The summer has once again finally arrived. It couldn’t have come quicker. No, I don’t mean the weather, which I generally dislike, that looks set to remain for an eternity. Whether this is climate change in action – hosepipe bans, brown grass, sweaty foreheads – or just a blip in Britain’s normal temperature readings, who knows? No, I mean the summer of relaxation, a time to reflect and calm down from the personal and political events for a month. I am off around the country to places that lack technological access, meaning I can be free, ignorant of any major event.
Yet uncertainty prevails for so many. While journalists can pack up their cameras, put away their notepads, come off twitter until the autumn, the multiple stories dominating the news during term time are not going to disappear: most notably Brexit. I declare from this day forward that I will no longer even attempt to incorrectly predict what might happen. We simply do not know. Financially, businesses of all shapes and sizes haven’t got a clue. Environmentally, what regulations are going to affect Britain post-March 2019? And, most importantly in my view, try to imagine the level of concern and instability EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU have. You just can’t. While middle class folk can enjoy a great holiday away, appreciating the culture of a new city or relaxing on the beach, depending on your preference, for many, the holiday is going to the park. Don’t get me wrong, many love that area of playing and adventure. But the lack of knowledge over whether families can afford to pay bills, get next term’s school uniform, feed their children even dominates their worries and frustrations. Those working over the summer on a comfortable wage can easily afford to fling their children into summer camps. Again, for those on zero-hour contracts, the minimum wage, the public sector pay cap, well, not so much. It’s not just individual confusion that will stay. International diplomacy continues to rapidly vanish. As countries turn in on one another, failing to see the benefits (and required reforms) of supranational institutions like the EU and UN, decisions over how issues that inevitably cross borders – terrorism, climate change, immigration – fail to be made. This only allows the absolutists of the political spectrum, in one direction or another, to have a monopoly on the problem, often ignoring the necessity of cross-border cooperation which sane, rational leaders have so failed to make the case for. Provided no crisis takes place over this summer, these issues can be totally forgotten. That doesn’t mean they are not there. Of course, if one only looked cynically at the world, failing to witness the positive advancements make in science, the position of women and the decline of dogmatism, among other things, there would be nothing to see but despair. Failing to ever take a break from watching the news and analysing issues in depth would drive anyone to insanity. But for those in stable positions, who probably wouldn’t personally be affected by a political or economic crisis, it can seem like the arrival of the summer has calmed everyone down, made everything better. Nevertheless, over the next few weeks, just because harrowing issues may be covered less in the wider media does not mean, in this boiling weather, they have permanently vanished.
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