Rational. After three years of studying economics, what I have been trained to understand is that the world is rational. It gets too complex and complicated when it isn’t, making economic/human actions almost impossible to understand and quantify/experiment on. Foolishly, of course, I thought this was a reality and not just an assumption we made.
What we’re also taught is that on a more holistic level, the majority rational will outpace the minority irrational. It’s not only easier to quantify that way, but it is also the glass half full view of the world. So when Brexit started to become a legitimate cause, many of us, including myself, thought that the rational would win over the irrational. It had to. The glass would only be half-full that way. The decision announced two hours ago was the glass half-empty version of it all.
Of course, democracy is democracy. The people of Britain wanted out, and they chose to go that way. But what scares me more is that this isn’t an isolated event. Britain took the step that many other countries will no longer hesitate to take. The so-called European Union ‘empire’ that stood its ground just shy of 23 years is set to crumble.
Blame whatever you may please, but if history and the great depression are any indications, there are only more countries that will swing in support of the extremists and those who perpetuate hate (as we’ve seen in the recent elections cycle), and the result will be a more isolated world.
In this world of rationality, we’re taught to remove human emotion from decisions-rational people don’t use emotions to think. Of course, using that perception, we would all think that countries wouldn’t follow suit – its almost as if we believe that countries aren’t run by people, and that people aren't human beings that are driven by emotion.
An analogy to human behavior would be about perfect right now. Although it would make more sense to stay together, the thought of being alone at this moment sounds just right to many countries. In their sense, they’re tired, battered and bruised. What they don’t want is to keep fighting; they just want to be left alone. Little do they know the power of the group, and how working together has a much better outcome than going mentally insane on your own.
Another issue that alarms me is that fear and hatred might win the election for the leader of the free world over rationale. France also faces a similar situation with extremism and isolationism on the rise, as do Greecd and the Netherlands. So far, I’ve believed that rational people will over-power and win over the people who, at some level, are very rightfully are stricken with fear and hatred. That people will come to, and the world will continue on an upward trajectory as it had before. As the future unfolds, my vision, along with the vision of millions who stand by me, starts to look like two completely different movies playing at the same time.
Of course, most of what I said are predictions and thoughts. What I fear most is that one day, an innocent child, full of optimism will ask me if I think love trumps fear and hate, and I will have to look this child in the eye, and either break her heart today by telling her the truth, or break it tomorrow, when she learns the truth herself. It sounds cynical that way, and I can try to stay glass-half-full, but the world is turning into a glass half-empty kinda situation.
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