1. This is Maslow's hierarchy of needs: "a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.
Needs lower down in the hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to needs higher up"
Needs lower down in the hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to needs higher up"
2. Brexiters started their campaign by arguing leaving the EU would be amazing. You wouldn't believe how great it was going to be. Everything you have now but much more. Top level stuff. Unicorns, wealth, whatever you can possibly imagine.
3. OK nobody believed in the unicorns, and the 350m a week lie fell apart the day after the vote, so Brexit fell to the second top tier: Esteem. You might not get unicorns, but you'll feel great about being English. (Not Irish or Scottish, or British but English)
4. When it became clear that immigration was the #1 concern of leave voters, leave's leaders started hyping trade deals and a new Buccaneering future for the UK.
5. They did this to appeal to the Esteem of Nationalists: Remember the Empire? That was amazing wasn't it - we were the freaking master race. So Empire 2.0 (Liam Fox), Global Britain, Innovative Jam (daft/ridiculous but unique quintessentially English eccentricity)
6. OK that didn't work out so well- trade deals with the UK are not a priority for the US, Australia, India, and can't be signed until Post Transition, so Brexit falls to "Love and belonging": except this is self-love and belonging of Brexiters only.
7. Since Brexit is a nationalist pursuit, and nationalism is predicated on false victimhood based on fictitious persecution by others: the Brexiters created a sense of belonging by lashing out at the enemy: -...
8. ...this is becoming literally everyone including the government (e.g. May) these days, but formerly it was judges (Enemies of the People), Rebel Tory MP's, remain campaigners, even the BBC. Which is ironic. So anyway - "love and belonging" via group hatred.
9. But despite all this hatred/love & belonging, Brexit can't really deliver. And Brexiters seem to be still angry. Nothing is enough. Hating others doesn't really make them feel better in the long run. So Brexit falls to Safety Needs - can it deliver this? Guess.
10. Brexit will make Britain less safe: less funding for the army, police, less cooperation on intelligence, European foreign security services, Brexit is of course one side of the Brexit/Trump coin, and Trump is deliberately undermining NATO.
11. As for employment - we know the score there: one million jobs in auto and aero industries plus supply chains alone. Resources: we might not even have electricity in Northern Ireland on no deal: the gov's renting barges with generators from Afganhistan.
12. Health? A condition of a US/UK FTA could be US pharma gets to demand higher drug prices from the NHS driving prices in the whole of Europe, US health co's will be granted NHS contracts, we lose the EHIC health card. Under no deal ex pat retirees have no health cover.
13. So now we are down at the bottom level. Can Brexit at least deliver physiological needs? No deal preparations include stock-piling non-perishable foods, and expecting industry to stock pile too. Some experts are talking about a state of emergency with martial law. (Ends)
On 4. I didn't explain my working: since stopping FoM required leaving the single market, the economic hit of Brexit was obvious. The Brexiter approach was to argue that new FTA's will compensate for loss of single market access. As if the SM is like an FTA. It isn't
So Empire 2.0 and Global Britain were an attempt to tell Brexiters that cakeism was still possible even within the restrictions of anti-FoM nativist mindset. "So you dislike hearing Polish on the bus? Don't worry, our economy will be fine.". ..
But of course FTA's improve trade only marginally and won't compensate for the damage wrought by raising trade barriers to the single market - within which our companies flourish.
This is a great paper on the subject medium.com/@SamuelMarcLow…
