Brexit – it is happening. This mean there will be some serious earthquakes in the political and national scene in Britain. The nationalistic UKIP will without a doubt continue to expand its xenophobic agenda and capitalising its success in the Leave campaign. For those who voted to leave, time will tell whether they did the right thing or just presented the fate and treasury of Britain to some opportunistic politicians to be put into their own coffers.
Nonetheless political blood has been spilled. David Cameron has resigned and EU demanded Britain to leave as soon as possible to remove uncertainty. The situation in Europe will continue to be uncertain as Putin would continue to push for a separatist Europe so he can expand his ambition to annex smaller Eastern European countries. The fact that there are reports about Russia funding the Leave campaign in Britain indirectly is quite an alarming bell.
But the greater impact of this event is how it rocks the very foundation of modern politics – and this is no longer an isolated case. From the Philippines election, to Donald Trump, to Brexit and to the latest poll in Australia that there is an increasing number of people decided to go for independent and smaller parties (from 4% a few months ago to over 20% this week) all speak volume about how modern politics had failed. They might all look different but at the very basic level there is a common denominator – people are not happy and have lost confidence in modern politics.
Modern politicians have been focusing on politics instead of governing. A trend that has cast a doom spell for established political platforms. However, these politicians were so confident about their power that they did not realise the power they currently have were given to them by the people. Political parties are no longer about sustainable governing but a continuous opposition of opinions for the sake of opposing. Modern politicians forgot that politics is a means to an end but not an end itself. Putting politics in the fore front without thinking about what is efficient and responsible governing is what is bringing the downfall of these politicians.
From what is happening around the world there is a very one clear signal – people are not happy and there are clear divides across different sectors of the society. This social segregation resulted by opposing politics played by those in power eventually lead to a rebellion from those most disenchanted. The Trump phenomenon and the Brexit vote are very clear indications of that. However it seems that a number of politicians still failed to understand that.
Take Australia as an example, the two biggest parties immediately tried to take this opportunity to grab voters’ vote by saying how much they would be better than the other party to sail through this change. This completely missed the opportunity to show voters that the major parties are united to keep Australia’s boat safe. Instead it became, “if you vote for me you get a ticket to the lifesaving boat”. Further the Prime Minister’s comment about how unbinding the $160 million plebiscite on same sex marriage has nothing but reflected how out of touch modern politicians are, when it comes to responsible governing. Spending that much money on something that you will not honour on something that in the latest polls 70% of Australians already indicated they are positive about is not the most responsible way of governing. This kind of “doing things for the small elite groups” practice is exactly why voters are revolting against established political entities. However, the continual refusal to learn and accept the world has change will continue to bring discontent to the society giving rise to unchecked blind nationalistic tendencies – and we all know what that could bring in 1914 and 1939.
Maybe as will all lifecycles, it is time for an end and a change but the question is “Does the world need to pay a hefty price for the change?” We study history to learn from the past but then at the moment learning is less important than staying in power for most political establishments. This kind of vicious old school and small circle sentiment is what is leading our society and voters making sometimes illogical decisions at polling stations.
Brexit is now a reality there is nothing to stop it. Pounds and stock market are crashing. Scotland is going to go for another round of independent vote to leave UK and stay in EU. Northern Ireland is looking for a way to secure its existence. Political unrest and economic costs are already kicking in and I do hope the voters in Britain now understood what they have done when this thin veil of nationalism finally got blown apart. It is up to the Brits to salvage what is left in their society but Australian politicians are the next up to face the music, and probably it won’t be a song they would like to hear. All I could say is the earlier they learn about what their jobs mean the higher the chance they can turn the Titanic around.
