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I have never called anybody names etc. I think a lot of stereotyping is also not helpful.
Sure, for many Brexit was a hope of a better life and they weren't seeing the issues.
I've talked to people who believed the NHS slogan and one felt sorry for me.
I just think it can't just come from one side all the time. There is little acknowledgement of the hurt.
That's just me though, others are trying to befriend brexiters.
Others will not even talk to them due to the hurt.A lot of it is the old saying that you can't reason people out if things they didn't reason themselves into.
But now we are all in the shit and I'm not patient or forgiving enough to go bridge building right now. Too many shitty views that I know come from the papers but not there yet.
It's my life that's screwed with not theirs. (Though it seems that now the project fear is truly starting, can't say I'm pleased to see rising food prices with so much poverty...)
I hope you can see your family again soon. The pandemic sucks.
JWestland-
Sorry @JWestland, I didn't mean to imply you were calling me (or anyone else) names.
Yes, we are all in the shit :-( Lots of shitty views but I'd probably blame a lot more on social rather than traditional media - the stories (I'd like to call them "truths") coming out this week about facebook and twitter have "hidden" right wing agendas encoded in their algorithms are very very scary even if completely expected. Edward Snowden's autobiography Permanent Record is a pretty interesting read on the topic (I highly recommend it as it's a pretty good read in any case), as is Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff (but that's a lot more dense and harder to read).
Still, we're not going to be able to tackle rising food prices, transport difficulties, rising energy prices (and consequent loss of heating etc) unless we get together and try to do something about it as a group. Divided we fall - and that just feeds the uber-capitalists who are sucking us dry and makes them stronger. The "me, me, me" individualism culture that we're breeding in the UK (and elsewhere, of course) is designed to create inequality, to pit us against each other. Unless we can overcome that, we've not a hope in a million.
And inequality is devastating (including for the rich actually - they have shorter life spans, worse health outcomes and less happiness when they live in unequal societies. Plus worse outcomes on many other indicators too). There's lots of research to show this is true. The following article has some explanation:
The UK has one of the highest levels of inequality in Europe:
Even the UK government says there is marked inequality in the country - of course they don't say it quite like that: they say, "The areas where people have the highest income are not always those that contribute the most to the economy."
I'm sure you know most of that stuff anyway, but I hope that the links and ideas might be useful for others too.
I also agree that the NI protocol is turning into another cliffhanger - just another way of keeping us all divided.
PS, final point, I don't think that Labour are (necessarily) the answer. I think the issues are bigger than party politics, what we really need to do is to build grass roots alliances. As I said before, I dream ;-)
d0cA
When I was training to be a doctor someone asked me what I wanted to do and I said "paediatrician - because adults just smoke and drink themselves to death and it's all their fault, whereas the kids are innocent" (or something along those lines).
The response I got was this:
What about the 19 year old single mother of two kids who left school age 15 because she had her first child, now lives unsupported by her (ex)partner in a tiny little council flat on the 12th floor of a horrible estate, sees all the tobacco advertising when she goes out every day to take her kids to the nursery and sign on, and her 5 minutes of peace in the evening when the kids are crying is to step outside on the balcony and smoke a cigarette. Is it her fault (and her choice) to kill herself through smoking? Or is that something that society (and her poor upbringing and lack of education) has conditioned her into?
I'm a Brit living in France. I've not been able to see my family in the UK for the last 18+ months because I couldn't afford the travel (spending time in quarantine, the cost of the obligatory PCR tests etc). I am fully aware of the loss of rights and the xenophobia and racism that is going on.
I agree that ignoring hurt doesn't work. I'm not saying ignore it. I'm saying acknowledge it - which I think is what you're saying. But that doesn't mean calling people cunts, or playing blame games. I think it means trying to understand where the other people are coming from, what brought them to vote Brexit in the first place, what their hopes and fears are, and how they - we! - might overcome them (together). I'm against the 'divide and conquer' that is rife in society today. I'd like to (re)build bridges and figure out how we can all leave peacefully together.
Or am I a dreamer? Maybe yes, but I'd like to think that there's a better world we can make together. Call me a cunt if you want, my shoulders are broad and my skin thick, I'll love you anyway.