The Political Physicist

Well, the vote was for Brexit. I am stating this as a fact, not meaning to place any particular mourning or celebration in it. I can’t say I’m a fan of the EU. I think it is neoliberal and unaccountable, probably irredeemably so in both cases. But I take no joy in the outcome of this vote. The narrative leading to Brexit was not one of building a better future based on cooperation, without the constant calls for greater “competitiveness”. Instead, it was a narrative of out-of-control immigration, the interfering outsiders, Britain no longer being Great thanks to the burdens of the EU. It was not a pleasant campaign for those of us on the Left.

Let me be clear: I am a believer in democratic European federalism. However, I have serious doubts that the EU can ever become such a system, given its extreme democratic deficit. At best, I think that a set of countries, which would likely need to be lead by Leftist governments, would essentially secede from the EU at once to form some other institution. More likely, any such government would be forced out of the EU if it tried to implement a serious Leftist program, long before a coordinated secession could be achieved. I don’t think the EU will ever be a conducive battleground for Leftist ideas.

So, this leaves us in a depressing state. The exit vote was driven by right-wing narratives, while staying would have locked us into a neoliberal framework. I knew this was the choice ahead of us long before the vote occurred. We were faced only with bad outcomes. Given that, I won’t condemn anyone on the Left for their choices, whether they voted to leave, remain, spoiled their ballot, or abstained. I knew that, however they voted, Leftists were not motivated by racism or nationalism but by a genuine concern for building a better world. I knew that, regardless of the result of the vote, we were going to need to fight harder than ever to build international solidarity, to develop coherent policies for a socialist program, to bring the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dispossessed Britons and Europeans into the struggle for a better future.

Well, the vote was for Brexit. We have to accept that. We don’t have to like it or agree with it, but we have to accept it. Calling the people who voted for it stupid, or racists, or saying that you’re ashamed to be British isn’t going to do any good. In fact, it will only alienate the Brexit voters—who we’ll need if the Left is ever to get elected—even more. Today may well have been a defeat for the Left, but the Left has had almost nothing but defeats in this country (or anywhere else) since 1979. We know how to keep on going. Raging against the outcome won’t help us do that.

The Brexit vote happened. We don’t yet know what the final resolution to this story will be, but we have to do everything in our power to ensure that our future outside of the European Union is as just and humane as possible.

Note: My reaction to the vote on leaving the EU was confusing and complex. This was an attempt to put it into words. I’m not entirely satisfied with what I’ve written; I feel like I could have been more eloquent and have perhaps missed a few points. Nonetheless, I’ve managed to clarify and codify at least some of my thoughts on this confusing issue.