I don't really know what to say - I'm definitely not an expert and if you've stumbled across this blog post it's probably from Twitter, in which case you'll certainly have heard this all before, but I'm going to say it again. I need to say something and a tweet's not always long enough.
I am angry, I am sad, I am ashamed of and embarrassed for our country, and I am frustrated. When I heard the 7.30 am news bulletin on the radio it was like a punch in the stomach and I realised just how much I cared. It wasn't something I could just shake off, smile about and say "oh well", then get on with my day because this is it - we've left the EU and, despite some desperate attempts at petitions calling for a second vote, there's no going back.
This all feels too familiar. Last year after the general election (one I had convinced myself would end in a Labour victory) I felt defeated. I was in a slump for a long time until I realised that we had to carry on, be vocal and try again in 2020. The difference is, we don't get that option this time. This is it now: the campaign's over, we've left and now we have to work out how and where to go from here. I don't know where we go and the fact that we're the first country to opt out and go it alone (telling, isn't it?) means there's no one to guide us where to go either.
It's not even been 24 hours and already the downfall had begun. Politicians are backtracking on their lies and promises, the pound has vastly declined in value, David Cameron has resigned (I never thought I'd see the day where that wasn't something to celebrate), Scotland are having another vote on independence and there are questions over Jeremy Corbyn's position in Labour. We're falling apart and this is only day one.
I'm exhausted.
Since turning 18 I've had the opportunity to vote four times: twice locally, once in the general election and then yesterday. In that time my chosen candidate had been elected once - that was in the PCC election in 2012 and he's since lost his place. A tiny part of me is beginning to understand the people that say "I'm not voting, it won't make a difference", but I think yesterday shows that, even though it wasn't the result I'd hoped for, our votes do make a difference. There's no question that there should be electoral reform and we should do away with First Past the Post (because at least yesterday allowed us a vote that counted for the same as everyone else's, regardless of where we live) but either way we need to carry on being vocal and discussing. I don't think I'd realised until a couple of years ago that politics never stops, even outside of campaign time, and that's why it's exhausting.
The fact that my current Facebook and Twitter timelines are both full of EU chat shows that young people do care - no doubt about that. That's one good thing to come out of this - we're getting politicised and we're gearing up (including those under 18 that deserved to have a say in their future!) Yes, there have been a few narrow-minded people to unfriend on Facebook today but on the whole I get the impression of a generation that cares. We have been failed by the older generations - the ones that won't have to pick up the pieces or have to live and work in Britain postEU - but at least it looks like I'll always have a generation of likeminded peers and the hope that we can keep fighting together.
We might have to live through the President Trump and Boris Johnson PM years, but we'll come out the other side. Somehow.
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| Image source: dianekruger |
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