What the ever-loving fuck were you thinking?

[blamebrampton]

I know what it's like. I remember a couple of years back, spending weeks thinking 'Surely no-one could be stupid enough to vote for Tony Abbott?'

But the tragedy is that yes, they could, and the predictable disaster was even worse than we'd imagined.

What we learned from this is to never underestimate the lack of thought people can put into their vote, nor the stunning duplicity some political figures will practice in the service of their own self interest.

And while it is tempting to just look at the plummeting pound and adjust shopping and travelling plans, all the while cackling ruefully at the Leave voters who have been all over the news saying 'But I thought it was just a protest! I didn't think it would happen!' we should all learn from today.

I'm looking at you, Australia and the US. Ignore lies, ignore comedy, look to the social and economic futures of your countries and make your vote count rationally. And when it comes to economics, don't listen to anyone's smug words; look at the records, look at the numbers, look to the IMF and World Bank and your respective Treasuries, who are boring and more conservative than I would like, but who know the value of infrastructure and education.

I can't even be funny about any of this today. I have never seen such an appalling case of the older generations fucking the future of the young out of fear, self-interest and ignorance.

Comments

[birdsofshore]

I'm just so sad and angry and frustrated and ASHAMED. What must the world think of us? Oh god. I feel like I've massively betrayed my children, by allowing this to happen. And it's not like we can blame the government or the bankers... the British PEOPLE have done this to themselves and it's cripplingly hideously bad.

[alisanne.livejournal.com]

My fear?
That I will be echoing these exact same sentiments about our election come November.
Ugh, I feel nauseated. :(

[fantasyfiend09.livejournal.com]

This!! This is my fear!!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

My one hope is that watching the pound tank will be enough to say to the American people 'Hmmm, we might not want to do that to ourselves …'

I certainly hope that some of my fellow voters in Australia are watching closely and realising that is is what happens when you let a Conservatvive party pander to base racism.

[mama-pyjama.livejournal.com]

This. And all this for what? The Leave campaign yesterday admitted that they would still be happy for freedom of movement for labour, so immigration apparently no longer an issue, Farage's saying that the EU contribution would be extra money for the NHS was a mistake, sovereignty handed over to big business and cronies. 24 hours on and I am even more upset.

When it is fascists, dictators and Trump who congratulate us, we have fucked up.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

The only thing that I was relieved about was that I am slightly too young to be in the bracket that screwed everyone.

It reminded me of nothing so much as the arc of Thatcherism: at first you could see that everyone wanted to have a jolly good whinge. Then as things got more serious, half the country started to go 'hang on, this could end very badly', but we were left to be carried over the cliff by the group who refused to see anything beyond their perceived short term self-interest: the same group of people who complain like hell when they are expected to contribute to the social compact but are the first to scream whenever they lose out.

As I have said elsewhere, the stupidest thing is that the country was JUST climbing out of austerity back to growth and now, instead of wishing they'd jailed the bankers who caused the GFC, they've decided to run GFC redux, but this time performed by amateurs. Muppets.