The Triumph of Democracy!

A Question on Quora: Isn't the Brexit a proof that democracy may not produce the best decisions? Does the Brexit vote illustrate the failings of direct democracy?

The answer by Ozgur Zeren:

Best decision for whom?

For the lucky minority middle and upper middle classes in London, its a horrible decision.

Its a horrible decision for the multinational financial interests who were using London as a backdoor to do whatever they want in EU free market without having to obey many of its regulations.

But for the working class in counties? Whose jobs were indeed being taken over by immigrant labor from EU free market as immigrants are willing to work for lower wages until they set up a family or bring their own? No argument of ‘doing your job better’ can be used in that case to argue against it.

Neoliberal free markets do not enable free roaming of labor just to provide variety in workforce. It is done to lower labor costs by attracting immigration. EU free roaming of labor is no different.

This could have been tolerable for the working class in Britain’s rural areas, if the same neoliberal governments who were bestowing the benefits of a 500 million people free roaming labor pool to their corporate backers weren’t also crippling, cutting, killing and privatizing social services, benefits, healthcare and education. These are the only things which can cushion the impact of frequent job loss waves in a neoliberal free market - for locals and immigrant alike. But all of these had been going away, to provide for tax breaks and benefits to very corporations that enjoy a big and cheap labor market - mainly a clique concentrated around Westminster.

So?

Lose your job, lose your benefits, your children lose their free education, they are even trying to cut pensions?

What is there to show for the working class in regard to benefits of EU?

Going to Paris every few years for a short vacation easily? Except they can’t since they don’t have the money.

Going to work abroad in Poland, Italy or Greece? Except there aren’t jobs there - they are coming to Britain or Germany.

EU rules and regulations protecting Britain from total destruction by multinational corporations? It’s already there, since Britain pushed so many exceptions and exemptions for itself.

Thus, working classes voted properly in accordance with their interests per democracy. That their interests do not overlap with the interests of the luckier segments which favored remain, does not make exiters’ choice any less valid.

Incidentally, Scotland voted to remain as well - but thanks to a strong social democratic political spectrum (mainly SNP) protecting Scots from most of the neoliberal disaster that Tories brought upon England and Wales as SNP protected Scotland’s NHS, social programs, social services, Scottish working class is not feeling the pain as much as the English working class.

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Arguments can be made regarding how Britain’s export market will shrink, economy will get a hit, pound will fall, and many things.

However, if you think realistically, few of these have any relevance to working class in the shires. They are unemployed, they are losing their social services, free education, benefits,anyway.

And the ~100 billion something pounds which was lost in financial markets in London has little relevance to them - they did not have any stake in that money, and that extremely-financialized virtual economy had little to do with actual jobs in the shires anyway.

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So its the ages old neoliberal conundrum - implement free trade zones, free roaming labor to make use of cheap labor, provide tax breaks to your corporations by cutting social services, financialize the economy and make fast trillions while cutting actual investment in physical goods and services, turn a country into scorched land…

…then complain about democracy when people do not agree with what you are doing.

French aristocracy who were out of touch with their own nation just before French Revolution comes to mind. They were unable to understand why those rowdy, uneducated, ignorant masses were restless. It was so inexplicable. That the luxury and comforts they were enjoying were not a reality outside their minority circle escaped them to great extent, and they couldnt get into touch with the reality outside their world either.

And no, the percentage of educated, multilingual young population which is able to leave their own land and work abroad in Europe somewhere, having voted to remain does not make an argument. They constitute the lower recesses of the privileged class, the free education system which enabled them with that education despite their parents’ meager means is going away. And the fact that they have to go abroad to be able to find jobs instead of finding one in Britain tells volumes about the situation for the ordinary man in Britain a lot by itself.

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First thing to understand about democracy is that your reality, your experience, your situation may not be shared by others. And no amount of reinforcing of any bias by corporate media or established institutions changes that.