Opinion
On Article 50
We, as humans, have a tendency to think that whatever is happening to us at the time is THE WORST THING EVER. We are in the middle of a MELTDOWN LIKE NEVER BEFORE, writes Ellie Hyman
April 4, 2017 11:411 min read
We, as humans, have a tendency to think that whatever is happening to us at the time is THE WORST THING EVER. We are in the middle of a MELTDOWN LIKE NEVER BEFORE, writes Ellie Hyman
April 4, 2017 11:41Last Wednesday, Theresa May triggered article 50, meaning we are officially in the process of leaving the EU. Once again, as when the referendum results came in last summer, the entire country seemed to go into meltdown. This is the biggest disaster of our generation; our economy won’t recover for another 30 years; it’s the end of the world.
This seems to be a pattern. We, as humans, have a tendency to think that whatever is happening to us at the time is THE WORST THING EVER. We are in the middle of a MELTDOWN LIKE NEVER BEFORE.
People said exactly the same thing less than a decade ago: "we won’t recover from this recession until the next generation is working", they said. Yet here we are, the next generation, still in university or at the VERY beginning of our professional careers, and it seems like a thing of the distant past. People said exactly the same thing last summer: the pound will plummet, we will be alienated from Europe, we will fail as a country. Yet here we are. Still going on holidays to Europe, still holding EU passports.
And now, that we are officially leaving the EU, people are saying it again. Yet one of my best friends, studying Modern Foreign Languages at university, is still going to France and Italy on her year abroad next year (and I am rather jealous).
This isn’t a nuclear disaster. We have survived before, and we will survive again. But being the intrinsically self-important creatures that we are, it is nigh on impossible for us to maintain any sense of perspective or moderation in our perception of events. We like the drama – especially us as Jews!
Short of those who actually are seasoned economists, few of us genuinely know enough about the economy to be able to predict the impact that Brexit will have on us. History has taught us nothing if not that everything, including the economy, is cyclical; it goes in peaks and troughs and, just like every other hit that our economy has taken, it will recover.
However, watching the News at 10 seemingly gives everyone the authority and expertise to comment confidently on "the state of the economy". Have we not learned from the media’s portrayal of Israel that they are far from unbiased?
Things are rarely black and white, or as extreme as we may think. Brexit may not be the greatest thing for our country; but it may not be the worst. In fact, it might actually turn out to be a really fabulous thing. We don’t know. And it is manifestly clear that we are far past preventing it now. The only thing that will be able to tell us is letting it happen.
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