There is a position that is ignored by many and those that recognise often are drowned out.
I (as mentioned) voted for Scottish Indy. I also stated to my friends, I would happily vote for a Scottish Conservative Government in an independent Scotland (if their policies were palatable).
This is the same. People are associating the leave vote with outright isolationism and racist tendencies. This is the populist backlash that social media and the news outlets like to talk about. We've lost our way in determining our sensibilities because the vast majority rely on fast access to 'simplified' news. That means Facebook is used as a factual source and the BBC reports on what is 'newsworthy'. It's a disgrace that the leave vote isn't discussed as a rejection of rule from Brussels in an alarmingly encroaching centralised power grab. Instead it is easier to make it black and white (almost literally).
I am hugely offended (as I was in the Indy vote) that the legitimate right to vote and used reason is trampled upon by those that voted differently. It's a vile poison of democracy that those that lose a vote can then turn it around as some form of stigma. Idiots will always be idiots and those reports about racist abuse now surfacing were always there. It could well be argued that these idiots with a reversed vote would resort to even more bitter attacks as they see their own immoral ideals voted over.
But this was not about race. It was about political power and autonomy. The Grexit debate destabilised Europe and has left that country crippled. Spain is now recovering but that happens when your austerity measures are kept in place for years. Even in the UK, our austerity is seen as improving our economy but that is an easily eviscerated view.
People also freely use the term 'racist' quite freely but it is absolutely a product of social evolution that we distrust those from other groups. Having the opportunity to study Archaeology, Philosophy and Anthropology at Uni it is patently clear that society develops better and faster with shared goals. It is NOT racist to get annoyed at an influx of any alien culture, be it white eurpoean or darker skinned ethnic groups. We live in social groups and we thrive in similar social groups. If you voted leave to retain some identity of a British culture (which has always been varied regardless - Welsh, Scots, English and Irish - and all their own subgroups) then that is a fair reason.
People need to realise this goes back only 40 years. That's nothing in history. We aided our allies in WW1 and WW2, before the EU existed. In the EU we broke their rules and bombed Iraq. We had no mandate, we did it anyway. The EU is NOT a great future. It will be painful to rip away from it but that pain is more like ripping out a sharp, deep splinter. And we must not confuse the EU with Europe. The EU is a powerful political club, ruled by Brussels and supported by the billions of pounds it demands from it's member states. Europe is a continent of very diverse peoples and culture. Europe is a natural evolution of social cohesion and friction, the EU is a very unnatural construct of trade and wealth.
We voted to leave a politically elite, politically ambitious organisation that is run and ruled by some very anti-British minds (whether we were in or out). The Brussels elite is not the UK's friend and never was - they admitted that recently (I believe the quote was, "it wasn't much of a love affair"). It was often seen as a great aim to erode the UK's influence in Europe and it was happening year by year. Look at Camerons failed efforts to renegotiate. Most of what was achieved has been pulled apart as fluff and of no consequence. Brussels kicked his ass and he came back with all he could - scraps. That's the EU people are so upset to be leaving?
We are Europeans. We were always a great part of Europe, in conflict and in alliance. Our institutions are grounded in continental monarchies and progressive European philosophical thinking. To think there is a Britain that is not European is fallacy and to think we need the EU to be European is idiotic nonsense.
We are stronger in Europe and we ARE in Europe. We are simply freer outside the EU. The only people that really don't like it are the vested interests of large companies and wealthy elites. Give me higher taxes and give me freedom.
)
What could be worse... screw the brexit