Nationalism as selfishness
Nationalism can cut across classes and income scales. While the narrative of the "left behind" has been popular for explaining Brexit, it does not account for the large numbers of middle and upper classes who also voted for the project. A simple revolt of the poorest in society would not have carried a majority in modern society, it needed support from many tiers. This is the essential blockade for explanations that focus on the idea that Brexit was a project for those who were downtrodden in society.
If we wish to seek a wider, more compelling explanation, then we should understand two things. Firstly that Brexit is a nationalist project and secondly that nationalism is selfish.
What does this mean? Nationalism as selfishness implies that what wealth we have, we wish to keep solely for ourselves. Nationalism rejects common endeavour and sharing of benefits. Instead it advocates going it alone and keeping all the spoils.
Whether wealthy or poor within Britain, the nationalist ideology convinced people from all classes that in the international community, Britain should act selfishly. It told people that we, as a country, were wealthy and that this wealth was being taken away from us. This was unfair and like a petulant child who refuses to share their toys, these people decided that they would rather go play alone if it meant they could everything. It is an act that says that those who have the most should keep it and those who have the least can be left to fend for themselves.
In this way, we see one of the ways in which nationalism is fundamentally poisonous to the human condition. While other perspectives seek to expand our circle of friendship, common feeling and brotherhood, nationalism always seeks to restrict it.
Proponents of nationalism will try to argue that it has an essentially benign character, that it is only about expressing a desire for self-governance. This is a con act. There are many forms of self-governance in a society. Nationalism is about restricting how that society is defined and shutting off anyone outside that definition from the benefits of society.
In the UK, Brexit nationalism is not an honest desire for democracy, but rather a selfish desire to kill off European society and hoard riches for ourselves, in open contempt of the poorer states of Europe, of our neighbours.
In the end, of course, the irony is that those who seek to hoard riches will only see them dwindle away. Much of Britain's wealth has been a product of common European endeavour. Far from having our exclusive property stolen, Europe's common good was being rightfully shared. It may only be too late that people learn the lesson that selfishness leaves you poorer, not richer.
If we wish to seek a wider, more compelling explanation, then we should understand two things. Firstly that Brexit is a nationalist project and secondly that nationalism is selfish.
What does this mean? Nationalism as selfishness implies that what wealth we have, we wish to keep solely for ourselves. Nationalism rejects common endeavour and sharing of benefits. Instead it advocates going it alone and keeping all the spoils.
Whether wealthy or poor within Britain, the nationalist ideology convinced people from all classes that in the international community, Britain should act selfishly. It told people that we, as a country, were wealthy and that this wealth was being taken away from us. This was unfair and like a petulant child who refuses to share their toys, these people decided that they would rather go play alone if it meant they could everything. It is an act that says that those who have the most should keep it and those who have the least can be left to fend for themselves.
In this way, we see one of the ways in which nationalism is fundamentally poisonous to the human condition. While other perspectives seek to expand our circle of friendship, common feeling and brotherhood, nationalism always seeks to restrict it.
Proponents of nationalism will try to argue that it has an essentially benign character, that it is only about expressing a desire for self-governance. This is a con act. There are many forms of self-governance in a society. Nationalism is about restricting how that society is defined and shutting off anyone outside that definition from the benefits of society.
In the UK, Brexit nationalism is not an honest desire for democracy, but rather a selfish desire to kill off European society and hoard riches for ourselves, in open contempt of the poorer states of Europe, of our neighbours.
In the end, of course, the irony is that those who seek to hoard riches will only see them dwindle away. Much of Britain's wealth has been a product of common European endeavour. Far from having our exclusive property stolen, Europe's common good was being rightfully shared. It may only be too late that people learn the lesson that selfishness leaves you poorer, not richer.
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