Maybe I’m not in a position to comment on Britain’s democratic election seeing as I do not live in the UK nor am I a voting citizen there, so I had no stake or impact on the events that took place. And yet, as I woke up this morning to the news that Boris Johnson had been elected and granted a majority in Parliament… I found that I might not be in the position, but I still had an opinion. And then I realized… I was absolutely in a position to comment.

I live in a country that throughout history has been an ally and shares its time zone with the UK.  I decided to ignore the initial results of the exit polls of that lovely country’s election and went to bed. I woke up, turned on my TV and there it was. The highlight given to it was expected no matter the outcome, the possibility of outcome in itself was expected and yet I found that I felt that one of my limbs have been cut off. As if suddenly I had woken up and I was missing my left hand. I can survive this. I know. It’s just going to take time to adapt. Luckily, I have space to recover from what I feel is a catastrophic decision and am but a mere concerned spectator to a very horrible show. I fear for those who have to deal with the consequences of this firsthand.

I am as much a European citizen as I am a citizen of my country. It’s so intrinsic to me that I first realized this when Brexit was a question raised. I have little to know memory of what it all was like before Europe was a united front. Maybe in some people’s eyes that will unqualify me from having an opinion. Fuck it. Being European is part of my identity and it’s the very reason why the decision of a country that is not my own affected me so deeply that I am now comparing it to losing a limb – a sensation I have never nor do I ever want to experience.

I am growing up in an age where change is rapid and enormous. I have tried my very best to made peace with it. None of it has never stopped being scary. And I know that the very process of growth demands change, but change has never stopped being scary. I do not like change despite recognizing its inevitability. But some you can deal with quite efficiently and some just leave you with the overwhelming feeling of being lost. Brexit is change of that last kind. It does not just leave you with that overwhelming feeling, it is itself overwhelming.

Let’s face it… Reality as I knew it is gone. Europe is taking a new shape and the UK is paving its own path – and I do not write that as if we were speaking of a lady that finally dumped her toxic boyfriend in pursuit of a better life that we all know she will achieve just before the final credits roll in; I think the path is full of mud and peril and it’s going to take more than Wellies to save you all. And since Europe is changing, my identity will have to adjust to said change. Those who, like me, had European as a proud feature of their identity and that will unlike me have to deal with this decision will probably feel even more lost than me. For them it’s not a matter of recalibrating their identity as much as reshaping entirely.

I woke up to the news and I felt anger. Not because the outcome was unexpected, but because once again I felt that younger generations have no voice. Carrying that feeling around made it easier to understand those who chose not to go into Polling Stations. It is sold to us by older generations as pointless as they have lost faith in the democratic process long ago. That combined with the disregard that has been shown to our generations wants and beliefs in the last democratic processes we have seen diminishes our own faith. I will be the first to admit that voting expecting to get a very specific outcome is foolish, however we vote to voice our stance on matters that be. We want to feel represented. As it stands it feels like we are not.

As I walked to work, still fueled by anger, I thought of Christmas in the UK and how families gather, and opinions are given a chance to finally collide. How to older generations justify this to the younger ones? What arguments are going to be used? I became fascinated with this idea, but my anger was still building up. The process of growth is supposed to be one not just of change but of independence. When you are young you are thought how to survive and how to behave in a way that will guarantee that socially you will too survive. At some point, you take the lead. At some point, those who bring you up stop being the ones that know better. At some point, your voice is also one to take into consideration. Where is that point in the democratic process? Why won’t they listen to us? Are we not making enough noise?

I have learnt from past elections. I have learnt that outdated beliefs have deep hidden roots and that although they might not always be seen, they are still there. We see their everlasting effects on the ballots. I have witnessed as the loss of faith in our leaders and a loss of faith in politics as a means of change as lead some to embrace the easy and radical views of alt-right candidates. I have seen how education is important yet still ineffective. Have learnt that the mainstream media can be cruel and untruthful and more damaging than I formerly already knew it could be. And I have seen as a lack of interest took over us all - politics labeled as drama as if it were a movie that you could chose not to watch instead of something that you absolutely must take part in.

When the results fail us, lessons are all we can take moving forward.

The most important of all was finding out that we still live in an aquarium under circumstances we control ourselves. We have come to rely on the internet for just about anything and for good reason: it’s always available for our questions, it has answers and it has people which grants us with a sense of community that us social creatures need. It also has the power to amplify voices and spread ideas something that before was just reserved for the mainstream media. It’s no surprise that as soon as something like an election rolls around we go online and plant our flags there. There is our place to discuss what we believe in because that is the place where we could actually be heard. We can debate that currently we feel like we have more political impact on social media than we do when casting a vote. If anything having a political opinion grants you a title of “woke” which you can add to the personality you are trying so hard to find and it awards you with the respect of the community which you most definitely want.

But not everyone will have the need or want to use that space to talk politics. Not everyone is vocal about their views online – specially when they go against whatever is socially accepted online at the time. And even if they do so, we are the ones who pick who to follow and we follow those who we identify with. It’s easy to hope for a different result when all you surround yourself with leads you to believe that everyone too is hoping and working for that same result. It’s an aquarium under circumstances we control ourselves.

So maybe, just maybe, we are making enough noise. Just not in the right places. But before I got to this conclusion and recalled the lessons learnt and added to them: I still had to process my anger. And then I thought of Greta Thunberg. Maybe because she was accused of having anger management issues or maybe because I can identify with her to a degree. She claims the world leaders are ignoring climate change and issue that will impact the future of younger generations. She is a girl, growing in a world in which change is rapid and enormous and feeling ignored by those elected to represent us. It’s hard for me not to identify with Greta. It is hard for me not to listen to her. She is standing up because those who should, won’t. Not only that, but she will actually be here to deal with the consequences of what those leaders do now and they probably won’t.

Growing is a process of independence but older generations still devalue the independence that they have willed us to have. That is evident in the way some still try to discredit or diminish the importance of what Greta is saying by leaning on her age as a debilitating factor. So before I factored in our aquarium all I could think about it how older generations would sit at dinner and explain their decision to the generations that will have to bear the consequences. Surely you have taught them to stand up, walk, eat, talk and hold up their own but it seems like the last time you listened to them was when they cried in the middle of the night to be feed or changed or maybe the last time you heard them was when they threw a tantrum which you then advertised against. Have you stopped to consider that when you are long gone, they will still be here, and will have to deal with the shit you made?

Why do we fucking listen to Greta Thunberg? Because she will listen to us, voices issues that we share and will be around to deal with the shit you are doing right now.

I am well aware that I have ranted and did so to process my anger however I recognize that it is time to move forward. We must come to terms to the reality shift we are witnessing and we must to find out new place in it. It is said that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. Remember this moment. Remember the hurt. Remember the overwhelming feeling of loss. And remember that the loss of faith was what got us here, so you can’t at this moment lose hope.

As the adults return to their day to day schedule, we are faced with the ridiculous challenge of having to educate them. Lessons. That’s all we have now. We have to be the bigger person. We have to sit them down and teach them what is important to us and what is important to our future and how they can help us get there. We have to remind them that they care for us and our well being. We have to state very clearly how politics have a direct effect on said well being. Politics has got to stop being an option or a taboo subject. We have to discuss them and maintain our cool when confronted with the opposition. We can’t deter when we are discredited and diminish on the count of our age.