An Unstable Future and One Hell of a Fight
My name is Callum C. Cockbill. I’m 22 and voted to remain in the European Union. When I awoke earlier this morning and switched on my phone, I was heartbroken to see the Guardian pop-up informing me that Britain was set to leave. As the headlines rolled in I couldn’t quite believe what I was reading: Cameron to resign, the economy taking an estimated £350 billion hit, Scotland (quite understandably) looking for a second independence referendum, Labour neoliberals initiating coup on Corbyn, the potential disintegration of the EU. That’s in the first few hours.
After the initial shock had left me, and my mind began to look for any silver lining, I felt proud to stand amongst the younger generation of Great Britain. To show the establishment that we are educated, we are perceptive, that we will not be bullied by nationalistic xenophobia into voting against compassion and cooperation. Our future is not uncertain and unstable at best. I have recently graduated in Sociology, with all the debt that comes with that and am frankly a little scared about my future. However, I feel proud to be marching into to coming decades standing shoulder to shoulder with the young people who voted for remain. We are stronger when we stand together. The message of the Vote Remain campaign cannot be forgotten in all of this.
Certainly, one thing that has irritated me is the rhetoric of the leave victory. Every outlet and politician in support of Brexit is claiming “Britain has spoken”. Let’s be clear: 72% of British Citizens, not including those ineligible to vote, participated in the referendum. It was a 48/52% split. So, with a little light mathematics, about 36% of eligible British citizens chose Brexit. Comments are already beginning to emerge concerning how many would vote to remain given a second opportunity. On the subject of eligibility, the referendum has raised several questions as the whether the “universal voting rights for 18+” is actually an appropriate way to select the most progressive and intelligent decisions. Indeed, if the vote had included those from 16 and upwards, as they are politically perceptive, and disallowed the 65+, based on the idea that they don’t have to deal with the consequences of the vote for very long, then it would have been a different storey. I feel betrayed by our democratic system that my future children will be picking up the pieces long after the majority who vote leave are long gone. However, this is really a hypothetical, and now is not the time to be bogged down in the ethics of voting.
Now is the time for those who voted to remain to come together. Now is the time for coordinated and intelligent action. Now is the time for designing better political systems and better ways of governing our communities. We have been trained to believe that politics is in the realm of the institution, untouchable by the citizenry. Even in the referendum, we are subjected to a continuous onslaught from global institutions, such as the IMF and World Bank, and the bias mainstream media found in the pages of the Daily Mail and The Sun. This is a ridiculous concept, given to us to make us feel helpless. Politics exists only in action. When we campaign, when we retweet, when we write, when we speak, it is all politics. When we question, when we debate, when we caution, when we cooperate, it is all politics. Power cannot be taken away from us. Power is only a construct that we submit ourselves to. When we stand together for our future and our humanity, we are simply becoming aware of the power we already possessed.
Finally, it can seem difficult to think about cooperating with individuals that voted leave. After all, the hatred and resentment that the referendum debate embodied has torn a schism though our nation. We cannot allow ourselves to be taken in by the divide. Although Farage and others have habitually used the rhetoric of immigration to drive the Leave campaign, not all who voted to leave are xenophobic nationalists. At a time like this, we cannot afford to stereotype. We can only endeavour to rebuild bridges that have been burned within and without our society. Good luck to all of us.
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