I don't think it's arrogant to expect people to do at least 10 minutes of research before they cast a vote on something so incredibly important, and we *both* know that a lot of people didn't; enough to have made a difference. But in any case it wasn't my intention to come across that way. Look, I live in Clacton on Sea. It's UKIP central. Our town, and our wider area Tendring, voted roughly 70% in favour of leaving, constituting around 10% of the margin by which Leave won the vote (my town; around 4%). I'm not gonna say that of that 70% everyone was uninformed, or racist. But you don't have to go very far around here to find it.Ostermilk wrote: Absolute undemocratic arrogant thinking. So the majority don't share your view therefore it's because they are thick?
The Nigerian doctor at my GP still gets funny looks (I overheard the couple in front of me joking that he ought to have a bone through his nose just a couple of months ago). People around here openly say "we've gotta get the P*kis out, we're half full of them" apparently not realising that Pakistan is neither in the EU nor is it interchangeable with the multitude of other nationalities that makes up our whopping <5% migrant population. It was perfectly acceptable in the social club on my road for a table of old craggy Londoners to say openly, to me and my slightly dark skinned father, that our village is called Little London because "we all moved out when the n*ggers moved in". If I said a quarter of the people around here were somewhere on the spectrum of casual racism - enough so to influence their vote - I think that'd be a fair, if conservative estimate. Now extrapolate that across all of the depressed towns and counties across the UK and you've got a big chunk of people.
Add to that anyone who took Vote Leave at face value - yes, those people exist - and you've got another few thousand people. I'm not saying a vote for Leave was, in and of itself, a vote for ignorance or racism. But ignorance and racism helped win it. Or am I wrong to say that? Maybe I've been jaded by 20+ years of living in the company of some very unpleasant people. I just don't know any more.
And ya know, I was on the fence myself. I saw good reasons to stay, and good reasons to leave, swayed slightly towards remain/reform because I'm a big dumb rosy optimist...sometimes. But I fully acknowledge that there were risks associated with staying in a failing economic union. Maybe a Brexit was always inevitable, as will be a Grexit and a...Spexit..Frexit? I just hate that this victory has served to embolden some truly regressive, nasty elements in our society. And I openly admit it's colouring my feelings on the matter.
But I didn't mean to come across as arrogant, or undemocratic. I believe in democracy. But it only works when the people are informed. This time, I don't think they were (sufficiently).