The Reality Of Brexit: A Cautionary Tale
This afternoon I was reminded that Brexit isn't just a vague political concept or buzzword. It is very real and has tangible implications. If you follow me then you may have read my Why Brexit Won't Happen Article. I still strongly believe that, however today I saw that it doesn't have to actually happen before triggering negative outcomes.
Euro Job
So today I reconnected with an old friend, I had a business proposition for which I knew she'd be perfect for but hadn't seen her in years.
I tried getting in touch via some old friends, but they just had old numbers for her. So I did something I never thought I'd do. I restarted my Facebook account!
Noooooooooo!!!!!
Oh well, let's face it FB is a great address book if nothing else . . .
Anyway I digress. I finally got to speak to my friend and it was great to catch up, we worked out that it had been around seven years.
She reminded me that it had been sixteen years since she had a permanent address in England.
In those years she had been spending her summers in and around Ibiza. This is because around eighteen years ago she obtained her captain's license and therefore qualified to pilot a boat at sea.
So after a couple of years gaining experience, she went out on her own and started getting work captaining other people's yachts.
Great.
Brexit Bites
Each year when she goes out there, she needs to obtain a temporary license from the authorities which allows her to work in Spanish waters.
This year she went out as usual at the start of the summer and was told that Spain are no longer granting licenses to English captains because of Brexit.
Ouch.
Back With A Bump
So just like that her entire livelihood has gone in the blink of an eye. Perhaps she can build it up again somewhere else. However that will take time, money, and plenty of research, in order to build up the kind of contacts she has nurtured over the past decade and a half.
Analysis
Of course this is just anecdotal, and this article is not to discuss the political merits of being in or out of the European Union.
If you are someone who believes Britain should leave, great. If you think we should stay, great also.
For what it's worth, I believe we should stay however we should use our clout to turn the Union away from being a political entity and focus more on trade and unrestricted travel and work between the member states.
But like I said, that's neither here nor there. What I'm interested in is whether anybody else has experienced negative, or maybe even positive tangible effects of Brexit.
When I say tangible, I mean something as concrete as losing or gaining employment, business opportunities etc. Not I'm happy/sad since the Brexit vote.
SO HAVE YOU OR SOMEBODY YOU KNOW SUFFERED ANY NEGATIVE EFFECTS FROM THE BREXIT VOTE? OR PERHAPS YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS EVEN GAINED FROM BREXIT?
OR MAYBE YOU'RE JUST WORRIED THAT SOMETHING NEGATIVE WILL HAPPEN ONCE(IF) IT GOES THROUGH? OR ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SOMETHING POSITIVE HAPPENING AFTER BREXIT?
AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!
Related Reading: Seven Reasons Why Brexit Won't Happen
Title image: Maria Imelda on Unsplash
I think brexit is just a symptom of an overall global shift. People feel cornered, they also get gas lighted into blaming the wrong agents. Reaction is expected, and honestly within the limited knowledge we all posses, ethical.
Some equate globalism to evil, some like Dr. Pinker, think it's brought the most good to the least fortunate. But, the shift of resources is undeniable and the opportunistic politicians have made sure to leave with most of the pizza.
I don't know how this will play in the long run, but I'm inclined to think we are way past the turning point.
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Very good points, though I don't think we're past the point of no return. I honestly think if you had another referendum today the result would be very different.
Plus of course the rules would be made much clearer as to what would happen if we did vote leave or chose to stay.
Cg
@cryptogee,
Brexit is a divorce and it's a highly unusual divorce that doesn't destroy someone's life. What a mess.
The problem now, though, is that it's the proverbial Gordian Knot ... which was a legendary knot for a reason ... it couldn't be untied. Alexander The Great solved the problem with his sword.
I have to admit, I was always skeptical about whether the EU could work. The "United States of Europe" implies the dynamics of a "country." But the EU is not a country, it's a "something else." Some things in life require absolutism ... like pregnancy ... either you are, or you aren't. Either you're a country, or you aren't. And if you aren't, then what are you? The EU's more than a trade pact (like NAFTA), more than an alliance (like NATO) and more than a membership in an international organization (like the UN).
Sovereign democracies subjecting their sovereignty to an un-sovereign bureaucracy in, arguably, the most convoluted electoral system ever devised by Man. What is THAT? And that's just the Parliament ... none of the other EU organizations with which it shares power are elected at all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_to_the_European_Parliament
I suspect Brexit will happen, deal or no deal, because there are already too many cats out of the bag. Animosities already run too deep. It would be like reconciliation after adultery ... much easier said than done. Trust is a delicate thing. My question is whether the EU itself will survive once the UK exits. All organizations require that its members display a certain degree of inexplicable "stick-with-it-ness." Married people stay married, in no small part, because they like the idea of "being married" more than the idea of "being single." Relationships possess an emergent property.
Brexit sets a precedent and precedents can become cudgels to endlessly coerce others into giving you what you want. "Give us what we want or we'll exit too." When Trump won the election, a bunch of crybabies in California started a petition for secession. "Since the rest of the country thinks we're just a bunch of lefty lunatics (which is true) ... we'll just leave."
One of the gnarliest issues I see is that of "wealth transfer." Inevitably, in large countries like the US or Canada, certain parts of the country are wealthier than others. Natural resources, geographic advantages, capital concentrations, etc. make equalizing economic opportunity impossible. And so, the rich parts end up subsidizing the poorer ones. In Canada, provinces are even referred to as "Haves" and Have-Nots." It's politically controversial but, inevitably, that's what countries do. The binding forces of nationalism outweigh the allegation that the poorer parts are creating their own problems. Because there's a single political mechanism though, the richer parts can force changes in the poorer parts to try to, at least, minimize the disparity and hence the conflicts.
There is a similar phenomenon happening in the EU. Germany vs. Greece at the extremity but also the North vs the South and the West vs the East. And, it's not just economics either. The Poles have a decidedly different opinion about the threat posed by Russia than do the Italians. And Hungarians have a much different idea about how to deal with the millions of illegal migrants than do the French.
In any relationship, you need to have a bit of "Opposites Attract" (so it doesn't get too boring) and a lot of "Birds of a Feather" so that commonality of interests create bonds that bind. In the EU, I think the realities are reversed.
Quill
Elections to the European Parliament
Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage. 751 MEPs are elected to the European Parliament, which has been directly elected since 1979. No other EU institution is directly elected, with the Council of the European Union and the European Council being only indirectly legitimated through national elections. While Europarties have the right to campaign EU-wide for the European elections, campaigns still take place through national election campaigns, advertising national delegates from national parties.