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Perhaps I didn't explain, these aren't my views but views of people I talk to and a lifetime of living amongst them.
You'd be really surprised at the strength of feeling towards 'immigrants and asylum seekers' and the depth of genuine belief that 'they come here and get a free house and benefits whilst our own have to wait'.
It's caused huge riots in my nearest towns of Burnley and Blackburn. And there was a large inquiry into why it happened which basically concluded that the mutual feelings towards BME's was too ingrained to change or as to why the area is the way it is.
What I really struggle to come terms with is the feelings of xenophobia / racism only seems to extend towards the poor. The same people who have these strong views towards the poor BME's will sing the praises of Drs or solicitors from the same BMEs.
bluebikerider-
Perhaps I didn't explain, these aren't my views but views of people I talk to and a lifetime of living amongst them.
Oh, you should definitely make that clear, otherwise it just reflects badly on you as a reader would imagine that those were your words, your views.
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What I really struggle to come terms with is the feelings of xenophobia / racism only seems to extend towards the poor. The same people who have these strong views towards the poor BME's will sing the praises of Drs or solicitors from the same BMEs.
This is the same dynamic as in the US for African Americans, although it has become even more complex as people internalise aspects of it.
Chris Rock satirised it quite controversially in a routine in 1996
https://vimeo.com/101567667
Velocio
h2o
I think you're viewing this wrong.
I suspect it's about volume.
Drs, researchers, etc... they number in tens, hundreds, thousands at best.
Labourers on the other hand... they number in tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps even more.
To view it as a value thing is a weird thought and shows misunderstanding. Some of the language used reveals the real perceived issue, "There's too many", "We don't have space", etc.
I also think you're wrong about the quality of life perception. I think some of those who voted Leave love this country, and don't want to leave themselves, they perhaps view it as a way to preserve what it is they love, perhaps even to strengthen those things. They're looking to preserve their own experience of a quality of life, part of which is intrinsically bound to living in the UK.
Whatever the full definition of those things are is subjective... it may not even be based on fact and reality, this may in fact be a twee ideal, a half-imagined idea of a more noble and great country... as if voting Leave would return the UK to a time that never really existed, just like buying a piece of Rapha clothing might make you a suffering and noble hero of a mountain climb in the days of black and white photographed grand tours.
It's a weird failure to empathise that would lead you to conclude that Leavers treat people as livestock... I don't think anyone has done that, and the idea alone is quite abhorrent, it divides people more than it helps bring them together, and it's important to say that the suggestion came from you, you put it on others but it's really your suggestion.
If you can understand why people voted Leave, you stand a chance to really communicate the issues that arise.
It's almost an irrelevance though... we're all going to see that firsthand soon enough. Though I suspect the Leavers will forever claim it would have been worse if we'd Remained.