GrahamH wrote:fisherman wrote:Beatsong wrote:I hope we come through this in the best possible shape, given where we are now.
I understand the enmity towards Johnson and Co. but if he will now push for staying in the EEA and free movement, or as close to what we have as possible, then that's a good thing and it's better not to cheer on the lynch mob.
It's "a good thing" in the sense that voting to stay in the EU would have been a good thing. But it raises the important question of why we've wasted so much fucking time and effort and grief, and given vent to forces of bigotry and hatred that would really be better left under wraps, when we're only going to be more or less where we were anyway and even the people who voted for Leave aren't going to get any of what they thought they were voting for.
Is there any basis for thinking it is better for the fractures in society to be kept under wraps? Isn’t it always better to know what the social divisions are front and center, warts and all? I thought, mistakenly perhaps, that the referendum had become a megaphone call for help by the castaways who’ve missed out on the globalisation/neo-liberal boat. The inequality and injustices this forum has been banging on about for years, yet successive governments have failed to address.
Maybe I am being naïve in thinking the issues now have a better chance of being identified and addressed than had the referendum not in fact happened.
Some fractures may be best covered up. It may be that most people are a little bit racist, but making that known probably doesn't help anyone while encouraging the real racists to vent openly. Problems that can be addressed are probably best exposed, but the intractable ones might be best left in the dark to wither, or tackled discretely.
As fisherman said, the real grievances of very many people are economic rather than racist, and this result has brought them dramatically into view.