BRIXIT - AND THE TALE OF THE DOG WITH THE BONE?

Many people will know of the story about the dog with the bone, who, while crossing a bridge over a river, looked down at the running water below and saw what he thought was a dog with a bigger bone, and made the decision to drop his and jumped into the river to retrieve the bigger bone, only to find that it has disappeared.

How was this dog to know that what it saw was only the reflection of the bone it grasped in its mouth, and that its aspiration for what it thought would have been an easier route to a bigger bone would have resulted in it losing what it had and ending up empty handed?

And so we have a similar situation  with the Brexiters arguing that Britain would be much better off by letting go of her end of the EU pie, as they cross the Bridge of Prosperity or Austerity, and jump into the River of the Unknown, in search of the Route of Plenty.

My guiding premis when it comes to politician is that they are not trustworthy and should not be trusted. That there are times when they are a necessary evil, but that the consumer of their politics should always beware of the fact that they are more than likely to be disappointed by them not fulfilling their promises.

The current referendum on whether Britain should remain in the European Union or come out of it, is something which the current Conservative Government has had to manage. Initially, it effectively presented an ultimatum to the EU, telling them, in effect, that if they failed to promise the British people what they, the British Government was demanding of the EU, they would support Britain leaving the EU. And what the Government, like the present Brexiters, want of the EU is for the Union to give the British people more value for the money they are contributing to the EU's budget, and more autonomy of how the British government governs its people and the country, without the bureaucratic interference of the EU Government.

The rest of the EU, in response to David Cameron's demands, made the tactical and strategic promises, which are now subjected to being considered and ratified by the disparate 27 odd members of the EU's Parliament. Remember what I have said about politicians being more than likely to disappoint over what they have promised; the same applies, probably even more so with regards to the effectively unaccountable politicians taking up valuable space in the corridors of the EU's Parliament in Brussels. That being as it may, David Cameron and the Britiners now have to convince the British electorate that it is in their best interest for Britain to remain in the EU.

Now, as I see it, this referendum is probably an occasion when, irrespective of the arguments which the politicians are making for staying in or coming out of the European Union, the people should make their decision on a 'common sense basis.' In doing so, they should asking themselves questions such as:

1. Why would you want to leave an organisation or Union when every eligible country wants to join it?

2. Why would you want to run towards the Cliff of the Uncertain and the Unknown, when all the relevant countries are running from it?

3. If you stood to lose your livelihood and your accommodation, if the Brexiters win the day and chaos follows, would you still vote to leave the EU?

4. Do you think that the countries which remain in the EU, if Britain votes to leave, would be nice and polite towards the British and supportive in helping them to make alternative trading, etc, arrangements, or do you think they are more likely to see the British as 'traitors' and 'arrogant elitists' and try to screw them for all they can get?
5. Do you not appreciate that the EU is bullying trading and supra political and economic cartel which will squeeze the life out of vulnerable non-member states, and that you need to be part of this sick organisation in order to try to change it?

So, as I see it, I am no friend of the EU; it is an empire which needs to be brought to heel, in order to make more beneficial to the people of the member states comprising it, instead of being a platform and instrument for the power crazy empire building political bureaucratic who loiter in its corridors. For this to happen, it needs joint and concerted action by the progressive member states, working in unison to 'democratise', efficientise, and radically reform this monster.  

Britain is no Saint George, and she cannot expect to defeat this dragon on her own, from outside its lair. She needs to remain in the European Union and fight to reform it.

OWOHROD