I have no vote in UK elections therefore was not entitled to vote in the recent EU referendum even though the result of that vote had the potential to drastically alter my life as a British expat based elsewhere in the EU. I was therefore on the side of Remain but what could I do without a vote?
Had I had a vote, it is not certain that I would have taken the path that I did. But I was so angry at being disenfranchised that I tried to find ways of influencing those that do have the vote instead. Given that I live in Denmark, this had to be online.
Inform myself
This wasn’t a standing start since I had written a textbook twenty years ago about the EU but I wanted to make sure that I was up to date. Almost immediately I ended up in uncomfortable territory watching a YouTube video with doomy music lamenting the death of the white race in the UK.
- Follow #Brexit bloggers and websites
- Attend a meeting of the movement against the EU in Denmark
Inform others
I was picking up on the main arguments so thought I could summarise them (I am a teacher don’t forget!). So this is what I did to inform others.
- Started a FlipBoard magazine collecting the best articles from both sides of the argument
- Made some graphics on Canva which were then tweeted and included in articles I wrote.
- Started a new WordPress site YStayUK.wordpress.com
- Write blog posts also on LinkedIn
- Tweeted interesting posts and tweets from both sides
- Prepared a free 4-week online course on WiZiQ
- Prepared a shorter less formal version of the course for Twitter, the #EUTwitterChallenge
Promote dialogue
The online debate was acrimonious with a great deal of name-calling and fear-mongering. Both sides will need to live together after the referendum therefore I tried to promote dialogue as a strategy for discussion, whereby you try and build and extend on the other person’s argument rather than destroying it and point-scoring.
Is this democracy anyway?
So have I been part of the democratic process or not?
Y Stay UK 