I voted to remain. I did so because the achievement of the European Union is the best and most admirable political development of my lifetime. The institution is not perfect, how could it be? As Walter Scott has his Glasgow merchant Bailie Nicol Jarvie in "Rob Roy" say of the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England, "there's nothing so good on this side o'Time but it might have been better, and that may be said of the Union." Nevertheless, the E.U. is still a remarkable achievement. So if it comes to the point-and I hope it won't-I will vote for being Scottish and European.
The Leave campaign is built on a lie. " We want our democracy back," they yell. Funny, that; it hadn't occurred to me it had gone. After all, we have elections. We elect the government and can dismiss it. That government levies taxes and decides on public expenditures (with the approval of Parliament). Its budget is huge, by the way, dwarfing that of the European Union of 28 member states. The U.K. government fixes tax rates, and decides how much it will spend on healthcare!, it conducts its own foreign policy, sometimes in concert with other E.U. countries, sometimes not. It is a sovereign state and a parliamentary democracy in working order. We don't need to take it back because we have not lost it.
The disintegration of the E.U. would be sweet revenge for some. They will probe for populist anti-European politicians from the Netherlands to France. The British exit will offer open season for fantasies of drum-beating nationalist fragmentation. So says an orphaned survivor of the Balkan Wars of the 1990s! Thank you, Boris. Thank you, Nigel.
At my age Brexit may not affect me much; I may be dead before it is fully achieved. But I would like future generations to grow up in a tolerant, open-minded society. Some hope with Brexit a reality!
Many of today’s jarring dislocations stem from the clash between the old control culture and a newer integrative culture. Incivility and chaos arise when an old system is breaking down and a new one hasn’t yet fully taken hold. The burgeoning of global trade over the last 30 years means that almost anywhere we go today we’re finding our own companies, our own products, our own creations, our own citizens. Only groups that view themselves as excluded are busy looking answers, and short term solutions, in all the wrong places. The United States believed for a long time that it was the sole exception to this trend. But this year’s Presidential race makes it quite clear that this is no longer so.
12 comments:
I like that sign "Eton Mess"!
Crowds are actually difficult to take.
You managed to get some excellent pictures there.
They look remarkably cheerful considering the mess the Brexiteers have landed us in . . .
What a mess. Dr. Who needs to go back in time and fix it. :)
I voted to remain. I did so because the achievement of the European Union is the best and most admirable political development of my lifetime. The institution is not perfect, how could it be? As Walter Scott has his Glasgow merchant Bailie Nicol Jarvie in "Rob Roy" say of the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England, "there's nothing so good on this side o'Time but it might have been better, and that may be said of the Union." Nevertheless, the E.U. is still a remarkable achievement. So if it comes to the point-and I hope it won't-I will vote for being Scottish and European.
The Leave campaign is built on a lie. " We want our democracy back," they yell. Funny, that; it hadn't occurred to me it had gone. After all, we have elections. We elect the government and can dismiss it. That government levies taxes and decides on public expenditures (with the approval of Parliament). Its budget is huge, by the way, dwarfing that of the European Union of 28 member states. The U.K. government fixes tax rates, and decides how much it will spend on healthcare!, it conducts its own foreign policy, sometimes in concert with other E.U. countries, sometimes not. It is a sovereign state and a parliamentary democracy in working order. We don't need to take it back because we have not lost it.
The disintegration of the E.U. would be sweet revenge for some. They will probe for populist anti-European politicians from the Netherlands to France. The British exit will offer open season for fantasies of drum-beating nationalist fragmentation. So says an orphaned survivor of the Balkan Wars of the 1990s! Thank you, Boris. Thank you, Nigel.
At my age Brexit may not affect me much; I may be dead before it is fully achieved. But I would like future generations to grow up in a tolerant, open-minded society. Some hope with Brexit a reality!
I can't even begin to imagine how high emotions are running in the city.
A bit too late I'm afraid.
Many of today’s jarring dislocations stem from the clash between the old control culture and a newer integrative culture. Incivility and chaos arise when an old system is breaking down and a new one hasn’t yet fully taken hold. The burgeoning of global trade over the last 30 years means that almost anywhere we go today we’re finding our own companies, our own products, our own creations, our own citizens. Only groups that view themselves as excluded are busy looking answers, and short term solutions, in all the wrong places.
The United States believed for a long time that it was the sole exception to this trend. But this year’s Presidential race makes it quite clear that this is no longer so.
I wish there were some way to re-vote. I suspect that, now that the reality is sinking in, "remain" would win an overwhelming victory.
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