The ability to stay calm in the wake of chaos can be hard.
Certainly, chaos of the magnitude of the so-called Brexit is so disruptive it is near impossible to muster any sense of normalcy in the short term.
For London exiting the European Union (EU) was an idea nursed over two decades. So strong was the drive that one Nigel Farage formed the UK Independent Party expressly to take Britain out of the EU.
By any measure, this is reckless fanaticism which has created much uncertainly, numerous high-profile departures and hitherto unthinkable leadership changes
Mission accomplished, Farage has resigned and why: “I wanted my country back, now I want my life back”; I suppose some kind of fun after a job well done. Quite fanatical, but then Farage has not been alone in the agitation for sovereignty from the shackles of the EU.
Boris Johnson ‘the face of the leave campaign’ declined the Premier role against all expectation. In his own words: “having consulted and considering the circumstances in Parliament, I have come to the conclusion that man cannot be me”.
No one was ready for this depth of betrayal, but then that is what leadership failure is about. Now Greater Europe and the world must wait for the impact of such failures.
The political turnarounds have been a supersonic roller coaster. The leadership terrain and narrative have changed. Britain has got itself into a situation without precedent. London and Brussels are in uncharted high seas and the tides will be harsh.
But what does all this reveal? What are we learning?
Brexit has exposed gulfs of divisions: along race, origins, education, wealth and age. Deep fractures hitherto masked by a civil sense of mutual accommodation now routinely gashes with blood. Brexit has breached peace, ushering in a phase of nude intolerance.
Analyses show that youth massively voted remain as older generations chose exit. Over 70 percent of the youth aged 18-24 and 62 percent aged 25-34 voted remain. A loud and clear choice!
As implications of exit dawn, anger has waxed high. To many a young person “it’s not fair that the older generation are deciding our future; older generations voted for a future that young people did not want”. This is painfully true indeed.
Even the older people are divided along class and education with the educated and more affluent voting stay and the working class backing the leave movement.
The working class are disgruntled by migration and fallaciously believing that exiting the EU is the solution. Exiting the bloc because it is sympathetic to free movement is irrational and reactionary.
Interestingly, migrant populations voted leave, 59 percent in Birmingham and 54 percent around Manchester, perhaps attracted to the prospects of better jobs. Again, a terribly fallacious position!
And there are more serious territorial impacts.
The “spirit of independence” threatens the Union as both Northern Ireland and Scotland voted stay; Scotland by an emphatic 62 percent.
Honestly, why should Scotland and Ireland exit from the EU because of the intents of one member of a faltering Union? As neo-self-determination re-emerges, what will become of the Great Britain and United Kingdom brands?
The exit bug may have infected many EU nations, but it is Britain that has turned a harmless effigy into a monster powerful enough to disintegrate Europe back into isolated nation states.
I wonder what becomes of the so-called European values. In any case, how does democracy remain a celebrated value if its exercise can destroy ideals of collective development so central to humanity?
It is amazing how fatally illogical societies presumed developed can be. To me, migration managed positively as Germany is doing can be a source of cultural and economic strength. This is what makes the United America a great country and superior economy, all else aside.
It is naive to think that Britain outside the EU will be any better. Nor can it be said with certainty that minus migration Brits will access better or more jobs. Great expectations, yes, not certainty!
As for Premier David Cameron, it has been the case of irreversible self-eviction from No.10. Yes, he has been noble in standing down and taking full responsibility for his miscalculation. But if you ask me, this has been the epitome of political recklessness and failure of leadership.
What narrative and direct action has ensued loudly screams a catastrophic decision hard to live with as reality hits the people. As one commentator said “Britain is struggling with itself” because of a rash decision for which there was neither understanding nor prior planning.
Brexit is not just an exercise in the fatality of democracy but it is a testimony of leadership failures at the very helm. This is exactly what happens when one leads without followers or, in the cases of Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, when one has followers without leadership.
Put differently, it has been a case of steep unpreparedness for possible setbacks or possible positive advances. This is why PM Cameron needed to resign; Johnson declined to fit into his own design shoes and Farage lost relevance.
That Premier Cameron ever thought of a referendum is most intriguing. There was no need for one. This could well have been a matter for Cabinet and Parliament not a disenchanted violently anti-establishment people.
Leave or stay is not a question you put to a divided nation and more so without lucid arguments for either case. It was serious and deadly distraction from real issues of the times.
This is not ‘splendid isolation’ of old. This is self-destruction; a losing mentality locking down a vulnerable economy as trade, aid and diplomacy scatter into disorder and international relations alter radically.
Rather unfairly – part of the mess that is democracy – over 48 percent who voted remain have to live with the consequences of a reckless option of leave.
End note: Cameronian confusion has had a great outcome, irreversibly pointing to a female Premier. I can only hope that the Trumpianism that has shaken social order in American yields similar wisdom.
Joy indeed comes in the morning!
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