Re: <nettime> Brexit democracy

[David Garcia <d.garcia@new-tactical-research.co.uk>]

Thanks to Patrice for the posting 

For the record I am and remain a Remain Voter and will continue to fight for a reversal of what I believe will be a nihilistic decision that will curb the life chances of future generations. But the narrative of the piece posted by Patrice carries the underlying belief that the referendum was a “fix” built wholly on the lies distortions of the Brexiteers. Though correct in many details is false in the larger sense of failing to capture the spirit and depth of what really went on. 

Belief in the power of media manipulation alone is itself naif and underestimates the social pressures, histories. In fact all sides attempted to manipulate the argument. There are no innocent parties here. Cameron government put the full weight of the state’s machinery and the business establishment behind its campaign to mobilsie opinion and it failed ! To take just one wholly undemocratic example it used government information money to disseminate huge quantities of what was effectively Remain propaganda through people’s virtual and actual letterboxes.

Moreover actual participation in the event was large and has dwarfed the usual turn out at elections. Brexit was part of everyday discussion in ways that have never been the case in my life-time so as a manifestation of “demos” I think there was something to celebrate. The other night on the train home I got into an argument with a group of Brexit voting builders about their belief that the NHS was being ruined by “health tourism” from Europe (this is nonsense the NHS can’t survive without European labor at all levels). But beyond the particulars ofthe argument there was a passionate sense of ownership that these guys felt for THEIR Brexit decision. The discussion went back and forth it was heated. Those surrounding us many in the carriage took off their head phones and listened intently and chipped in. But what struck me was how it all remained very good humored. We had all stepped outside of our bubble. I don’t think either side made any converts. But we parted with hand-shakes all round and sheepish grins to others in the carriage. It made me think that this is how we have to start by listening hard and sticking with the detail of the arguments in all their complexities and never sinking to ad hominem smears or the pseudo explanations of conspiracy theories. I continue to argue with people whenever I get the chance. I have never done this before. 

We Remainers must come to terms with the huge and rare sense of political agency that winning this referendum gave to many who in most cases feel powerless in the world of “subsistence managerialism” ( a term lifted from articulate pro-brexit blogger Pete North).Sure there were conspiracies but they were on al sides and so marginal in their impact. The desire of a large part of the population for Brexit can’t simply be dismissed as an aberration brought about by a willey, shadowy network of Brexiteers. 
The success of the slogan ‘Take Back Control” is cruscial to understand it speaks to the profound loss of agency that so many of us feel and how for many the capacity to disrupt politics as usual gave Brexit voters a sense of power. I am tempted to say fleeting.. but its not.. they still feel the echoes of that rush of blood. I am of course convinced that the though the truth will take a while to sink in but the hang over will be a price not worth the paying. But confirmation bia (on all sides) is a powerful fact of political life. Does anyone out there on the list have a slogan that we Remainers can deploy as effectively.. The only (lame) suggestion I have heard is “Take Back Control” - based on the fact that we have not gained control but lost it.. swapped it for an alternative box full of abstract nouns like “sovereignty"   

Sometimes Psychology trumps both politics and economics. We are an off-shore island with a semie detached relationship to a large powerful continent. Many brits have struggled over 40 years to feel the sense of collective affinity required to be part of any European convergence. It is not simply political, that narrow stretch of water means that our island psychology has given rise to a sense of island exceptionalism, making us poor partners - The particular British/English psychology was recognised 50 odd years ago by de Gaulle and was a key reason he gave for blocking our early attempts to join what was then the Common Market". He believed we would never fit in. We may learn from our mistakes and future generations may have a change of heart (there are signs of this) but for now, sadly.. very sadly de Gaulle may have been right. 

David Garcia

> 
> Brexit: Democracy robbery?
> 
> 
> 
> It is increasingly surprising that this vote, whose anti-European camp was largely financed by a handful of English and foreign plutocrats who had in mind a profound transformation of the country's economy in favour of opaque finance, and who resorted to methods of mass manipulation to win, is still being presented here and there as a summit of modern democracy.
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