#2 Brexit and the Power of Voices

On 24th June 2016 the world woke up to possibly the most shocking news of the decade yet, as the United Kingdom was no longer part of the European Union. The date of the referendum was set way back in February, but most people would not have paid the term Brexit any heed then for it is human nature to only care and panic about a ticking time bomb after it had already levelled cities. Whether this bomb is going to trigger an avalanche of global financial meltdown or possibly wipe out the EU once and for all, it is uncertain and not the focus of my post. I am instead going to explore the tool that enabled this whole saga and led to a seemingly ridiculous move by the UK government, and that is the opinion of the people.

This incident was voted into reality. Voting is a core foundation upon which Democratic societies are built and the very right and privilege that ensures societies stay truly democratic. A 'government of the people, by the people, and for the people', as stressed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, is one that bases decisions on the voice of its citizens, or more precisely the voice of the majority of its citizens. In an ideal world where everyone is perfectly capable of logical reasoning and has access to all sources of information available it is assumed that such a government would always be efficient since the people would all agree on the best course of action. Unfortunately even then information is processed differently by different groups and individuals, personal benefits are put ahead of collective gains and it is virtually impossible for everyone to share the same point of view. So exactly whose opinions should matter?

The fact that more than half of the UK citizens chose to leave was not the concern, but when many of those who believed the UK would be better off on their own exercised their voting right without even knowing what was the EU then we have an alarming situation. The leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage furthere steered the result in his favour by offering a lucrative promise of channelling the 350 million pounds per week payment made to the EU towards the UK's National Health Service. Shortly after Leave camp surprisingly took an uncatchable lead he somehow disregarded what must be the best selling point of Leave campaign as "a mistake". Upon experiencing the biggest I-immediately-regretted-my-decision moment many blinded Leave voters signed a petition to push for a second referendum, but the damage was already done and German Chancellor Angela Merkel certainly would not entertain this possibility. Opinions voiced irresponsibly and without proper thoughts and considerations evidently could give birth to unimaginable and unprecedented outcomes.

Then again, whether staying in or leaving the EU would be more beneficial for the UK and the rest of the world is not a question to which a satisfactory answer could ever be finalised. Comparisons are always relative and subject to the prevailing standards and conditions, so maybe in 50 years time the idea that the UK was ever part of the EU would seem hilarious and nonsensical and Farage would be celebrated for making that decisive historic move to "free" the UK. Or maybe Brexit eventually never happened, who knows.

What we can and must learn from this comedy of a campaign is that when people are granted the power to vote, or the ability to impact policies with their opinions, the decision making process leading to their choices matters and has to be monitored in one way or another. Strictly regulating participants and their votes defeats the purpose of voting in the first place, but giving every Tom, Dick and Harry a pen to check a box of their preference while they have no clues and no conscious intention to find out what is printed on the voting slip would present the world with more cases like Brexit.

The effects of Brexit are debatable but how it became a reality should and must be studied in order to promote transparency and objectiveness in media and instil a sense of ownership to their nation in each and every voter in the UK and all over the world. Other countries contemplating to follow the UK's footsteps or Scotland hoping to remain in the EU by leaving the UK itself must be responsible to ensure their people carry out the voting duty informed and prepared. The UK government can simply ignore the result of the referendum, and not feel a whole lot guilty for it would be neither the first nor the last to do so, but that does not resolve the issues at hands and might even give rise to more chaotic political turmoil. The UK citizens have spoken, albeit dazed and misguided, and now they have to face the consequences no matter what lies ahead.