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There's been a recent influx of this sort of discussion in Britain. Most of it seems to be, at the core, the elites' (and those who would like to style themselv
by inops 8y ago
There's been a recent influx of this sort of discussion in Britain. Most of it seems to be, at the core, the elites' (and those who would like to style themselves as elites) attempts to justify their disillusionment with democracy, which the referendum result caused. It's amazing how quickly people turn on the idea of giving the everyman a say in government, when it gives them the result they don't like. The referendum was a rare example in Britain of where the result wasn't able to be hand-waved away, like is typical with FPTP elections. The result was so significant because it saw the majority of the public reject all the major parties' platforms on the issue, and --I think-- undermined the pretenses of a lot of those in power, who like to frame themselves as being "of the people". Hence the disillusion.
A lot of the discussion reminds me of the arguments put forward by the hereditary peers in the late 90s, before most of them were chucked out of the House of Lords: that their experiences and positions in society made them uniquely able to make important decisions about the country. It's all rather ironic.
- dageshi 8y agoI think in addition there's a more visceral reason as well. It's the first time in a long time that a decision taken by the populace will adversely affect the "elite" directly. People who have done very well out of EU integration will suddenly find themselves actually having to figure out what to do without it. Most of them are wealthy and will be able to adapt, but for the first time in a long time they haven't been insulated from the consequences of public opinion.
- tonyedgecombe 8y agoI suspect the wealthy will be fine and it will be the poor who suffer if there is any suffering to be done.
- AnimalMuppet 8y agoIronically, it was (some of) the elites who decided to hold the referendum. So they should be disillusioned with their own crowd as well.
- inops 8y agoIndeed, but the Tory victory at the 2015 election was a surprise to everyone. Tory High Command likely thought another coalition with the Liberal Democrats would have allowed them to scribble out that line of their election manifesto with a coalition agreement.