Brexit! Britain is in Europe but will soon be out of the European Union. The battle of choices is over. British voters recently cast what some described as the most important ballot of their lives on the question of whether the United Kingdom had to remain or leave EU.
It was a closely fought battle. It was the battle between the youth and the old, the nationalists and the globalists, the remain and the leave camps.
Typical of any such heated contests, each side had very good points to back its stand.
For starters, Britain joined the European Economic Community in January 1973 which revolved into the European Union in 2009. It is important to point out that from the onset, Britain was a skeptical member. By and by, many Britons began questioning the significance of the union until the issue split top politicians including those in the ruling Conservative Party.
Prime Minister David Cameron was in the Remain camp, while former London Mayor Boris Johnson, who is regarded as the successor of the Conservative Party leader, was for the Leave camp.
Commenting on the development, Simon Toubeau, an Assistant Professor, School of Politics and International Relations at University of Nottingham says “it is something of a tragic irony that the European Union – originally constructed to lay to rest the atavistic nationalist impulses of the 20th century – is today behind the resurgence of such feelings across much of Europe. The British referendum that has delivered a vote for “Brexit” is the latest, dramatic indication that this nationalism is here to stay.”
According to Toubeau, this nationalism has brewed largely in reaction to how the EU has evolved over the past few decades. “What started as a common market grew to embrace a single currency, the Schengen area and integration in justice and home affairs. All this has diluted core aspects of national sovereignty: states have less control over macro-economic policy, borders and people.”
He adds: “The EU also enlarged to embrace Central and Eastern Europe. The inclusion of 12 new member-states with distinct histories, economic structures and democratic traditions has rendered the decision-making process at the EU level all the more cumbersome. At the same time, it has made EU policy all the less responsive to public opinion. These transformations have been very disquieting for voters in certain countries – like the UK.”
He observes that Euroscepticism is found on the extremes of the political spectrum. “On the left, voters and parties see the EU as a neoliberal plot. It exists only to serve the big businesses that lobby in Brussels for favourable legislation. For the right, the EU is a bureaucratic behemoth that imposes excessive regulation and threatens ancient national identities by encouraging labour migration.”
While people look at the whole issue from different perspectives, I believe what has happened can also be analysed from what a Dutch social psychologist, Professor Geert Hofstede once concluded after conducting one of the most comprehensive studies on national values.
Hofstede observed that there are two contrasting cultural orientations: one values individualism, and the other values collectivism. In his worldwide study of 116,000 employees of IBM, the Dutch professor found that the most fiercely independent people were from the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands, in that order. In contrast, he discovered that the most interdependent people were from Venezuela, Colombia, Pakistan, Peru, and Taiwan.
It is important to note that in individualistic nations, there are some collectivism-oriented people, likewise in collectivism nations, there are some individualistic-oriented people.
In United Kingdom where individualism is so strong, it was obvious from the word go that the majority would vote to exit the European Union. The reason is simple. Most Britons have an independent view of the self as an entity that is distinct, autonomous, self-contained, and endowed with unique dispositions. This is completely different from the views of most of us in Africa where we hold an interdependent view of the self as part of a larger social network that includes one’s family, village, church, township, co-workers and others to whom we are socially connected.
Through their decision to leave EU, the British have just expressed the ‘ego-focused’ emotions that confirm them as firm believers of individual autonomy. In a self-orientation culture like Britain where the “I” mentality exists and the emphasis on individual initiative and achievement, their exit from European Union should not be a surprise. The outcome of Brexit vote simply reflected the individualistic culture of most Britons as opposed to a collectivistic culture of other nations that believes that a group is most important unit.
It should be noted that United Kingdom is not united as its name suggests. The same individualistic culture may soon or later force Scotland to fight for its own independence. It may just be a matter of time.
One thing about individualists is that they work hard as they press for personal liberty and financial independence.
The success of some countries such as United States, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands can be partly attributed to the spirit of individualism and libertarianism.
One of the weaknesses of countries where the culture of collectivism flourishes is that the citizens always blame someone for the things they would have been taking responsibility. Here in Africa, the government, the employer, management or even the leader is at the centre of blame almost on every petty thing because of our collectivism culture.
Most successful millionaires are the ones who believe in themselves and know that their destiny and fate is in their hands. Individualists have internal locus control that make them believe and act as masters of their own destinies. These are individualists who do not spend hours, months and years blaming the government or others for their misfortunes. They fight the battles to financial freedoms with determination regardless of the situation.
You are free to call, the British the selfish islanders but the long and short of it is that the world should respect their decision to determine their own future. It is the spirit of libertarianism and individualism at work.
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