Whilst you all vote (our kind proxy dispatched) we observe nervously from afar, pleased not to be too close to the infuriating 'debate' but anxious to see the outcome.
Without making this too political a post, one of the things that seems to have been remarkably absent from the debate is the fact that this vote is also an expression of our attitude towards the broader international community and the relationship that we, as a nation, want to have with it. And by that I mean what are our values and principles in relation to other nations and people, not purely the economics (which are being given plenty of ambiguous air time).
I was prompted to think about that as we crossed the border from Nicaragua to Costa Rica yesterday and witnessed some of the impact, from thousands of miles away, of the European 'immigration crisis'. Once on the Costa Rican side, where there is no real border town to speak of, we came across lots of young people gathering on the street, outside what limited tiendas and restaurants there were. We have established a tradition of having food as soon as we cross the border as a way to acclimatise, suss out how much a feed costs, and generally take in our new surroundings, but we found ourselves unable to identify anywhere as all the options had enough people apparently loitering outside to make us too nervous to leave our bikes.
These were largely young people, and nearly all black. At first this wasn't an indicator that they were African as Costa Rica has a sizeable black population (8%) largely based along its caribbean coast, but also in the northern peninsular that the border crossing enters. As we rode out of town I looked to my left and through a gate into a field I saw what looked to me like some sort of transient camp.
Later, we read a number or articles by local journalists, and that is exactly what it was, a fledgling camp of migrants. What was more surprising was that it was filled with people from Africa; Congolese, Senegalese, Ghanaian for whom Nicaragua has, without explanation, suspended the right to enter. The journalists report that many of these people are young adults, including a number of pregnant women, who, well aware of the situation in Europe, are instead making their way, by way of boat to Brazil and then overland (including some passages on foot) through South and Central America, legally and illegally, to the United States.
I am obviously no expert in what these flows of people normally look like, but what is apparent, is that changing circumstances in Europe are directly contributing to policy in Central America, that that flow is now being stemmed, and that the people that constitute it are finding themselves without means to move forward, camped in a field in the town of Peñas Blancas in northern Costa Rica.
What does this all have to do with the referendum on Brexit? Only that, as we saw crossing that border, we live in a deeply global world, and that the decisions nations make are deeply interconnected. Without any presumption as to what the right or wrong answer might be for the people in Peñas Blancas, we should think hard about how we act as a nation within that knotted web. The act of divorcing ourselves from the union might be being portrayed as a simple act seeking to close our pockets to our neighbours but we should think about its implications for our broader relationships with our fellow citizens of the world. I for one, think it's important that we don't close our ears and eyes to our neighbours and friends.
Without making this too political a post, one of the things that seems to have been remarkably absent from the debate is the fact that this vote is also an expression of our attitude towards the broader international community and the relationship that we, as a nation, want to have with it. And by that I mean what are our values and principles in relation to other nations and people, not purely the economics (which are being given plenty of ambiguous air time).
I was prompted to think about that as we crossed the border from Nicaragua to Costa Rica yesterday and witnessed some of the impact, from thousands of miles away, of the European 'immigration crisis'. Once on the Costa Rican side, where there is no real border town to speak of, we came across lots of young people gathering on the street, outside what limited tiendas and restaurants there were. We have established a tradition of having food as soon as we cross the border as a way to acclimatise, suss out how much a feed costs, and generally take in our new surroundings, but we found ourselves unable to identify anywhere as all the options had enough people apparently loitering outside to make us too nervous to leave our bikes.
These were largely young people, and nearly all black. At first this wasn't an indicator that they were African as Costa Rica has a sizeable black population (8%) largely based along its caribbean coast, but also in the northern peninsular that the border crossing enters. As we rode out of town I looked to my left and through a gate into a field I saw what looked to me like some sort of transient camp.
Later, we read a number or articles by local journalists, and that is exactly what it was, a fledgling camp of migrants. What was more surprising was that it was filled with people from Africa; Congolese, Senegalese, Ghanaian for whom Nicaragua has, without explanation, suspended the right to enter. The journalists report that many of these people are young adults, including a number of pregnant women, who, well aware of the situation in Europe, are instead making their way, by way of boat to Brazil and then overland (including some passages on foot) through South and Central America, legally and illegally, to the United States.
I am obviously no expert in what these flows of people normally look like, but what is apparent, is that changing circumstances in Europe are directly contributing to policy in Central America, that that flow is now being stemmed, and that the people that constitute it are finding themselves without means to move forward, camped in a field in the town of Peñas Blancas in northern Costa Rica.
What does this all have to do with the referendum on Brexit? Only that, as we saw crossing that border, we live in a deeply global world, and that the decisions nations make are deeply interconnected. Without any presumption as to what the right or wrong answer might be for the people in Peñas Blancas, we should think hard about how we act as a nation within that knotted web. The act of divorcing ourselves from the union might be being portrayed as a simple act seeking to close our pockets to our neighbours but we should think about its implications for our broader relationships with our fellow citizens of the world. I for one, think it's important that we don't close our ears and eyes to our neighbours and friends.
Unfortunately the debate has been very narrow.. as if the only way to make people vote "your way" is to scare them, either over the economy or over immigration. There is no room for a wider story, which means it is a very impoverished debate. However, I think that's how people think the voters respond .. if you scare them enough, they'll vote for you.. nothing to do with principles, the effect on the wider community (whether local, inside the UK or outside the UK). 'Twas ever thus.. when it comes down to it, how many people actually vote with their principles [despite what they might tell the pollsters, friends etc] rather than with their self-interest?
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