Brexit has not led us into a dystopian nightmare

Having been asked by the editor to write about 'channelling my experience with our post Brexit reality into my dystopian fiction writing', I accepted the task, and in the spirit of this very zine, have gone against the brief. I dabble in many genres, from horror to sci-fi, and the occasional thinkpiece, and dystopia creeps into a number of them. Whether that reflects on my psyche or current literary trends, it is yet to be known.  

There are two reasons for this: when I first thought about this, and the more I thought about it, the greater and more daunting the task was. Whole books could be written about this idea of Brexit and the parallels to dystopian thought. I, a cisgender heterosexual white male, do not have much to say that has not already been said, in ways with significantly greater impact and nuance by those who are marginalised and most affected by the reality of Brexit and Tory Britain. 

There is also the issue with the idea of us living in, or approaching, a dystopia brought about by Brexit. As bleak as things seem - after the year we have all had, it has highlighted nothing but the bleakness that we are told to ignore on a daily basis - Brexit has not led us into a dystopian nightmare. Living in post Brexit Britain, for me, has not been much different during this time. I still get my food from the supermarket. I get my prescriptions from the pharmacy, subsided by the NHS. I am free to write this article without running it past a state censor, or having my electronic devices seized after its been sent. I live without fear of my life from the State. The classic dystopian tropes are overtly absent from my life.

I voted remain for the lesser evil of remaining in a neoliberal bloc for, among other things, the sake of free movement and tariff free trade. We have lost those privileges when we left the EU, and the effects of them will be felt for years to come. On January 1st 2021, however, the barbed wire didn't spring up and our houses weren't raided due to dissenting thought. That's been happening for some time under the current capitalist system, regardless of the referendum and its consequences. Brexit has not brought about a dystopia. 

Which, I suppose, has given me a different perspective to my writing. Guess I have led myself back to the brief after all, in a roundabout way. The actual dystopian aspects of reality in post Brexit Britain, which do impact my writing, and my general perception of the world, are yet to be seen and properly felt. As is happening in Northern Ireland at the time of writing, the effects are not instantaneous. They are a trickle, not a flood. 

Arguably, the elements of our nation that are usually attributed to dystopia, are not that of Brexit's fault. The invasion of privacy from Big Tech; Monopolisation and erosion of workers' rights by mega corporations; the corruption and rising authoritarianism of the State, and the big doozy that makes the previous three seem so insignificant: the climate disaster. Brexit is a drop in the ocean of Capitalist subjugation we find ourselves drowning in on a daily basis. 

Brexit was draped in nationalist, authoritarian rhetoric. It relied on big tech to confuse and dupe through the spread of misinformation online. Mega corps saw it as an opportunity to increase profit at the expense of the workers they held control over. Brexit wouldn't have happened without these, among other factors, being in place. It is a symptom of a much more sinister illness, rather than the disease itself. It is a growth, a representation of Capitalism, thrust into the open for everyone to see. Without the strands of Capitalism holding up Brexit, and those who wish to see it unfold for their material benefit, it may have died its political death before that ill fated referendum.

Artwork by Alicia Morawska

But even then, in spite of capitalism pulling the strings of society and making things difficult for all of us who aren’t at the top, I wouldn't say that we live in a true dystopia. Dystopias are an explicit examination of specific aspects of our society that, when amplified, bring light to how dark they actually are. The Handmaid's Tale, being the most obvious for this, examining the idea of the influence of fundamentalism and anti feminism on society. They are warnings of what would happen if we ignore the world around us. They are blueprints for the things in the world we can, and should, change.

Which is why, in dystopian fiction, if we look at the big hitters - 1984, The Handmaid's Tale, and the lesser known ones, like A Canticle for Leibowitz (one of the finest sci-fi books ever written) - there is always a grain of hope within the characters. They are there to go against the system. They must fight against the injustices. They battle, and they may win, as we may perceive Offred to do by the end of her tale, and they may lose, and end up broken by the system they tried to rebel against, as happens to Winston Smith. In their actions, they put a spotlight on the issues that they face, and the reader hopefully reflects on the real world counterparts. 

Without that hope, that rebellion, dystopian fiction would be a non-starter, a misery fest of hopelessness and chronic disappointment. Some Folks are into that, but I'd argue it blunts the edge of what can make dystopian fiction resonate with people. dystopian fiction has the ability to act as a warning, and a call to action against the injustices of the world we live in. 

We do not live in a dystopia, but that does not mean we should accept things as being the way they are. Like Winston, Offred, and to a lesser extent, those in the Abbey of St. Leibowitz, we must push forward against the forces that oppress, diminish, and discriminate, in search of a better world, in defiance of the status quo. To Winston, it is Big Brother. To Offred, it is the Men of Gilead. To the Brothers of the Abbey, it is the Past, Present and the Future at odds with one another. To ourselves, it is the barriers upheld by capitalism that we must break down: sexism; racism; homophobia and transphobia; the oppression of the working classes; police brutality and state oppression; a sadly non-exhaustive list.   

Unlike in fiction, however, we do not have a specific 'Big Bad' to rally against. Brexit has brought about much misery, but it is no more misery inducing than the systems already present. It is a piece of a much larger puzzle, and it's time to see it as such. We cannot remove one aspect of the capitalist system we're entwined in, and everything will fall into place, and all problems sorted. 

Unionisation; political accountability; effective cooperation; intersectionality and class consciousness; acceptance of race, gender, and identity; a far better list that can and must grow. 

We must tackle the issues highlighted in fiction piece by piece, unpicking and unravelling them, changing and reforming our society away from the dystopian elements that coalesce into what we know as Capitalism.

And if we're to write about dystopia, don't forget the hope. Don't forget the rebellion. If we recognise that we are not in a dystopia, and do not distract ourselves with entertaining the possibility that we are, then we can focus on the issues that can improve the society we live in now, and sever those strings of Capitalism that run throughout it. We do not live in a dystopia, but that does not mean we should forget about making the world we live in a better place.