For people in the UK, the stomach-churning mess and disgrace of Brexit, as it runs on and on from climax to climax – no “climax” really seeming to shift anything substantial – can sometimes seem the only show in town, a bit like a very serious illness in a family member. For those closely connected, the illness makes the rest of life seem to recede.
But actually Brexit can be highly misleading in that regard. You can begin to see it as a cause of things, so that when at last all this is “over” in some fashion, “things” will settle again, even though the settling is likely to be unpleasant, perhaps even dangerous.
But Brexit is not primarily a cause at all. It is just one of many possible symptoms of a Society that isn’t working properly for its citizens or for their present and future welfare. Least of all is it some kind of answer or solution in itself to whatever is ” wrong.” There is indeed plenty wrong. But Brexit is just a sign of that, like a blister, or a sudden lump ; and an inexcusable distraction from the emergencies we face in the frenzied world we have created.