Space. The Final Frontier ... or in this case, the space in my schedule tomorrow I will have in order to get to the polling booth in order to cast my Referendum vote, which is actually more than I thought I would get, given I work for a market research company. Given the option to travel at warp speed, I'm sure that the turnout tomorrow would probably leave a Klingon looking over his starboard bow wondering what the kab'leth was going on.
So, what on Earth do you think this has to do with the EU Referendum tomorrow ?? Well, for a start it's happening, and thank goodness it is, most of us want it to be out of the way, most of us can't wait to get to the polling booth, and of course most of us can't wait the get to the pub to have an EU drinking contest.
So, then, you want my opinion ?? You want to know what I'm doing tomorrow. I'm voting to leave. Yep, I'm voting for Brexit, and once again I'm going to invoke the world of Star Trek in my reasoning as to why I'm doing so.
What the EU should only ever have been, what it should have aspired to be nothing more than, and what I'm sure we thought it was going to be when we signed up in the late 70's, was something like the United Federation of Planets, a benign, pace-keeping organisation comprising a collaborative group of interplanetary governments, dedicated to providing a forum for it's leaders, underpinned by a fundamental prime directive of non-interference in the affairs of each of it's members, as well as ensuring that those who wish to join have demonstrated they can have the ability to do so by being able to achieve warp drive on their own.
A simple, pan-continental trade association where we can pick and choose the best bits of each, with a few in house rules to stop people playing silly buggers - what we've ended up with instead is the Borg Collective.
A ruthless, aggressive, faceless, sterile, remorseless malevolent force hell-bent on assimilating everything in it's path into a single, hive-minded collective with no regard for the individual. No one is control. It is an organic thing always and only seeking more power for itself. A faceless entity without visible leadership. In popular culture, like the Cybermen from Doctor Who, they are a symbol for any overwhelming power, the enemies of individuality, robbers of all autonomy.
If you've ever watched "Star Trek: First Contact" (and I strongly recommend you do, it's the best of the Next Generation films by a star system) (and which was conspicuously shown on Channel 5 on Saturday), here's the Borg mantra;
"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."
All of us have a Borg in our own psyche – the parents we want to test our burgeoning adulthood against, the fashion police we are constantly on the alert for. When we are strong in our identity, we enjoy resisting the Borg, it helps us forge an authentic self with a stake in the future. When we are vulnerable, we back away, isolate ourselves from the sites of contestation, stay familiar with the past.
Yet it’s striking that the European referendum debate has thrown up fear of the Borg on both sides of the political spectrum. On the right, fear of a bureaucracy that shapes the rules and customs of our country without giving us a chance to have our say. On the left, fear of the neoliberal hegemony that shapes our economy and disempowers the 99%. The sense that both of these are uncontrollable is common to both, until recently, when the European 'project' of enlargement and political, social, and economic integration was seen – not just by Europeans but by global observers - as a ‘soft power’ for all those involved.
A bit like in the Star Trek universe when the human race nearly wipes itself out and then discovers that they are not alone in the universe. And in principle it's a wonderful idea that underpinned Gene Roddenberry's optimistic vision of the future. I mean, what could be wrong with the post war nations working together towards a common enterprise (look, look, see what I did ?? See what I did there ??), attracting those on their fringes to join in and play a part.
Europe after WWII had a distinct role and character on the global scene – it was ambitious, sophisticated, a beacon of post-conflict resolution, pretty much in the same way the Federation was when it was founded in the series finale of the Star Trek prequel series, "Enterprise".
However, in the real world, the task of pulling people towards an ever closer union has fallen to politicians, economists and bureaucrats – that is, power elites. Instead of enhancing and amplifying Europe’s soft power – the attraction of its multi-cultural project – we have been subject to an amplification of its 'hard' power: its ability to control outcomes, for good and for bad. In this scenario, closer European integration continues to be the Borg that everyone fears – even as they are spinning it for or against.
Unlike the Borg, however, the EU is not flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances. It's also horrendously inefficient and doesn't put the needs of the collective before the needs of the few. All in all, I think that in a comparison with a race of alien zombies the EU actually comes second.
And that's why we need to resist being assimilated.
The way Spain, Portugal and Greece has been treated demonstrates exactly the kind of 'hard' power the EU likes to wield. This was not the actions of a benign collective group of governments, but the malevolent actions of mean-spirited wannabe dictatorship determined to force it's will onto a sovereign nation who only wanted to improve. I for one cannot remember an episode of Star Trek where the Federation infringed the sovereignty and dignity of one of its members, dictating fiscal policy to it and not compromising one bit whilst forcing them into a humanitarian crisis. Well, actually, it did, in the episode "Mirror, Mirror", but that was set in a parallel universe.
And looking back on most episodes of Star Trek, it's clear that Captain Kirk was too much of a cowboy to have any truck with the EU. He was constantly telling bureaucrats to f*** off. The Federation in Star Trek is about maximising personal liberty; the EU favours the exact opposite. And I for one cannot conscienceoulsy vote to remain part of something that only wishes to ride roughshod over what has been built up through blood, sweat and toil over hundreds of years.
The United Kingdom of Great Britian and Northern Ireland.
Our Federation.
And that's why I'm voting to leave the EU, preferably at Warp Factor 9.
Live long, and prosper.