Brexit becomes an inevitable piece of evidence that even in great Britain, an established democratic state, the tyranny of majority still post a threat.
Instead of calling Brexit a phenomenon of ignorant majority, it’s more like Brexit and its U.S counterpart event, Donald Trump winning GOP’s primary, are a result of arrogant politicians, ineffective communication, and long-term accumulated anger within the lower middle class. The voters are not the ones to blame. They are only responding to a system that has long ignored them.
David Cameron has long been Euroskeptic. In 2011, Cameron said that “leaving EU is not in our national interest, but said he felt “very personally” that now was the time for a fundamental reconsideration of European relations”.People should have their own stance, there’s no doubt. However, as the leader of “Bremain,” he comes across a hypocrite running his campaign as if people didn’t know his past stance. Of course he can argue he changed his mind since circumstance changed, but the most important thing is he was not convincing enough to explain why he abandoned Euroskeptism all of a sudden. Indeed, it seems that he cannot think of any valid arguments himself. Rather than defending and promoting the benefits of staying in EU, Cameron merely tried to convince the British that the U.K. would be worse-off after Brexit.
There’s a distinctively different of demographic between Bremain and Brexit. 75% of Millenials and almost 60% of Londoners — a demographic with more privileges, better-adapted to globalization happily embrace the idea of staying in EU. People in favor of Brexit are mocked for not seeing the whole pictures. To the Oxbridge elites, the benefits have never been clearer.
They were wrong.
Brexit voters consists of whole generation of people facing unemployments after half-life of hard work. They fear losing their way of lives, they hate immigrants who supposedly lowered their living standards. Brexit supporters suffered. They are not stupid people. They are simply frustrated. And the only thing that Cameron and Bremain campaign could muster in response was a half hearted “things could be worse.” No, the whole Bremain campaign team have never bothered to understand the Brexit’s situation. Why would they? They are the young people who still have the chance to acquire new skill sets, who have the mobility,who have the leverage in the capital market. The Oxbridge politicians standing with Bremain voters are the group of people with privilege. They have never been there, sweating and using their labour strength to earn a living. They don’t see the problem. Or even if they see, they dismiss it as trivial.
So they failed to pull a strong argument to convince these people.
Brexit supporters are the people in despair. The low-middle class had been stricken hard by globalization. Their skills are obsoleted. They are too old to fight and they are not attended to. It is not their stupidity or lack of will to work that caused their unemployment. It’s the government who failed to take care of them, failed to build a stronger infrastructure to help them acclimate to the volatile environment. In the end, these people would turn to anyone who seems to have a pair of listening ears and helping hands, no matter how absurd he sounds.
The tyranny of the majority happens for a reason: the crucial information that could have influenced the decision-making process, that could have allowed the side of reason to prevail, is not widely available. The information is controlled by a group of people who are too proud to share, to speak the language of the majority they doom to be ignorant. And it’s dangerous. By doing so, the innocent people without sufficient knowledge become the prey of the populists, who seem to provide them a shoulder to lean on, who seems to stand with them.
The empire failed because people who live with the privilege, either age, education, or status refuse to help those who are at the bottom looking for help. While the young generation complained that Brexit had divided the country, the UK had long been divided between people who think they are the future and people who are neglected and deemed unworthy of attention. Brexit is the result of a democracy when people close their eyes and let their fear lead them. It’s the failure of all, when we allow disenfranchised people who suffered become the majority.
Source:
- The Guardian, Meet the 75%: The young people who voted to remain in EU
- The Economist, David Cameron: We Euroskepitsm are only trying to help
- Foreign Policy, David Cameron Was a Historic and Disastrous Failure
- Project Syndicate, A British Tragedy in One Act
Photo Credit: News Markets
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‘Global Inequality’ A New Approach for the Age of Globalization
