We now have new neighbours, but
this time they comprise a full family with kids and dog. This will be a new experience for us as we
are used to silence on one side (as that property is only used during the
summer) and limited noise on the other side from two women: a lady and her very
elderly mother. So, our ‘living quality’
is going to be rather different in the immediate future!
In the longer-term future, our
contract with the letting agents for our house extends over the next couple of
years, and then we will need to look for a new place - one that is on the
ground floor of a block of flats - or some detached mansion by the sea if the Euromillions
comes through!
We are not living in the cheapest
part of this area and one can only wonder (and fear) about what the eventual
consequences of Brexit will be in relation to the value of the pound sterling
which is what my pension is paid in.
Although the cost of Brexit will be clear in the way that the pound
falls when the situation becomes what passes for final in these hectic days,
the other costs – social, political, geographic, status, influence, perception –
will, insidiously affect the view of the British and the British view of The
Other for generations to come.
The Left has paid an enormous
price for dismissing the views of those who feel themselves outside the
establishment, and who see their lives being dictated by remote movers who have
little to do with their view of life.
Or, if not exactly dismissing those views, for failing to take account
of them in political terms and failing, disastrously, to take them seriously.
There were lies on both sides of
the debate, most egregiously in my view by the Brexiteers, those
self-interested members of the establishment who, with breathtakingly Trumpian
re-writing of reality now dismiss all their earlier promises and statements and
cling to some sort of Little Englander (because let’s face it they couldn’t give
a toss for the ‘fringes’ of that country) philosophy to justify a hard-line
figment of xenophobic triumphalism to trump concerns about virtually everything
that makes me proud to be British.
And, you see, I’ve descended into
the wordy opprobrium as befits my perceived status and education! I still cling to the belief that this whole
nightmare will somehow dissipate and we will remain securely within the
EU. But, my country (no matter what the
numbers and the percentages say) has voted in a referendum to leave and the
government is bound to fulfil the verdict of the electorate.
I know that a ‘wrong’ vote
against the EU in Ireland was treated as a hiccup and another vote was taken to
‘remedy’ the result – and part of me wants that to happen in my country
too. In spite of the fact that such an
attitude does not sit well with my stated principles of democracy and the will
of the people.
I have said elsewhere that I have
always been amazed at the variety of theological (if they deserve to be termed
thus) views of any congregation listening placidly to a sermon in any church in
the country on a Sunday. If you asked forensic
questions concerning belief you would be amazed at what a seemingly united body
of people actually stated as their individual beliefs. But that would be true of any gathering of
so-called like-minded people. No matter
if it is a political group, religious group, art appreciation class, or a
society of pigeon fanciers – the variety of belief and the depth of ignorance would
probably astonish. That is just how
people are. A test I have often used as
an example is to ask people to point out, on a blank map of the world, where
Israel is. The suggestions of where that
country might be located will, I can assure you, astonish.
I am not saying that people are
stupid, it’s just that people know different things. What I perceive as being essential to a
civilized life might well be something that others dismiss. The only (or rather one of the many) dangers
are when I start making assumptions based on what I think I know are
self-evident truths. What is wrong for
me, is disaster in politics when the future government of the country is
concerned. Politicians have failed us
and are continuing to fail us. It is
hardly surprising to see mounting dissatisfaction with the way that we have
been governed and a desire to see another way, or if not as coherent as that,
at least to give the established ways a shock.
In some ways this is Anarchy, or rather anarchy with a small ‘a’ as it
is not a thought-out doctrine, but rather a gut reaction to what is seen as
something which is not tolerable.
It is probably a sign of the time
that a worried wonder about the changes in the quality of life brought about by
the large family that has just moved in next door, has ended in a nihilistic
depression about Brexit!
All thoughts
lead to Brexit in my mind and the inescapable (or at least seemingly
inescapable) consequences of this wanton act of self-harming by the British
electorate – or those who bothered to vote!
Perhaps tomorrow I will be more
jocund!
