An interpretation of the Brexit situation
I've taken the following from a friend's wall and it sums up exactly this Brexit debacle. Thanks Thor Atkinson... Very nicely put.
30 odd years ago a group of us bought a new house. It was modern, detached house on a small estate of similar properties. To be fair, we weren’t all convinced at the time that it was the right house for us, but we ended up going for it. Fast forward to a couple of years ago, and it was clear that some of us didn’t like the house anymore. The estate had got bigger and didn’t really look like it used to. Some of us resented paying the estate management company’s fees and not being able to control how the funds were spent. Any way, we had quick show of hands, and of those of us who had an opinion, just over half said they wanted to live in a different property (we didn’t bother asking the kids what they thought!). Now we’re getting ready to move, the problem is the ones who wanted to move can’t agree what sort of house we’re all going to move into. They just know they don’t like this one. Which kind of means they’re dragging us along without telling us what we’re moving to. Some seem to want a quaint old cottage of yesteryear. Which sounds idyllic, and those old cottages look lovely, but they don’t have central heating or any of the modern amenities. Not that that is necessarily bad, but it sounds costly to heat. Others seem to want some snazzy, fancy place with a swimming pool. And maybe with global warming, in the future this country will be perfect for swimming pools, but for the next decade or so it sounds like it’s going to cost a lot. And here’s the other problem - 10 years ago the interest rates on mortgages sky-rocketed and we struggled to stay afloat as a group. We ended up having to cut our living costs and running up credit card bills just to keep the place going and we still haven’t paid them off. In hindsight, having a discussion about moving house two years ago when we had such debt was probably a mistake. After all, if you’re going to make a big lifestyle change surely it’s better to do it when you’ve got some savings, especially if you’re not entirely sure exactly what you’re moving to. And I guess that’s my problem. Me and the lot who wanted to stay in our current house know exactly what house we want. Whereas the lot who want to move can’t tell me what we’re moving to as they can’t agree what the new place will look like. Which is why it seems fair to me to have another show of hands. But this time I want them to show me what the new place looks like. And if they can’t agree on one house that they ALL want to move to, then we stay put. Cos 48 % of us who did express a view know exactly what the house we want looks like...