Post Brexit And Play

The Importance Of Play

There's something about the French that I've been struggling to put into word for years, such as why I enjoy village festivities and the social life here so much: some core characteristic that appeals to me. The answer came to me when I was shaving a few mornings ago. (It's surprising how many insights come when one is shaving, having a bath or shower or sitting on the loo, maybe because the brain then needs something to occupy it. I think it is quite a common experience.) Anyway, I remembered reading a travel article years ago about some French resort in which the author wrote: “The French at play are a heart-warming sight; the French know how to play”.

That is key for me. The same may be true of some other cultures (the Balinese come to mind) and the reason I find it a key characteristic is that I am British and we Brits are not that good at play. Maybe it is our Calvinistic heritage that inhibits us but inhibited we certainly are. At play we tend to be self-conscious, awkward and slightly embarassed. In order to play whole-heartedly we feel the need first to shed these inhibitions, which is probably why Brits on holiday so often get drunk and unpleasant.

A S Neill, progenitor of Summerhill school, always insisted on the fundamental importance of play, saying that it was not the opposite of time at school spent learning but, indeed, key to learning, to learning how to become a social animal in a democratic society. Paradoxically, it was the British Victorians who first thought of the usefulness of play in school time and brought it into school time-tables in the form sport. But they regarded it as a character-forming exercise of another sort, instilling discipline, courage, endeavour, etc, following rules rather than eschewing them: a very Calvinistic form of play. Neill's version of play was the diametric opposite.

Anyway, for me, the French have the answer, a form of play that is uninhibited but neither hedonistic nor alcohol-fuelled and out of control. That is what I enjoy.

Post Brexit

I am very reluctantly coming to accept that the Brexit decision will most probably be final and I detect that many other commentators with similar preferences are coming to the same conclusion. Speculating on outcomes (sic) will be the big media game over the next few months so here is my first cut at it. (It's raining and there is no football on TV this afternoon so I'm in writing mode.)

My objective reasons for wanting Remain to win (excluding personal convenience) were partly adherence to the ideal of a united Europe with Britain in it, albeit a Europe of a somewhat different sort to that sought by the Commission, and partly economic; I believed, and still do, that the UK economy would be far stronger within the EU than outside it. There is also a side-effect which I very much hope is unwanted by all but a tiny minority, so let's deal with that first.

The side-effect is racism. A minority (very small, I frevently hope) in the UK have taken the Brexit result to mean it's open house on race hatred. A 57% increase in race-related crime has been reported over the last 10 days. This may be short-lived but will only be so if the authorities crack down exceedingly hard on it. Will they or will xenophobia rule? If the latter is the case, I shan't want to know the UK any more.

The united Europe ideal still holds for me even without the UK so I hope the EU doesn't disintegrate. I never bought the idea that the EU stopped war in Europe. After World War 2 no country in Europe was in a state to declare war on another and, indeed, there was a considerable incentive to present a united front against Russia. Also, the EU did and could do nothing about the subsequent war in the Balkans, which happen to be in Europe. I do believe, though, that the EU has helped provide a solid platform for peace and does so also for close cooperation between countries on numerous fronts. All that can only be good.

However, if the EU is to hold together there will have to be important reforms. In particular, it has to get a grip on immigration. There is too much discontent in the remaining 27 countries to avoid disintegration without reform. Leaving the euro aside, although that will have to be reformed too, I expect far more input from elected representatives one way or another and a curbing of the powers of the Commission. The dreamers can dream on but will be called to account by European electorates. An obvious and fairly painless reform is to allow all EU countries the kind of opt out clauses the UK has and probably some more, bringing about a kind of mixed-speed Europe. Integration would be piecemeal, varying on different matters from country to country.

In the near future, for the UK certainly, for the EU probably and maybe globally there will be an economic downturn. That's easy to say as it is already happening. The question for the UK is how deep and for how long the recession will go. I don't expect dramatic economic consequences yet but I do expect a continuous weakening of the UK economy, in particular if the government sticks on wanting tight border controls. That would be a double whammy. The World Bank, etc, have already stated reduced immigrant input as one reason for downgrading the UK's economic status and lack of a trade agreement with the EU would certainly be another.  I expect a large number of jobs to be lost over time as business centres gradually move out of the UK and fewer new jobs to be created. That must mean less public spending and higher taxes, as George Osborne has already pointed out, to make up the deficit. It's surely a survivable but not a rosy prospect. The UK could and probably would join EFTA (European Free Trade Association), comprising the European countries outside the EU but that is hardly an economic group of any importance. If (there are going to be lots of “ifs” over the next few months) Denmark and Sweden also get pissed off with the EU, opt out and join EFTA, then that would be better, although the EU will certainly take steps to counter this. So the economic situation is survivable but still not rosy.

The immigration issue is key. Get that wrong and not just the UK but the whole of Europe could be in for a long hard winter.

That is my initial reading of the likely outcome of Brexit. It would be helped if we had any politicians of staure to get us through the mess but, currently, the UK is a would-be great nation led by political pygmies with only more pygmies to replace them.