Ah yes... isn't it funny?!? Hilarious! A Monty Python-like skirmish between French and English fishermen in the English Channel. The French probably shouted that the English mothers were hamsters, and their fathers stank of elderberries.
Actually... no. It's NOT funny. This is the first warning sign, regarding the brave new world we're headed into.
To those of us who've opposed Brexit with every fibre of our being, among the countless economic reasons why it's the most colossal self-harm a nation's ever inflicted upon itself, there's also the small matter of the cohesion of Europe. That tiny, almost insignificant detail, eg: that the European Union was specifically set up in the wake of WWII to ensure the powers of Europe were forever tied together and bonded as one community - exactly so such calamity could never happen again. That larger picture was almost more important than anything else.
Hey, but that's just "libtard", "remainer" whinging, isn't it?
Actually, again... no. Say what you want, the fragmentation of that ethic and union is a human catastrophe. A complete disaster for the peoples of Europe. You only need to look at history to know, almost with certainty, that it's only a matter of time now before countries in Europe turn on one another once again. More so, impoverishment, economic shocks and hardship, and the "resentment" of foreign neighbours generally precipitates wars, in the same way taking a hit on a bong precipitates the munchies.
I used to think the emergent gammon of Britain didn't get it; or simply didn't believe the significance. Whereas now I think I realise the truth. Which is that aggressive nationalism in Britain is breeding an active desire for confrontation. Those regressed human beings adore violence: it's part of their DNA. And again make no mistake, Brextremists will love this. It's the actual first visualisation of the "war" they've had in their heads this whole time.
No, not all Brexit voters are "gammon", but certainly, all "gammon" voted for Brexit. (I know some abhor use of the term, which is almost exclusively why I like to use it.)
Of course, some will shout that "the French started it". That may be true, though I'm loathed to trust our media's reporting of it alone. Either way, the key detail here is that the British have always enjoyed preferential treatment and specifically tailored/negotiated arrangements with the EU: we literally WERE allowed to have our cake and eat it too, to some degree. We had the best of both worlds, and still that wasn't enough for some.
Yes, it seems the British fishers were abiding by those previously agreed rules. But in case anyone hasn't noticed, we've said "bollocks" to those agreements. And it seems some French fishermen have, as a consequence, said "bollocks" to those rules and the existing British monopoly. Who could blame them? You reap what you sow, and all that.
Dangerous Melting Pot
Nowhere else in the world is quite like Europe; nowhere else are there so many rich, successful and proud, competing nations - all with so much history, different cultures and languages, living side by side and on top of one another. Which makes it a particularly dangerous melting pot for war and hostility, unless they are bound together somehow. Not to mention, larger continents outside Europe are essentially the descendants of Europeans: colonialism may have ended, but its legacy endures, which is why what happens in Europe affects the entire world. It always has.
FUN FACT: To this day, England and France were at war with one another, longer and more continuously than pretty much any other adversaries in world history. The famous 'Hundred Years War' was actually rounding down, didn't give account of stops and starts, and was even before Napoleon reared his head centuries later! You're a fool if you think that sort of cultural enmity entirely disappears. (Stop by at a few pubs in Glasgow, and ask locals whether they're still cross about stuff the English did centuries ago.)
This "skirmish" is the beginning. A cynic might say, it's pretty much the first dead canary in the coal mine.
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