I’ve never worn a jersey for a political movement or party. I do not own a NASCAR style jumpsuit with my core beliefs and principles plastered all over, the size and placement corresponding to how highly I value them. I understand that to get stuff done in politics, we must work in groups, negotiate on common goals, and every now and then lines are drawn. However, through university and life in general, I’ve been forced to reassess many views and beliefs as I’ve been exposed to new ideas, experiences, and the undeniable truth that we should be paying closer attention not only to the information itself but who is communicating it, why, and how.
This isn’t a condemnation of people who bothered to at least read a few articles, have background knowledge, or some sort of stakes in the game itself such as family or friends who live there. What has me a bit rattled about the sudden influx of commentary post-Brexit is the insidious glee and joy some of us find in throwing stones (and in 2016, memes) at people and events that we know next to nothing about. I say “us” because none of us are perfect, and sometimes I am stricken with physical pain when I think about the “insights” I had into American elections and politics in the past. No one I know was talking about it leading up to the vote, but the moment the results came in it seemed like quite a few people saw it as a call to arms to get another stamp on their progressive left membership card. I’m not saying it’s bad to have a take or opinion on what leaving the E.U. means for Britain, but it is a bit troubling to come to a conclusion based on whatever your friends happen to be sharing or tweeting and to paint half a population as nothing more than racists who are dumb enough to vote against their self-interests. It’s the same rhetoric and flippant attitude we have towards republican supporters and especially the new voting bloc that Trump has raised south of the border.
We can laugh at their shortsightedness, and deride their reactionary voting and activism — however, to belittle without at least trying to understand the other side doesn’t make for progress, it just creates a more polarized and useless political discourse. Yeah sure, some (or many) Brexiters or Trump supporters have ugly and dangerous views on race and immigration. But most people who espouse those sentiments didn’t just wake up one day deciding they were going to have ugly worldviews, they develop based on their own background, communities, and lived experience. Research into voting demographics shows that the Leave campaign was particularly effective among older, poorer, and less educated groups. In other words, among the underprivileged groups that we “the left / liberals / progressives / pro-safety net people” claim we should stand up for.
Maybe the E.U. does not benefit the working class of the U.K. as much as it does the middle class or corporate interests, or maybe old people are just stubborn. Or perhaps when shadow home secretary Andy Burnham or London mayor Sadiq Khan bemoan the failure of the Remain side to connect to working class communities and Leave voters, it has something to do with a discourse that talks down to them instead of talking to them.
