You reap what you sow.
After years of focusing on 'soundbite' and personality politics we have a vast swathe of the electorate so apathetic, disengaged and/or uneducated about the political and economic sphere that they are willing to mobilise in order to vote for a policy that most have no clue as to how it will actually effect the country. The stay camp are largely made up of the same type of voters. I had hoped in such circumstances the relative sense of status quo would have prevailed.
I have spoken to a fair few "leavers" in the last few months, needless to say that I was able to better vocalise, extrapolate and validate most of their arguments than they themselves were. Not everything they had to say was rubbish but there was often misplaced significance in terms of the relevance to the wider topic (stay/leave) and yet very few were willing to take this on board despite me patiently pointing it out. Sentiment was the key to their stance and it wasn't a sentiment conjured by the inane campaigning but one that has lurked in them for some time. This issue merely provided the platform and "legitimate" excuse for them to express it.
#I accept that not all "leavers" fall under this description and there are some that are able to make well reasoned arguments to validate their stance#
The country has taken a step in to the unknown predicated on largely spurious bollocks and it will be fascinating to see how the voters act at the next general election. My assumption would be that the voting % slumps back down to the more typical level as people so "concerned" about our future and self determination obviate their role in providing direction and input for those very things. Part of me hopes that I am wrong whilst the other hopes that some of these people never step in to a polling booth again.
At this point we have no idea how the EU would have changed/acted had we stayed. Any future actions, reforms, improvements can not be guaranteed to have occurred without this seismic event that will likely force a degree of introspection within the political mechanisms of the union. We need to concentrate on where we are and take steps to ensure that future decisions are not made on facile summations, half-truths and outright lies (both sides). The AV vote and Scottish independence campaign were both ominous precursors to this referendum with the deliberate lack of clarity presented by either side in favour of fear driven mantras. Why? Because we made it that way or at the very least allowed it to become/stay that way under our watch. Politics and politicians won't change unless we force a change, they are by their very nature opportunists that seek to exploit sentiments through their own pragmatism. They behave how they behave because it procures results in the current system and environment. The media is much the same in that it generates content that is designed to grab ones attention or cause shock/outrage as opposed to breaking down nuanced events and providing genuine insight that furthers understanding. This is our culture and sadly we opt-in, endorse it, pay for it and ultimately perpetuate it everyday.
