Are all Brexit voters moronic?
Peter Divey assesses purported 'scientific evidence' undermining the credibility of the Brexit referendum result.
Vince Cable has at last acknowledged that he is not the future of the Lib Dem Party. He has driven them up a blind alley, they have become almost a one issue Party, a home for the niche fetishist. He blames older voters for the Brexit catastrophe. How dare they vote, robbing the youth of their future? He has all but admitted that older voters ought to be disenfranchised, even if only temporarily, to allow the youthful to better direct legislation. Otherwise it just isn't fair. All because of a sexual spasm, and golden-aged nostalgia. He is a mighty odd fellow. But now we may know why. Recent scientific reports from China, Canada and London are linking loss of intelligence and a greatly increased potential for dementia to exposure to air pollution. Vince Cable is older than 64. That is trouble. But he will hang on until Brexit is reversed…
If you live within 50 metres of a busy road you have a 7 per cent increase in the risk of developing dementia. The risk returns to normal if you are more than 300 metres from the road. Another report has similar findings but suggests the increased risk is a whopping 40 per cent. Nitrous oxide, microscopic particles, the permeability of the placenta, the "toxicity" of the school run, traffic jams, the urban cluster. City dwellers have had it. The risk is all the greater once you are aged over 50. It is not definitive but certainly something that demands urgent follow-up research as noise pollution and stress are also likely to be contributing factors. Next time i move house i will ensure that i am more than 300 metres from a busy road. Always liked the countryside.
The "People's" vote is coming and it will be different next time. For are the youth not now fully engaged, up from their bed or sofa, heads clear of the smoky haze and marching proudly with banner held aloft? The most unpleasant commenters have talked about the elderly Brexit voter dying off, they are dropping like flies, it is only a matter of time…Unlike their elders and betters the youthful are not damaged by pollution. Experience no longer counts and science has destroyed an ancient premise. With age wisdom is no more.
The Chinese report hits harder, less equivocation. Exposure to air pollution damages your intelligence and it is especially damaging for anyone aged over 64. The data comes from studies in China which has huge problems with pollution but they say the findings apply anywhere worldwide. Older voters did indeed show more zeal for the Brexit referendum, as with any political process. So, has Vince Cable been proved right? You could argue it both ways. London is predominantly Remain, but also subject to severe air pollution in pockets, so were those voters damaged? Is that Remain vote any more legitimate than the Leave vote elsewhere? Language has mellowed and the Leave voter is now "uninformed", but it is nothing more than mealy-mouthed nonsense, they are still saying you were too thick to comprehend the complexity. The science says you couldn't help it.
British society has a massive social care problem. Or rather, it is a choice, a judgement as other priorities are dominant. Foreign aid, HS2, Heathrow, Hinckley. The unproductive elderly are respected and prized so little that insufficient money is spent to care for them properly in their dotage. Society does not yet care enough to cough up. Many reports from hospitals and care homes are shocking. It is almost a covert form of Soylent Green or Logan's Run. The ludicrous utterances of Cable and his ilk will only further undermine the perceived value of elderly people. You are better off voting Green than Lib Dem. And if you are elderly there is only one question…will you still love me, will you still need me, when i'm 64? Seems not.
