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Theresa May's luck is about to run out

In spite of all the dire warnings and practical consequences, the UK prime minister Theresa May is determined to push through with Brexit. Although there are a lot of warnings that things could go badly wrong, I get the sense that she thinks the UK will muddle through and it’ll all work out in the end. No matter how adverse the situation, one can always pull through.

This got me thinking about where this blasé attitude comes from. The problem is that the Prime Minister has lead a privileged life, with a good dolloping of luck, where indeed everything has worked out for the best. It goes deeper than this though. 

Conservatives themselves tend to be hard-working and better off. Nothing wrong with that, but the feeling seems to be that if only the poor would apply themselves more, they too could be rich. Consequently, the poor who choose to not apply themselves are therefore poor by choice, and conversely, the rich have only got there due to merit and work.

Conservatives believe that the poor deserve to be poor, and the rich deserve to be rich.

With this mindset, Brexit is simply another obstacle that work and ingenuity can overcome. Theresa May has never personally encountered much failure and hardship, and does not consider this a possibility.

This mindset is of course wrong. Luck plays a tremendous role is people’s fortunes. From birth (so-called privilege), to random events and situation. And no matter how hard you apply yourself, sometimes you cannot win. The poor do not deserve to be poor. (That said, capitalist levers to guide people’s behaviours are still necessary.)

Brexit is a hand that cannot be won. There’s no such thing as British privilege that will get Britain through this. The days of British Empire were due to good judgement and luck. Right now, we are down on both.


Brexit is a step into the dark, where no one quite knows where we’ll end up. I suspect that even the most ardent Brexiters are having doubts by now. What if it goes wrong? When you need it the most, sometimes your luck just runs out. 

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