Well, now we have all seen Boris waving a kipper and blaming the EU in a let's face it, speech to woo the hearts of all those who haven't a brain in their heads. "Hold on" you might say, "didn't the media almost universally report this with the corrective that what he said was mistaken, therefore, false!" "Yes" I reply, "they surely and most gratifyingly did." But you know what? That will not change the reality one little bit. Boris will gain, not lose out of that little scenario. This is the place we live in folks. The shouters and the blamers and easy solution peddlars are winning the popular vote.
But the real kicker in that little mistake, (which again won't matter a jot to the voters), was that it was Britain that had made the rule that Boris was railing against. And the thing that those who whinge on about us having lost our sovereignty to the EU don't get, is that most of those rules and regulations were made in order to bless, to protect, to enhance communities and individuals. I think that's what governments try to do as well, except that they have voters to please in a way that the EU does not, at least not in the same kind of way. This means that they can be more objective in setting down laws for the benefit of the majority whereas the national politicians have to have one eye on the vote at the next election. Unfortunately, what is most popular is not always what will actually benefit the majority, strangely enough.
The other little quirk with rule making is this: whilst many rules and laws are made with the hope of addressing and sorting something that has surfaced as being wrong either through omission or mistake or inability to keep pace with changing social circumstances, there will always be those innocents whom the rule affects adversely through some combination of factors unseen and unimagined by the rule makers. When their predicament comes to light, this brings about in us all a sense of indignation at the general stupidity and thoughtlessness of the legislators. I think of these situations much like the eddies created by a strong current flowing. The main stream is in the right direction but there will be bits that don't quite tick the box. This and the more general and mistaken rant about giving us back our sovereignty has set opinion against the EU in those places where the population count is highest and the feelings of resentment are most easily exploited.
Still, I do have hope that in Parliament, there are enough sensible people to steer us to a least damaging of outcomes. That I think is the best we can hope for. As Barnier said, "Brexit is not a game where there is a win win option. It is a lose lose game."
But the real kicker in that little mistake, (which again won't matter a jot to the voters), was that it was Britain that had made the rule that Boris was railing against. And the thing that those who whinge on about us having lost our sovereignty to the EU don't get, is that most of those rules and regulations were made in order to bless, to protect, to enhance communities and individuals. I think that's what governments try to do as well, except that they have voters to please in a way that the EU does not, at least not in the same kind of way. This means that they can be more objective in setting down laws for the benefit of the majority whereas the national politicians have to have one eye on the vote at the next election. Unfortunately, what is most popular is not always what will actually benefit the majority, strangely enough.
The other little quirk with rule making is this: whilst many rules and laws are made with the hope of addressing and sorting something that has surfaced as being wrong either through omission or mistake or inability to keep pace with changing social circumstances, there will always be those innocents whom the rule affects adversely through some combination of factors unseen and unimagined by the rule makers. When their predicament comes to light, this brings about in us all a sense of indignation at the general stupidity and thoughtlessness of the legislators. I think of these situations much like the eddies created by a strong current flowing. The main stream is in the right direction but there will be bits that don't quite tick the box. This and the more general and mistaken rant about giving us back our sovereignty has set opinion against the EU in those places where the population count is highest and the feelings of resentment are most easily exploited.
Still, I do have hope that in Parliament, there are enough sensible people to steer us to a least damaging of outcomes. That I think is the best we can hope for. As Barnier said, "Brexit is not a game where there is a win win option. It is a lose lose game."
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