Brexit

A message from Brian Eno on Brexit day...

To my European friends

I just wanted to tell you that, although my country has made the insane, childish and probably suicidal decision to leave Europe, I remain proud to be a European, and proud of the great social experiment that the EU represents. In my mind, I’m still in Europe, and that is where I will stay. For England it’s all over now, and the next generations will judge the results.

But I’m writing because I want to tell you what happened to England.

There were all the systemic ingredients you probably know about – a corrupt and deceitful press owned by a handful of very rich people; an absurd and carefully nurtured illusion about England’s Imperial past; a media establishment that thrives on attention and clicks and therefore amplifies the political chances of entertainers like Trump and Johnson; a social media ecosystem which drives polarisation rather than compromise, and a series of undistinguished leaders who apparently understood nothing of any of these systemic issues.

But there was something else too, and this is the point of this letter: those of us who call ourselves liberals or socialists or democrats weren’t paying attention. Most of us didn’t notice that for working people conditions were becoming bleaker every year. And we didn’t notice that the gutter press was relentlessly directing the blame for those conditions towards the victims – the immigrants, the poor, the social workers, the teachers, the foreigners…and most of all, the EU.

We didn’t notice because for us life wasn’t too bad – we all had our iPhones and apps and Amazon accounts and cheap flights to seasides and other ways of wasting our time. Meanwhile there was a revolution going on.

We didn’t recognise the revolution because we always thought it was us who were supposed to be the revolutionaries. The revolution happened, and we were sitting on our backsides watching Netflix.

I’m pretty confident that your countries too will soon face Exit campaigns – if they haven’t already. The EU is an easy target for any ambitious politician: Want to become a big name in politics? Identify a problem, blame it on the EU, and then ride the Nationalist horse with all the help the media can (and inevitably will) give you.

Please, my friends in Europe – don’t make the stupid mistakes we made. Don’t just laugh at people like Trump and Johnson and all the others, because soon they will eat you. If we want a unified Europe to survive, we need to be defending it now. Talking about it. Thinking about it. Making it better. Making it work.

Best of luck to you all and hope to see you again in a generation or two.

diem25.org/a-message-from-brian-eno-on-brexit-day-and-a-reply/

His article is a way of expressing his regret that things had come to this and, more importantly, the warning to other countries not to be complacent...

....this is the point of this letter: those of us who call ourselves liberals or socialists or democrats weren’t paying attention. Most of us didn’t notice that for working people conditions were becoming bleaker every year. And we didn’t notice that the gutter press was relentlessly directing the blame for those conditions towards the victims – the immigrants, the poor, the social workers, the teachers, the foreigners…and most of all, the EU.

We didn’t notice because for us life wasn’t too bad


People in debt? Or on zero hours contracts? Or on benefits? Jetting off abroad? And buying iPhones?

If that were true why the massive rise in foodbanks, the 165% increase in homelessness, about a quarter of Britons living in poverty, and about a third of children etc?

Why does anyone require a warning from anyone?

A significant percentage of the population is unable to afford foreign holidays, smart phones and even sufficient food - despite everyone you know having access to all of the above

Instead of "well-observed and heartfelt", I'd say it was predictable and clichéd. I knew exactly what he'd say before he said it. Virtually all celebrities appear to hold exactly the same views these days.

Is Eno a celebrity?

Not a term I'd use to describe him

Wikipedia suggests...an English musician, record producer, visual artist, and theorist best known for his pioneering work in ambient music and contributions to rock, pop, and electronica

His obituary will be a bit more impressive than whoever is on the cover of OK magazine this week (guessing Philip Schofield)

The referendum result was broadly decided along lines of career achievement and educational attainment. Broadly speaking it was the disenfranchised who were pro Leave and receptive to the Leave message. People who have achieved some degree of success in life are more likely to be pro EU - so no suprise that your average successful individual with a public profile (like Eno) is pro-Europe and pro-EU.