Here is my EU Referendum for Dummies Part Two:
Your country needs you, now. It needs you to not roll up in that polling booth and 'go with your gut instinct'. It's given you a heavy responsibility, one you might like to say "no thanks" to, but there it is anyway, weighing on your shoulders. Your country needs you to take a deep breath after the vitriolic debates of so many months, after the horrors of last week, after the despair and pain and confusion. Your country needs you to think clearly. So think.
What do you want for yourself, your children, and your grandchildren? What is your vision for the world? At the crucial decision-making point, do you really want to flip a coin?
So here are a just a few salient points, for the sake of brevity, to keep in mind if you are one of the Undecideds, the 30% or more who they say will now actually Decide. The course of History. The future of the United Kingdom.
If I was an Undecided here are the points that would influence me now:
There are no assurances 'the people' are going to 'get back control' post-Brexit. Have you thought about the ambitions of Gove, Boris, and Farage, and what they actually want, for, say, the NHS? Privatization, we have heard, clearly, before now.
Britain already has control of its borders, because it opted out of the Schengen agreement (look it up).
There is no way that Turkey will be allowed to join the EU anytime soon, if ever. (that scare-point is killed off by a little research).
Britain is under no obligation to support the creation of a European (EU) Army and is unlikely to ever need or want to (fact).
Immigrants have added incalculably to the hard-working, positive, tax-paying work force in Britain. Those bludging off the government can still be found out and stopped with new laws and regulations not stymied by membership in the EU (think about it).
Newspaper headlines have not fed you the facts, but stirred your emotions and fears. Clear thinking is needed.
Reputable parties and good advice have been given to us by people like The Institute of Fiscal Studies, the IMF, the Bank of England, etc., on how Brexit could adversely affect the economy. If you are about to jump off a cliff, do you really ignore all health and safety warnings?
A country's exit from the European Union is unprecedented, never happened before. Hence, it is true: nobody really knows what will happen. The risks are great. Europe could unravel. Peace has prevailed on this continent since 1945.
Scottish independence could begin the break up of the United Kingdom, leave England on its own.
Do you really think building a wall can hold back the tide of multiculturalism and international melding?
Is 21st century Britain, so great, so powerful, so economically strong that it thinks turning its back on Europe will give it greater power on the world stage? Do you want to ignore the warning, however you may have disliked it, from the President of the United States? Are we deluded in our grandeur and aspirations to 'go it alone'?
Failing a faith in those points (understandable), I suggest a short,simple "choose between two" method which, yes, is super simplistic and may get you aggravated, but surely beats the "gut instinct in the voting booth" method. So take out your pens. The question is: Which word appeals?
Big or little?
Together or separate?
United we stand or divided we fall?
Little England or Great Britain?
National or global?
Inclusion or exclusion?
All white or multi-coloured?
Adding up your answers may clarify your thoughts and stay the last minute sweats in the voting booth.
Finally, in a choice between "we can work it out" and "bugger off", which gives you the most wiggle room? The chance to patch it up, try to make it work? Or closing the door for good? No one will welcome you back again.
So, breathe. And choose.
Your country needs you, like, now.