Friday, June 24, 2016

Brexit

Brexit -- wow, that was an historic moment.  (I can say "an historic" when talking about Britain.)  There were enough hints that it was going to go that way, but how weird it still was, when every person I know online, and every editorial source on news sites I frequent, were pulling for Britain to stay in the EU.  Shows how de facto segregated things are, even in this day and age of supposed connection.  Maybe the winning side are wondering, who are all these people who voted to stay in?

I don't fully understand everything that went on, admittedly.  My impression of how this affects our plans to "Brenter" is this, though, in general: not good.

  • The anti-immigrant sentiment that won the day can't be good.  There is a basic dumb truth that, as a white male Westerner, it won't affect my chances to get in nearly as much as many others, but how can I feel good about that?  If I do get in, I so much prefer living, working, and being in a diverse culture.
  • We trade out the conservative Cameron for the staunch conservative -- who, Boris Johnson maybe?  Not someone I'd relish living under, but worse, even among the downtrodden who are allowed to stay, the safety net will inevitably be cut.  Which sucks on its own, for a lot of people, but personally, it means that Marjorie will have a much harder job finding work in social services.
  • What I really forgot to factor in was the pound.  It's already plummeted, against both the US dollar and the Aussie dollar.  This means I'd be earning less there, period.
The one possible favorable outcome is, I wouldn't be competing against all of the EU.  Britain's Tier 2 work visa currently requires companies to show that they can't find someone within the EU to fill the position -- presumably this will go away, but who knows how long it will take.

It's been difficult so far, trying to find work.  I've sent out a lot of CVs -- easy enough in this day and age, but if it's easy for me, it's easy for everyone, and so, how to stand out?  The responses have been tepid at best.  I get occasional glimmers of interest, but it's largely from recruiters who give up when they realize I need sponsorship.

We may have to consider other options, but I will keep at it.  I think we can still make it happen.