Gutted

I was very upset yesterday morning when I woke up to the news that the United Kingdom would be leaving the European Union. It feels surreal. It is not the same as an election where if you lose, there is the chance that you win the next election. The check of an opposition means only 4 or 5 years of distance can be put in place between where you would like society to head. This result is different. It feels like a break up. A divorce.

I know some divorces morph into lifelong friendships. I know some people are better off apart than together. That is not how I am feeling right now. Right now, I am swinging between anger and sadness. I am angry that people have been able to vote to take away something that is so important to so many people. This doesn't feel like the kind of democracy I want to believe in. This doesn't feel like something we discussed as a community and came to a solution that works for everyone. This feels like a battle that has been lost because the other side had more armed soldiers. A battle of our darker emotions where both sides have lost. This feels more like majority rule than one society finding common ground.

I tend to try make the best of things. I am sure I will do the same with this. Right now I am gutted. I don't know where I will choose to live. I don't know what I will choose to do. Yesterday was one of those big moments that shakes you to your very core. I believe in a world without borders. I don't believe in sovereignty. I believe in empowerment of people. There were issues with the European Union, but I think everyone needs to do some severe self reflection about what type of world we want to live in, and how we get there. 

Not only self-reflection. We need to stop only grouping into teams of people who agree with each other, and then arguing. We need to start venturing into the places where people are different. We need to gain the perspective of what is going on outside our very small worlds. We are part of a bigger world. It is not okay if that world is only defined by our fear of what happens to what we know. There are other people our decisions affect. There are other people who matter too. No one can vote to take away your Global Citizenship. It is yours. It always will be. But we need to work to deserve it. To see each other.

The next few months, the next few years, are all going to be very interesting. We have a lot of hard work ahead in breaking down bubbles and building communities. I believe we are Global Citizens. I believe we have a responsibility to each other. We are who we are through others.

Global Citizen