I don’t think one should be labelled a ‘rebel’ merely by disagreeing with someone or something or even the loudest opinion or dominating viewpoint, which is exactly what those who are branded ‘remainers’ are called, and derogatorily so… it’s become and now used as an insult, even a threat, and is irresponsible, if not a little puerile, as it can have and has had the result of inflaming and inciting acts of belittling, bullying, violence and even murder and yet not only are newspapers and other media, in particular the right-wing press and tabloids, but also so-called responsible politicians and others holding high positions of influence and authority… such is the language of the sinking ship Brexit and the whole debacle surrounding it that the ripple effects are becoming ever-evident and increasingly felt by the day, even by the Tweet…… it’s feeding a negative politic and bellicose discourse dominated by knee-jerk reactionaries to the degree as to make confrontation the norm, making aggression a default setting…… alternative and even directly oppositional views are essential to any discussion and debate in avoiding disintegrating into extremism, echo-chambers and the right-wing agendas which are under Brexit becoming the only gig in town suffocating the issue doing little more than compounding and promoting one misunderstanding after another and further misleading the already misinformed further into ignorance rather than out of it…… inevitably this may be the intention of those who have self-styled themselves as ‘leavers’… alongside this a new polarity has evolved in the rhetoric in seeing rebels as ‘idealists’ and leavers and ‘realists’ which again leans heavily upon propaganda over facts, hyperbole over considered debate… remainers have been further coined ‘re-moaners’ and accused of going against “the will of the people” which again serves the interests of those whose only interest is almost divide and conquer, cleave a rift between the two sides ever wider and unbridgeable with increased (un)helpings of antagonistic wordplay… it also plays into the hands of the simplistic scenario of good vs evil and by being at the wrong end of a pointy finger stands you accused of “going against the will [so-called] of the people” placing you firmly on the side equated to that of a traitor, another term found carelessly-strewn through speeches and headlines …… it fails to consider another crucial factor, whether or not these long two years after the referendum, during which time it’s more has been exposed of the smoke and mirrors, lies, lies and damn lies that was involved in influencing a ‘leave’ vote with what worryingly passed as ‘campaigning’ during the few short months prior to the vote, whether or not it still genuinely reflected aspirations, especially those which were even at the time starkly and closely split down the middle and that it still hasn’t been enacted… another misconception is that the debate is simplistically split between two opposing camps, both of which have overlaps and in-fighting along with which are a number of other opinions and approaches to Brexit, including those who were more in favour of amending the European Union relationship and not entirely abandoning it outright…… it is not a simple black and white, good and evil, right and wrong, as those too lazy to engage their brains want to believe and those with something to hide would prefer, not a ‘divorce’ nor “reclaiming sovereignty over our borders”, yet another ill-judged, ill-advised, jingoistic catchphrase, it’s essentially a mess, a mass of contradictions, a mass distraction, misleading delusion, a sleight of hand.
© 2018 robert greig
