I've never cried because of politics. Politics are my biggest hobby, my chosen career, really the content of everything I've done in the past 10 years. I was raised to believe in unity and cooperation. Being a child of the 90s, when Idealism wasn't as dead as it clearly now is, I never even considered giving up and accepting defeat. My future, I believed, wouldn't be defined by animosity and xenophobia, like the past of my country and continent is. And then today, as I woke up to the news that some old folk in England had actually voted to leave the European Union, an institution that cost money to give them stability, security and, above all, peace after 2000 years of perpetual European war, the tears were there, and they haven't gone.
Voting for conservative governments infuriates me. Voting against Scottish Independence surprised me. Voting to leave the EU, however, is a clear sign that reason has ceased to exist. Months of information, all speaking the same language, have literally not translated into brain cells. I'm not one to oppose the opposition, but in this case, I have lost respect for those who have made that decision, even though it was a majority. There is but one reason people would be voting for a Brexit, and these reasons are the definition of what I had hoped to be banning from our collective future: fear of change, isolationism, xenophobia and, worst, nationalism. For me it is clear that if people make this choice, they could be selfish enough to vote for President Trump. Good thing he seems to be losing and American statisticians actually know how to do their jobs, unlike their British counterparts...
How do most laws need a 2/3 majority to pass, and governmental decisions in referendums are passing with half the population being in huge opposition? I thought I was all for democracy, but referendums on issues that can make or break a country clearly don't have a legitimate point if all that's left is a huge divide. Unfortunately, in both British referendums in the last two years, the old made the decision for the young. Quite a large number of Scots who decided to stay part of the Union, which resulted in continued membership of the European Union, are dead already or will shortly be. The young, however, who want to go to college, like me, and have the chance of studying in an international setting, get to know the world and embrace everyone wherever they come from or what they look like, like I had it, are stripped of what our forefathers worked so hard for. If the old were old enough to remember Britain in 1942, we wouldn't have the result we have today.
Which brings me to the most basic argument that I cannot believe has disappeared into thin air: are we still interested in peace, or have we forgotten what the perils of war are because we haven't survived one? Even on the darkest day of the European Union, when tax money was spent on saving banks and bail out Greeks who are completely unwilling to save, I have proudly called myself a member of the European Union which has secured me a full, 27-year-long life so far in which I have crossed borders, studied abroad, become a tolerant person who sees no color and, most importantly, never had to adjust my life or dreams to the need to seek shelter from bombs. I, unlike the vast majority of this Earth's population, have no idea what war, hunger or poverty is, and I owe that exclusively to a 1958 decision that tried again to bring peace and prosperity to our continent. The only answer I have to those who consider the influx of immigrants a threat is one finger on each of my hands. Y'all have never seen threats...
Next to mad, I feel sad. The best four years of my life were spent on that island, and that was only possible due to the wonderful existence of a mutual agreement among European nations. That agreement will no longer be. 2016 high school grads have less opportunities than me, and here I was believing that the world would change for the better and create more opportunities for everyone. After 10 years of constant study of politics I have to concede today that the world is not changing for the better. People are loudly exclaiming that they have no room for friendship, cooperation and respect. 52% of Britain, mainly the English, still believe they are powerful and deserve that power. And when you deserve it, you don't want to share. I'm happy I don't live like that.
The powerful have a way of believing that power is a result of doing the right thing, whereas I sit here in a small village in Germany and ask myself how the English are explaining losing an empire, remaining with four countries (soon only three) and wanting to rely on themselves to shape their future. If history has shown anything it is that you "can't go it alone", even Joseph Nye knew that, and he was talking about the United States of America. Remember, the superpower? Even the USA can't do what the Brits are hoping to do now. Hitler couldn't do it either, and he was in the center of the continent and much more powerful than Boris Johnson will be. If Woodrow Wilson was alive he'd be laughing right now; he couldn't even isolate the Americans, how is Boris gonna do it? But 52% believe it's a great idea. One has gotta ask themselves if they went to school a single day in their lives...
