Divest from (stopping) Brexit

The Brexit hysteria has hit new highs (or lows) in the last couple of weeks, and it seems to be spreading: perfectly reasonable people who normally show only a passing interest in political affairs report stress and anxiety caused by the prospect of Brexit happening, or (less often, in my circles at least) not happening.

I think we've over-invested in Brexit, or stopping Brexit, and we ought to sell stock now for two reasons.

Firstly, we've invested far too much of our political and social vision into (preventing or ensuring) Brexit.  Some people seem to think that all our hopes for maintaining a liberal society, or a healthy economy, are tied to remaining in the EU; others are of the opinion that the only hope for shattering the neo-liberal consensus and bringing about real change lies in leaving the EU.  But remaining in the EU is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for liberalism or prosperity; and leaving the EU is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for changing the way we structure our society and economy.  We've invested far too much in this one thing, as if preventing/ensuring Brexit would bring about all our political and social dreams.

One upshot of this is that we can't help seeing people who disagree with us about the EU being enemies of everything we hold dear.  If preventing Brexit is invested with all the good of a liberal and open society in your mind, Leavers are necessarily racists, probably just downright evil.  At the very least they unthinkingly threaten everything.  If ensuring Brexit is invested with all your hopes for change, whether nostalgic or utopian or just philosophical change, then Remainers are a sneering elite who just want to circle the wagons and defend their privilege.  But none of these political and social positions necessarily follow from a position on Brexit.  Our hopes and dreams (and fears and nightmares) are far too heavily invested in this one thing.

Second, and this is a point specifically for the Christian, kingdoms and empires come and go.  Different ways of arranging societies and economies come into being and pass pretty rapidly into the history books.  Every political and social arrangement has some good about it, because society is God's idea and humans are not able to totally corrupt it.  Every political and social arrangement has some bad about it, because human society is the not the kingdom of heaven, and bears all the marks of sinful and broken humanity.  Of course the mixes are different, and some ways are clearly to be preferred to others, and in the nature of the case we can debate which is better when it comes to Leave or Remain, but we need to do so within the framework of a theology and an eschatology which knows that none of this is ultimate.

This isn't a glib way of saying there's nothing to worry about.  I see much to worry about whichever way things turn out in the next few weeks.  But let's dial it down a little bit, shall we?  Particularly if we're Christians, let's remember that there is more to (eternal) life.  Turn off the news, make a cup of tea, read your Bible.  And invest some more of your hopes in Jesus, who is surely coming soon, and not in (lack of) Brexit.