries where the Right is on the rise that breaking away causes more harm than their xenophobia can stand. They need to be able to point at the broken ruin of Britain and use us as a warning for all others. This, and only this, may stem the domino effect from spiralling out of control. Because of this happens, it won't just be Europe - every other major trading bloc will be dragged in and the recession might be world-wide and lasting. So yeah, to save everyone else, the EU will need to gut the UK. And I am strangely ok with this. Because you know what, we fucked up. I know that those fo us who voted remain, we tried, but it wasn't enough. And so we have to all share in the punishment of it.
So I'm calling it. Up to two decades of recession so severe it might be a Depression. Scotland becoming independent. A united Ireland (with more sectarian violence as a result). Spain taking Gibraltar (and everyone going willingly). A fracture between the trading bloc of London, Manchester, Newcastle and the xenophobic, angry countryside, sliding ever more into complete economic ruin. Millions of forcibly repatriated pensioners previously retired in Spain suddenly dumped on our doorstep. The loss of qualified people - a shortage of plumbers, of builders (because we're drowning in housing, right?), or nurses, of young, motivated workers. Rage by the young at what the old have done. Punitive politics. I was surprised that the student loans didn't trigger it, but it won't be far behind - a political party championing the rights of the young at the expense of gutting old age provision, pensions, etc. Not getting to power, but getting enough traction to stoke further resentment. And meanwhile. Those tariffs, blocking every attempt at trade. Every attempt at growth. For decades. Because what do we have to negotiate with?
Some lawyers are saying that Johnson et al can now stall indefinitely - nothing can legally compel them to press the Article 50 button. This is true. But what does delaying mean? If somehow Johnson can manage a political about-face and call a second referendum once the awful, punitive terms are known, that may be the only way forward. More young voters will be enfranchised, and hopefully the idiotic element will have managed to kill itself by playing in traffic. But how realistic is that? We couldn't even get this right the first time.
Yeah, I'm one of the lucky ones. I have dual nationality and thus will retain my European passport. You can bet that I will be making sure it is up to date.
This entry was originally posted at DreamWidth. There are
comments there. Comments are welcome at either journal.
I remember feeling like this when I was on holiday and the London riots broke out. I felt so helpless. I'm stuck halfway across the world and I want to cry, and everyone is greeting me with a cheery smile and a "Happy Friday!" NO, don't you understand, everything is awful and is just going to get worse.
I'm so, so angry. All those idiots who voted to leave because they thought it would benefit them or because they thought it would never pass, or because they thought it would be 'a laugh'. All those who are complaining that they were lied to, when - consider the source. At some point, you have to accept responsibility that you listened to Nigel Farage and to Britain First and to the EDL and decided to be a xenophobe and ignore the reams of experts telling you that you're fucking up. Coalitions of doctors, teachers, economic experts, industray leaders all lined up to say you're going to do the country and the world an injury, and did anyone listen? "Everyone is at fault except me, because I didn't think my vote was actually a vote."
And then you have places like Cornwall. Where they voted overwhelmingly to leave, and then went - "hold on, but we still keep all that EU money we get every year, don't we?" No, Cornwall. What you've voted on is to land the UK into a 2 decades-long recession, and to bear the brunt of it. Because no one is going to give you anything. You think Farage or Johnson have any interest in sending money your way? You will sink further and further into deprivation and I would have more sympathy if you hadn't done this to yourselves.
I am so tired of people refusing responsibility for their own stupidity. The tens of thousands googling "what will leaving the EU mean" in a panic after they've already voted and the result has been called. Those who argue that somehow we're in a better negotiating position for having given away everything that matters. And that cunt Farage, for saying "without a shot fired" after a political assassination not even a week ago. The white rose from Jo Cox's memorial is still fresh on my bureau. And he sits there and disrespects her life, and her death. It's inhuman.
And yeah. Boris Johnson. A man so self-serving that he attached himself to a campaign he doesn't believe in, assuming it will fail but he can paint himself as the underdog. Guess what, Boris, you fucked the country. You and Cameron will go down in history as the politicians who killed off Great Britain.
Finally, what does this mean going forward? Well, if the EU has any sense, they will slap the most punitive measures imaginable on the UK. They have to persuade other countries where the Right is on the rise that breaking away causes more harm than their xenophobia can stand. They need to be able to point at the broken ruin of Britain and use us as a warning for all others. This, and only this, may stem the domino effect from spiralling out of control. Because of this happens, it won't just be Europe - every other major trading bloc will be dragged in and the recession might be world-wide and lasting. So yeah, to save everyone else, the EU will need to gut the UK. And I am strangely ok with this. Because you know what, we fucked up. I know that those fo us who voted remain, we tried, but it wasn't enough. And so we have to all share in the punishment of it.
So I'm calling it. Up to two decades of recession so severe it might be a Depression. Scotland becoming independent. A united Ireland (with more sectarian violence as a result). Spain taking Gibraltar (and everyone going willingly). A fracture between the trading bloc of London, Manchester, Newcastle and the xenophobic, angry countryside, sliding ever more into complete economic ruin. Millions of forcibly repatriated pensioners previously retired in Spain suddenly dumped on our doorstep. The loss of qualified people - a shortage of plumbers, of builders (because we're drowning in housing, right?), or nurses, of young, motivated workers. Rage by the young at what the old have done. Punitive politics. I was surprised that the student loans didn't trigger it, but it won't be far behind - a political party championing the rights of the young at the expense of gutting old age provision, pensions, etc. Not getting to power, but getting enough traction to stoke further resentment. And meanwhile. Those tariffs, blocking every attempt at trade. Every attempt at growth. For decades. Because what do we have to negotiate with?
Some lawyers are saying that Johnson et al can now stall indefinitely - nothing can legally compel them to press the Article 50 button. This is true. But what does delaying mean? If somehow Johnson can manage a political about-face and call a second referendum once the awful, punitive terms are known, that may be the only way forward. More young voters will be enfranchised, and hopefully the idiotic element will have managed to kill itself by playing in traffic. But how realistic is that? We couldn't even get this right the first time.
Yeah, I'm one of the lucky ones. I have dual nationality and thus will retain my European passport. You can bet that I will be making sure it is up to date.
This entry was originally posted at DreamWidth. There are
comments there. Comments are welcome at either journal.