It's become something of a summer tradition for me. Most of the time I leave whatever landscaping gets down around my house (and it's not much) to my husband. But one day toward the beginning of each summer, some sort of hormone is released within me and I start ripping things down. Ivy, dead wood, creepers, vines... you get the picture. Now, I know from experience that poison ivy - or poison oak, or poison sumac, or some other poisonous plant - lurks somewhere in my yard, and that in order to sensibly protect myself before I start on my ripping frenzy, I should put on a long-sleeved shirt, and long pants, and gardening gloves. But here's the thing: I don't want to dress sensibly. It's hot out, and I feel like wearing my T-shirt and shorts, and besides, NOBODY IS THE BOSS OF ME. So every year, I go out there and do what I am apparently programmed to do: convince myself that I won't go anywhere near the Poison Whatever, and that there is absolutely no risk involved, and that I will be just fine. And then I wake up one morning and I'm astonished to find that my entire body is a mass of rashes.
But this time I feel like I learned something. Not about avoiding poison ivy in the future - don't be silly! - but about what it must have felt like for the British people who voted for Brexit. It must have felt like: HA. YOU (E.U.) ARE NOT THE BOSS OF ME. I can act in ways that are directly contrary to my own interests, and no one can stop me! Hey look, I can make the British pound reach its lowest value of the past 30 years! I can drive global markets into turmoil and strike terror into the hearts of investors around the world! I am so damn powerful! Whee!!!
The difference is that when I choose to perversely attack my back yard in shorts and a T-shirt, the only one who ends up suffering is me.
Honestly, I was shocked by Brexit, though I had a feeling it would happen.
ReplyDeleteWhat I didn't expect, was the British reaction: immediatly after the result came out, they started saying they didn't mean it.
I'm really confused by what's happening, though surprisingly I'm not displeased with it. I've always been a supporter of Europe, I don't care how imperfect it is. I do think this is our only sensible future and I do think we should work to make it better, rather than run away from it.
Let's see what will happen. If anything, it does seem this is shaking everyone's conscience, and in a good way :-)
Hey Sarah! Believe me, I'm the farthest thing from an economics expert. But if people were voting to leave as some kind of general form of protest, or because they thought it would mean that Britain would be able to stop taking in European immigrants, then I think they're being incredibly short-sighted. Thanks for coming by and sharing your thoughts.
DeleteI think time will only tell if Brexit will be a bad move or not. Of course right away things dropped. That ALWAYS happens with big events because investors have a panic of OMG THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!!! Then they calm and things creep back up. I hope this move doesn't hurt too many people. Someone is going to get shafted. That's just the sucky thing about decisions that effect lots of people.
ReplyDeleteHi Patricia, I agree that people and markets always get temporarily shaken up by uncertainty and that most of the time things eventually get sorted out. But seeking out that kind of uncertainty without first trying less drastic measures strikes me as a really bad idea. I would love to be wrong here!
DeleteThe result of irresponsible politics. I always though the 'mature' democracies had politically mature voters who voted on the basis of informed debate and rational evaluation, haha. Nope, just as contrary and emotional as anybody!
ReplyDeleteWhile I do believe things fall into place after they fall apart, the temporary shocks and aftershocks are going to be wholesale unpleasant. 'Ask not for whom the bell tolls...'
Just catching up with your posts back to front, or maybe that should be back to back? As always, great reads!
Nila, I had a similar thought. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO RAN A MULTICONTINENT EMPIRE??? Thanks, as always, for visiting.
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