tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050369312201897243.post5510642429578340491..comments2024-01-16T12:49:24.568+00:00Comments on Question the Powerful: Unhappy Ending: the politics of secessionHenry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050369312201897243.post-50742972756831447532017-12-02T18:48:11.968+00:002017-12-02T18:48:11.968+00:00The analogy of a majority of a group of soldiers w...The analogy of a majority of a group of soldiers with a majority in a nation state seems to me a false one in that the rules of a military force, that individuals signing up for swear to, is of obedience to orders; and indeed that court martial could be, under the law, the response. The rules of a nominally democratic state though can allow for majority decisions be legitimate.<br /><br />With respect to legitimacy of such a majoritarian view in respect to Brexit and the point you make that it’s not truly democratic in that it takes no account of the well-being of the nations with which it had entered into legal agreement and who get no voice in the matter, it seems to me that this is a matter of opinion. For the outcome of any legislation is unlikely to be totally predictable and there needs to be an ability to amend or revoke it if unforeseen and unacceptable harms are felt by any group. In the case of the European Union and the point that the perceived disadvantages motivating the Brexit vote ignore harms of the decision to other nations, your advocacy that the latter should nullify the former seems to me an unacceptable restraint on the freedom of a nation for two reasons.<br /><br />One is that in my view individuals or groups who perceive themselves in a disadvantaged position in a legal contract, such as a marital partner, an employee with a business, a tenant with a landlord, or of the UK with the European Union, should be free to remove themselves from that contract. It might well be that the other side is harmed by the secession of the other, and so the law allows for damages to be claimed from the seceding party. In the case of individuals deciding to secede from the obligations of state laws, they might even find themselves in jail on the grounds of the social harm that their secession causes. In modern society we don’t physically force people to do things they don’t want to do but we may punish them for this if it harms others. My understanding is that the European Union is indeed being financially punitive with regard to the UK’s secession, as I understand it has the right under law to do.<br /><br />Secondly, the notion of the lack of democracy with respect to Brexit and its adverse consequences for the other member states of the European Union, seems to me disputable because the European Parliament makes decisions taking into account the effects on all the member states; and there seems no reason why any particular nation shouldn’t democratically come to a decision that on the whole it would prefer to make its own decisions about its welfare in negotiation with other states – and take the adverse consequences of secession.miloszhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06702726190456433123noreply@blogger.com