Brexit - Leaving is Always Painful

There may be thousands and thousands of people who understand the complex negotiations that Britain is having with the EU as it tries to navigate itself out of the union. I am sure there are thousands and thousands of pages being written to both educate the masses and to explain the subtle nuances to economists. To be clear - I am not one of those who understand nor am I likely to ever understand.

The simplest explanation appears to be: Great Britain agreed to be part of a common market, that is - a collection of countries that allowed the free movement of people and goods across much of Europe with a minimal amount of red tape and cost. The less than bright politicians in London decided to hold a binding referendum on whether or not Britain should stay in the union, they lost control of the process, a small majority voted to leave the union and the government has spent the last 18 or so months trying to find a way to leave the union without losing all of its benefits.

To suggest that the negotiations have not gone as smoothly as some Britons thought they would is an understatement. It appears as if some believed that Britain go back to the way things were before the common market process was developed and at the same time, that they could keep all of the benefits of that partnership. That is - all of the challenging aspects such as having the free flow of people into Britain, having competing continental European products sold in Britain or having an European Parliament making decisions that affect Britain would go away but that British citizens would still be able to work and travel in other countries without difficulty, that British products could be easily and cheaply exported to other European countries and that Britain would have access to collective dispute resolution processes. In other words Britain still wanted to be a player - they just did not want to join the team.

It appears as if this fantasy of having one's cake and eating too is not shared by the negotiators or leaders of the other member countries. At least some of the British seemed to be surprised at this. They somehow assumed that while they wanted to have more control who lived and worked in Britain - they thought that other countries should be quite happy to have some Brits working there. They believed that all of the advantageous trades - that is trades that were advantageous to Britain would continue but they could control what products came into the country. "It ain't going to happen."

It is unfair to blame to suggest that there is a singularity of public opinion, that all of the British want to leave the EU. In fact, it is quite clear that there are many who do not. Even within the British Parliament there are numerous opinions as to what Britain should do - including having another referendum. It must make the negotiations even more difficult when amongst one own political party there are views, publically broadcasted, that are different than the leader's. This is a mess, none-the-less, of Britain's own making. It is based on the assumption that people deserve more, that one can leave partnerships and still maintain the same benefits, that one does not have to contribute to the common good if one wants to benefit from that common good.

The vote to leave the EU is emblematic of a culture that is inherently self-centred - of seeing itself as the centre of the universe and all others should be subservient to its needs. The vote reflected a people's inability to see past their own needs and to consider the greater public good. It demonstrated a shocking lack of concern about the upcoming generations and what the world will look like for them. Britons now have two options - one is to become humble and to beg for forgiveness from their fellow members of the EU - to say that they had a moment of insanity but it has passed or to accept that as with any separation between two partners - both sides lose a little and unfortunately one side may lose more than just a little.