Saints and Sinners—Brexit

Brexit is the other face of the refugee crisis—tensions that lead to stasis, external risks that lead to asymmetric shocks. —Emmanuel Macron, President of France

Oceans rise, empires fall—We have seen each other through it all. —King George III of England (from the play Hamilton, lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda)

Brexit? What is it and why should we care?                                                                                   
In June of 2016 the citizens of the United Kingdom voted to exit the European Union (EU).  Was it because of immigration issues fueled by the EU’s open borders, the EU’s monetary demands, globalization, fear of the EU’s encroachment on Britain’s national sovereignty, independence for Northern Ireland and Scotland, or all of the above?

As the Brexit resolution winds down to its October 31^st deadline, and the EU holds it Parliamentary elections later this week, we are left to ponder the consequences?

Saints and Sinners—(left to right)  Sir Isaac Newton, Queen Elizabeth II, Bronze Woman (commemorating the first public monument of a black woman [African-Caribbean] in England), William Shakespeare, Emmeline Pankhurst (leader of the British suffragette movement), Queen Elizabeth I, Mick Jagger (in the rafters), Henry VIII, Peter Pan, Charles Darwin, Princess Diana, Queen Victoria, Winston Churchill.
                                 
When we Americans look in the mirror do we see striking parallels with the UK?—The rise of nationalism, fear of immigration, economic insecurity, no confidence in the political establishment, anti-elitism, a proliferation of “fake news” on social media.

A tale of two countries—How do we move forward?   We ask the same question on both sides of the pond—How does a nation that was once a strategic world power pull itself together, regroup, and become relevant again? 

We need to reflect upon bygone dynasties and shaky democracies with a resolve to work toward the establishment of governing bodies that take into consideration the dignity, respect and best interests of its citizens—an optimistic roadmap as we move forward. 

Saints and Sinners

They spake not a word; But like dumb statues or breathless stones,

Star’d on each other, and look’d deadly pale.

                        —Shakespeare—Life and Death of King Richard III-Act 3, Scene 7

Everywhere you look they haunt the landscape—

Bronzed and patinaed—at rest in the sanctuary or floating in a cuppa tea—

constant reminders of an age past and the coming days of uncertainty.

The mundane, the downtrodden, the forgotten share their prescribed turf with the exalted, the revered, and the infamous all craning to take in their oxidizing air.

Walk the avenues of the past to learn who they were—what they accomplished—

and then turn the corner to find out who they fostered and who they vanquished

on their trail to reverence and infamy.

Shakespeare, Darwin, Newton and Peter Pan—Elizabeth, Victoria, Albert, Winston,

and Diana beside the Henrys, Edwards, Williams, and Richards,

once flesh and bones, now bronze and marble.

A life dedicated to accumulating wealth and power—

A life consecrated to a divine purpose—

Paths taken—roads traversed—                                                                                                        

journeys ended—signposts for posterity.                                             —Jeff Key, 2019