Continuing business as usual – ‘here’s what I had for breakfast and what I wore last Tuesday’ – feels a bit weird today, doesn’t it? We went to bed part of the EU and woke up, well, sticking two fingers up to it, going out alone, and with the Prime Minister calling it quits. Not feeling madly proud to be British today.
For many of us, me included, this was the first major vote we’ve been eligible to make. So we did. Some young people voted out, obviously, but we all know by now that the vast majority didn’t. And our votes were outnumbered by the older generation, seeking some form of return to sovereignty, and by those who just feel like taking the biggest risk in history.
I’ve no intention of going into details and writing a 10000 word post on the topic, because I’m not a politics expert by any stretch of the imagination. I won’t pretend to be, so please don’t start throwing facts and figures in my face. I know there’s a decent argument to both sides. I made my decision carefully, but there’s no point in going over any of that now, is there?
I’ve been home alone all day today, and haven’t been able to focus on anything. Not ideal considering I have a physics exam to revise for, but whatever. Hell I even put the bloody TV on this morning (I never watch TV) to sit glued to the news, and have refreshed my Twitter and Facebook feeds approximately 7803 times already. General mood today? Shit.
Here’s a selection of words I’ve seen to describe today’s feels:
Disappointed
Worried
Terrified
Shocked
Gutted
Disgusted
Pissed
Scared
Angry
Heartbroken.
Etc. Good job, voters.
I don’t really know where I’m going with this, but was feeling ranty. I know I’m not the only one in this boat today. Brexiters – you got your wish, now for the repercussions to hit us hard, whilst you celebrate ‘Independence Day’ and the rest of us just hope there’ll be *some* silver lining. Urghhhh. Christ knows what happens from here.
I can already see the A level history 45 mark question to come in 20 years time lol. There’d be some juicy stuff to put in that essay at least.
lily kate x
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7 Comments
Alex
25th June 2016 at 1:48 pmThis post summarises my thoughts so well, I honestly don’t think I’ve been more gutted in my life or more worried about the future. And trying to stay calm while everyone was celebrating “Independence Day” was harder than most of the exams I’ve sat this year. I’m just glad no immediate changes are going to be made based on the leave vote.
Good luck with your physics exam though! x
lily kate
29th June 2016 at 3:39 pmThat’s my main emotion too tbh, worried. Who’s even going to be our new PM? If that’s not a scary thought (given the options) then I don’t knwo what is. Let’s just hope for the best. Thank you, my exam actually went OK-ish!
Liz Scott
25th June 2016 at 10:09 pmI am one of the minority(statistically) of Baby Boomers who, like you, woke up this morning to find that the world had crashed around us. I find myself behaving like an ostrich – every quality newspaper report hints at major setbacks to the economy. I have always declared myself a Briton, a European; I have had as little patience with those Scots who who want to leave the UK as I have with those here in England who want to leave the EU.
And now? In order for the Scots to stay in the EU it seems likely that there will a huge push to leave the UK. Which will leave me in the same position as I would have been if the last Independence Referendum had been carried by the Scot Nats, namely, living in a country foreign to the rest of my siblings, and leaving my children in a strange limbo of nationality and loyalty.
I, literally, weep.
lily kate
29th June 2016 at 3:49 pmOh Liz 🙁 I can imagine now is an incredibly frustrating time to be a Scot, knowing the entire of Scotland voted for something very different to the outcome. It seems like these problems weren’t considered, doesn’t it? What a nightmare. I want to give you a hug 🙁
Dave F
26th June 2016 at 9:16 amI’ve just entered my thirties, so I probably no longer count as a young person anymore, and I believe in a United Europe, but I voted leave.
Not because of immigration, not because of the money we sending over, not even because of the numerous wars we fought in Europe. I voted leave for three reasons: Firstly the EU was ‘designed’ during the cold war to help protect us & to provide balance between the USSR and the USA by building a third superpower. Now the USSR doesn’t exist anymore, the EU can no longer be that balance.
Secondly, the EU is going to fail. Simply because the way they’ve gone about setting it up is wrong. To united even two countries takes time, and far more than more than politicians standing up & saying we’re united. Instead of taking the time with the original group to stabilise, to merge into a union, they’ve continually added new countries and are still doing so. Each new country add strain to the system, and eventually it will collapse under it’s own weight. It would be like building a house without waiting for the concrete in the foundation to set or the mortar in the walls to set.
And lastly, there is a group calling for a second vote because the result was less than 60% with less than a 75% turnout. If we apply the same rule to the original vote to join the EEC, we would never have joined in the first place. Note I said the EEC, the European Economic Community not the European Union. Also the ballot paper this time was simply leave vs stay, the original ballot paper had a paragraph against each option with numerous double negatives. I didn’t vote in that one, I wasn’t old enough, but people who did, got confused and voted for when they wanted to vote against. To put it simply, if the politicians had listen to the people over the years we would not be in this situation and not just in this country.
And don’t worry about the stock markets, they will and are going back up. The stock markets are as much about psychology as economics if not more. A perceived threat to a stock will cause people to sell before they lose money, this causing the price to drop, causing more people to sell and so on. And the reverse is true too. Investor were/are scared so they sold their shares in UK stock, driving the prices down. Oddly enough that would have been the best time to invest, while the prices were down. Buy cheap wait for the price to go up, and then sell back to those self same investors when they return.
Harry
1st July 2016 at 8:14 amYour point about History A levels is interesting – because our view of history is rather dependent ona) who writes it, and b) who teaches it. It’s said the winners write history, but I’ve recently been reading about Edexcel’s Politics A level syllabuses (I haven’t been able to look at them in depth) – and there seems to be a huge political bias IN THE SYLLABUS. Never mind that schoolteachers & university staff seem to be predominantly left leaning
I myself voted Leave – because I want to be able to vote for MPs we can vote out again, who bring in laws that we can repeal. The EU is a political experiment (that isn’t working) – and this should scare you far more than leaving. Such experiments tend to end in totalitarianism.
Lastly, I don’t believe the economic threats & scare stories Remain told us (when you’re old enough you’ve heard this sort of thing every 2-3 years anyway. Norway was told the same if it didn’t join the EU, we were told the same when we didn’t join the euro, when we left the ERM – quite often by the same people). They’ve certainly scared a lot of young people – who have grown up as part of the EU and who have apparently been told it is the only cause of our peace and well-being. I don’t know who told them that (teachers?) but it isn’t true
Giacomo
1st July 2016 at 8:57 pmI’m from Italy so I shouldn’t meddle in your affairs, but as Italian I am also European as you were before you voted.
These days I often heard people complain about it was the older part of English society to decide.
Well, I believe that no democratic mouth should says that an educated young person is worth more than an ignorant old person.
Young and old people have certainly different interests, but the elder was once young, while the young person has never been old. But one day he will be. So, in a sense, it can be said that older people have voted for the future of young people.
Obviously if a young person is interested in the global market to buy the latest model of mobile phone and in the absence of borders in order to travel freely, Europe is home. But if, when he becomes old, he will be more interested in rights and rappresentation as well as in health and in medical care, perhaps he will realize that there can be a better place than a community without an ethical Constitution, with a powerless parliament and with an unelected government. The childish behavior and arrogance of Juncker and Schulz and international treaties like TTIP and MES do not help good thoughts about democracy in these institutions.
In the end, if 52% of the votes were to exit and if, as you say, newspapers and television have given voice only to the remaining 48%, I think this is a problem too.
Anyway I wish you, young and old ones, the best things for the future, leaving outside any generational conflict which is not the point of any true democratic system.
Sorry for my english.