The recent economically damaging Swiss vote to limit the flow of foreigners from the European Union and posturing by the UK government and European Commission over the forthcoming referendum about Scottish independence just brings home to me the sad fact that politics messes up people’s lives. It is not a question of democracy. Even if the people all make a decision via a referendum the answer can still be unwise. What is better – a bad decision made by a popular vote or a good decision by an autocratic ruler? In my view they would both be unacceptable because they impose rules from entities called nations – or even worse some faceless bureaucracy trying to regulate nations.
Globalisation has its critics – but it at least recognizes that we all belong to the same world. This is something that the environment movement has also taught us. Multinational enterprises do not naturally fit into political divisions and at an individual level people largely identify with their own social world, linguistic grouping and culture.
Wanting an end to politics is not the same as calling for a state of anarchy. It is just a wish to be free from a corrupting influence. Yes, we need laws to stop people depriving each other of their property and cutting each other’s throats, we need a welfare safety net and street lighting. But is there any reason why such things have to be provided through seemingly endless layers of localised state entities? Such mundane questions could all be handled by one body – with safeguards to ensure it retains its integrity and does not exceed its brief or misuse its powers. Then we could get on with our lives free from conceited politicians, party dogmas and nation states.