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| My older companions won’t fess up to their role in Brexit vote | My older companions won’t fess up to their role in Brexit vote |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| “Look, they didn’t bother to vote … can’t blame it on us … they all went to Glastonbury …” | “Look, they didn’t bother to vote … can’t blame it on us … they all went to Glastonbury …” |
| Our EU postmortem has been going on for weeks, at the cafe, after bingo, in the common room. We’ve been in the firing line from the moment they published the age breakdown of votes, which showed the leave campaign won because we crumblies voted to quit. Since then, the media has been in our face and our grandchildren on our conscience. | Our EU postmortem has been going on for weeks, at the cafe, after bingo, in the common room. We’ve been in the firing line from the moment they published the age breakdown of votes, which showed the leave campaign won because we crumblies voted to quit. Since then, the media has been in our face and our grandchildren on our conscience. |
| Yet it’s clear from these conversations that most of my elderly companions remain in denial. They refuse to fess up that it was down to us, and with every passing week “it” becomes less and less acceptable. The damage is everywhere, not just to the younger generation but across the board, across the globe. When they write the history of this time, there will be no getting away from the fact that this is my generation’s legacy. | Yet it’s clear from these conversations that most of my elderly companions remain in denial. They refuse to fess up that it was down to us, and with every passing week “it” becomes less and less acceptable. The damage is everywhere, not just to the younger generation but across the board, across the globe. When they write the history of this time, there will be no getting away from the fact that this is my generation’s legacy. |
| “My carer said she was really scared … mine had been told to go back to Romania …” | “My carer said she was really scared … mine had been told to go back to Romania …” |
| That’s the other ghost at the feast. Increasingly, it transpires that the issue which swayed it was immigration, and – intentionally or not – we had a hand in that. After all, we do grumble about the health and care services; it goes with the grey territory, so we provide some of the anecdotes that get blown up into full-scale xenophobia by the Daily Malaise. | That’s the other ghost at the feast. Increasingly, it transpires that the issue which swayed it was immigration, and – intentionally or not – we had a hand in that. After all, we do grumble about the health and care services; it goes with the grey territory, so we provide some of the anecdotes that get blown up into full-scale xenophobia by the Daily Malaise. |
| “But they lied to us … all a bit of a game … especially the media …” | “But they lied to us … all a bit of a game … especially the media …” |
| It was genuinely difficult for my generation to separate the ideological wheat from the rhetorical chaff. We are gullible. And vulnerable. In a world being transformed electronically, its old values vanishing, the new agenda incomprehensible, we are adrift on a sea of doubt. And fear. | It was genuinely difficult for my generation to separate the ideological wheat from the rhetorical chaff. We are gullible. And vulnerable. In a world being transformed electronically, its old values vanishing, the new agenda incomprehensible, we are adrift on a sea of doubt. And fear. |
| As each new day brings some fresh ache, we become suckers for any scam that promises a restoration of “the old days”. It may not make any personal sense, but something deep down in our DNA makes us retreat into the sovereignty of the tribe, even though its leaders conduct affairs like a pantomime. | As each new day brings some fresh ache, we become suckers for any scam that promises a restoration of “the old days”. It may not make any personal sense, but something deep down in our DNA makes us retreat into the sovereignty of the tribe, even though its leaders conduct affairs like a pantomime. |
| So rather than beat ourselves up for what was understandable misjudgment, let’s concentrate on making amends. We can start by moderating the demands we make, especially for the various benefits like TV licences, bus passes and winter fuel allowances. Certainly, there are some who are in genuine need, but the vast majority of elderly people can easily do without them. Our local Lions club, for instance, acted as honest brokers for pensioners willing to forgo their fuel allowances to pass them on to families in real deprivation. | So rather than beat ourselves up for what was understandable misjudgment, let’s concentrate on making amends. We can start by moderating the demands we make, especially for the various benefits like TV licences, bus passes and winter fuel allowances. Certainly, there are some who are in genuine need, but the vast majority of elderly people can easily do without them. Our local Lions club, for instance, acted as honest brokers for pensioners willing to forgo their fuel allowances to pass them on to families in real deprivation. |
| Perhaps though it’s a matter of attitude. | Perhaps though it’s a matter of attitude. |
| “I’m not sure we should even have been allowed to vote” was one dissenting voice from the chorus of denial at our post-bingo conversations. | “I’m not sure we should even have been allowed to vote” was one dissenting voice from the chorus of denial at our post-bingo conversations. |
| You are unlikely to hear a politician express such reservations, but the reality is that the decision to leave the EU was won by a section of the population that was effectively disqualified by its declining competence. Our heads find it difficult to navigate our way through the daily round of personal housekeeping, let alone global economics. Our hearts are too easily seduced by honeyed lies. But, above all, we won’t be around to taste their bitter truth. | You are unlikely to hear a politician express such reservations, but the reality is that the decision to leave the EU was won by a section of the population that was effectively disqualified by its declining competence. Our heads find it difficult to navigate our way through the daily round of personal housekeeping, let alone global economics. Our hearts are too easily seduced by honeyed lies. But, above all, we won’t be around to taste their bitter truth. |
| Renunciation should be the order of our day – it is time for us elders to incorporate the sell-by-date ethos into our political engagement, to recognise that the convictions of the day before yesterday are increasingly irrelevant to today’s decisions that construct tomorrow’s world. As we will not be around tomorrow, perhaps we should confine our role to consultant rather than executive in its formation. | Renunciation should be the order of our day – it is time for us elders to incorporate the sell-by-date ethos into our political engagement, to recognise that the convictions of the day before yesterday are increasingly irrelevant to today’s decisions that construct tomorrow’s world. As we will not be around tomorrow, perhaps we should confine our role to consultant rather than executive in its formation. |