Imagine if all of Europe were united under a single flag. Imagine if we had a common demos and a political dialogue that was similar throughout. Imagine if there were a convergence of aims and culture. Imagine if one language were becoming the norm. Imagine if the majority of people sought to up sticks and live somewhere else in Europe. Imagine if social attitudes were broadly similar. Imagine if good governance were the standard throughout.
That is the EU that remainers think exists. And I suppose among the young in the capital cities of Europe, you can see why they might think that. London especially. Except that Poland is now moving to outlaw abortion. The Greek government is a kleptocracy even by African standards. Homophobia is rampant in Eastern Europe. Were the precious little darlings marching for the EU to actually make use of their right to free movement and go and parade their virtues in the provincial towns of Poland they would likely have bricks thrown at them. This liberal monoculture that remainers seem to think exists simply doesn't.
The fact is that Britain is not Poland. It's not backward illiberal Catholic country and that is why the best of their youth want to come here. A liberal country with a tolerant society. And that's good but the right to freedom of movement is an asymmetrical one since as a rule Brits don't want to move to less developed countries like Bulgaria, Romania and France. The people who do are those who can afford to - and the absence of freedom of movement has never been a serious barrier to those who wanted to.
And this is why Brexit isn't going to knock the UK of the top spot any time soon. People still want to come here so that they can do what they want to do and be who they want to be. It is that which makes the UK a leading creative economy. And that liberalism is not something the EU has done for Britain. Britain has been at the forefront of all of Europe's social and cultural revolutions in recent years.
So what we are seeing among the remainers is a projection. It is a projection of their own sense of moral superiority over those of us who voted to leave. Moreover, it is a chimera. The liberal united Europe they speak of does not exist in any sense. Our precious little darlings are using the EU to project a self-image. Europhilia is narcissism.
And that in some way goes toward explaining Brexit. The EU itself is a political vanity project - the imposition of an economic and social agenda on Europe without consultation or consent. It is built on the assumption that the little people are backward savages who need their liberal elites to tell them how to live. And you know, as someone not opposed to the values of tolerance and openness, I wouldn't mind all that much if it was actually working. But it isn't.
Liberal and tolerant societies evolve. They are not created. You cannot legislate for tolerance. You can only impose and enforce. And that is why the EU is more likely to send the process into reverse. Telling people that their cultures are inferior, and to an extent immoral, is a sure fire way to drum up opposition. The EU has never sought consent. It has used coercion and subversion to extend its tentacles throughout Europe. It has never sought to persuade. It has used every opportunity to rush the agenda. That can never work.
Ultimately it is prosperous and free countries that spawn open and tolerant people. The focus has to be on the creation of wealth. But even in that the EU has stalled. They are out of ideas. The world is seeing a growth in non tariff barriers and the EU shows no signs of being able to break the deadlock. Meanwhile social progress is going into reverse and the Eastern European states are increasingly looking inward for solutions. The EU has no real response to this except to maintain the illusion of unity. Thus the self-image, like that of the remainers, is totally at odds with reality.
This of course it not surprising. To even be employed by the EU or one of the many satellite organisations you must share the delusion. Reality does not intrude. One must be marinated in political correctness and share the ideas and aspirations of the NGOcracy - and in so doing have that same casual contempt for democracy and ordinary people. And that is why Brexit is such a grievous loss to the precious little darlings. It is a living embodiment of their own narcissism - and Brexit deprives them of their emotional comfort blanket.
This is why it suits remainers to believe the narrative that Britain is somehow devolving into an intolerant nationalism. For them the EU is the only vehicle imaginable in order to promote their so-called progressive values. A rejection of the EU is by proxy a rejection of them ergo the fault is ours, not theirs. What is that if not narcissism in its purest form?
If Europe is ever to be what remainers pretend it is, it will have to evolve without coercion. In this it will be through small increments created by people. A monolithic supreme government will always be alien to democracy. By removing the pretence that a united social Europe exists perhaps we might set upon building an authentic one.
In this I hesitate to use the word "millennials" but it does appear to be they who are most vocal remainers. Whenever these pathetic specimens speak to camera I see largely affluent, cosseted kids who have grown up in a sanitised environment and never once been exposed to adult realities. Their knowledge of the EU and its institutions is thin and they have never been taught anything beyond conformity.
This in some way explains the safe-space phenomenon. It stands to reason that they would prefer a remote corporate entity to manage European governance. Democracy by nature is messy and requires that people argue their case and seek to persuade. An orthodoxy cannot simply be imposed. And that is what frightens them the most - the idea that we might choose something different. They have so little faith in their own ideas that they need an authoritarian entity to keep democracy in check. This is how we sleepwalk into tyranny.
There is a lot to gain by maintaining close relations with the EU and the Brexit process will prove that divergence in most areas is neither possible nor desirable - but for once it will mean than those wanting things a certain way will have to argue their case. If ideas are as good as they say they are, let democracy be the judge. Brexit may not be the revolutionary catalyst many thought it would be but it is a sorely needed shock to the system. It's time these dismal miscreants rolled up their sleeves and started fighting for the world they want rather than waiting to be gifted one in their own image.
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