I'm so lucky that I got to learn what I learned in time before it was impossible: Thank you, EU, for allowing what you did. Yes, I have to wait a little longer for my light bulb to light up because you said so, but considering I got a free, international education I didn't bother to complain. Sure, Germany pays a lot of totally senseless money for benefiting the union rather than Germany, and sure, we have a huge immigration problem because those supposed friends and fellow members are useless in that field, but we are still friends. I'd rather have friends. I'd rather have cooperation. And yes, we are slowly but surely all becoming realists again and forgot about idealism in the 90s, but I was (thankfully) raised to believe in that, and I will continue to do that. The EU isn't dead, just a bit poorer and less powerful, but the young still see its value, it just isn't a monetary one.
Voting for conservative governments infuriates me. Voting against Scottish Independence surprised me. Voting to leave the EU, however, is a clear sign that reason has ceased to exist. Months of information, all speaking the same language, have literally not translated into brain cells. I'm not one to oppose the opposition, but in this case, I have lost respect for those who have made that decision, even though it was a majority. There is but one reason people would be voting for a Brexit, and these reasons are the definition of what I had hoped to be banning from our collective future: fear of change, isolationism, xenophobia and, worst, nationalism. For me it is clear that if people make this choice, they could be selfish enough to vote for President Trump. Good thing he seems to be losing and American statisticians actually know how to do their jobs, unlike their British counterparts...
How do most laws need a 2/3 majority to pass, and governmental decisions in referendums are passing with half the population being in huge opposition? I thought I was all for democracy, but referendums on issues that can make or break a country clearly don't have a legitimate point if all that's left is a huge divide. Unfortunately, in both British referendums in the last two years, the old made the decision for the young. Quite a large number of Scots who decided to stay part of the Union, which resulted in continued membership of the European Union, are dead already or will shortly be. The young, however, who want to go to college, like me, and have the chance of studying in an international setting, get to know the world and embrace everyone wherever they come from or what they look like, like I had it, are stripped of what our forefathers worked so hard for. If the old were old enough to remember Britain in 1942, we wouldn't have the result we have today.
Which brings me to the most basic argument that I cannot believe has disappeared into thin air: are we still interested in peace, or have we forgotten what the perils of war are because we haven't survived one? Even on the darkest day of the European Union, when tax money was spent on saving banks and bail out Greeks who are completely unwilling to save, I have proudly called myself a member of the European Union which has secured me a full, 27-year-long life so far in which I have crossed borders, studied abroad, become a tolerant person who sees no color and, most importantly, never had to adjust my life or dreams to the need to seek shelter from bombs. I, unlike the vast majority of this Earth's population, have no idea what war, hunger or poverty is, and I owe that exclusively to a 1958 decision that tried again to bring peace and prosperity to our continent. The only answer I have to those who consider the influx of immigrants a threat is one finger on each of my hands. Y'all have never seen threats...
Next to mad, I feel sad. The best four years of my life were spent on that island, and that was only possible due to the wonderful existence of a mutual agreement among European nations. That agreement will no longer be. 2016 high school grads have less opportunities than me, and here I was believing that the world would change for the better and create more opportunities for everyone. After 10 years of constant study of politics I have to concede today that the world is not changing for the better. People are loudly exclaiming that they have no room for friendship, cooperation and respect. 52% of Britain, mainly the English, still believe they are powerful and deserve that power. And when you deserve it, you don't want to share. I'm happy I don't live like that.
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| Remember War, Britain? Oops, must have slipped the mind... |
I'm so lucky that I got to learn what I learned in time before it was impossible: Thank you, EU, for allowing what you did. Yes, I have to wait a little longer for my light bulb to light up because you said so, but considering I got a free, international education I didn't bother to complain. Sure, Germany pays a lot of totally senseless money for benefiting the union rather than Germany, and sure, we have a huge immigration problem because those supposed friends and fellow members are useless in that field, but we are still friends. I'd rather have friends. I'd rather have cooperation. And yes, we are slowly but surely all becoming realists again and forgot about idealism in the 90s, but I was (thankfully) raised to believe in that, and I will continue to do that. The EU isn't dead, just a bit poorer and less powerful, but the young still see its value, it just isn't a monetary one.
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