“If Brexit is a disaster, I’ll go and live
abroad.”
Brexit supporting politician, Nigel Farage
in March 2017
Some important figures in the European
Union have said this week that they are getting closer to making a deal with
Britain about how it will leave the EU.
Britain will probably have to accept a deal which causes extra
difficulties for businesses in Britain.
We will have to pay a huge divorce bill to the EU. And we will have to accept most of the rules
of the EU, without any longer being able to influence or change them.
I have been thinking back to the
politicians who promised that doing business in Britain would be easier, that
we would get extra money back from the EU, and that we would no longer have to
accept any rules we didn’t like. Why did
politicians such as Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Michael Gove make
predictions about Brexit which were so wrong?
Did they lack wisdom?
The following essay might provide an
answer, even though it was written in 1612.
I have slightly edited this essay by Francis Bacon to make it easier for
non-native speakers to understand.
“Of
Wisdom for a Man’s Self,” by Francis Bacon
An ant is a wise creature for itself, but
it is a shrewd thing in an orchard or garden.
And certainly men who are great lovers of themselves do not help the
public.
Divide yourself between self love and
society. Be true to yourself, but do not
be false to others, especially your country.
It is a poor centre of a man’s actions – himself. All things which are like the Heavens move
around another, which they benefit.
The judging of all things by how they
affect yourself is more understandable in a great ruler, because if you are a
ruler, good and evil for yourself can also affect the public. But it is a terrible evil in a servant to a
ruler, or a citizen in a republic. For
whatever decisions pass through such a man’s hands, he bends them to suit
himself. This may of course then damage
his ruler or his country. Therefor let
rulers and countries choose servants who are not like this.
Something which makes the effect of this
behaviour worse is the tendency for all proportion to be lost. It is bad enough for the servant’s good to be
preferred before the master’s. But it is
a greater extreme when a little good of the servant is chosen over a great good
of the master. Yet that is often the
case for bad politicians, generals and servants. The good these servants cause benefits
themselves, and the hurt they cause they pass onto their masters.
It is the nature of extreme self lovers
that they will set a house on fire just to roast their eggs. And yet it is often the case that these bad
servants are very popular with their masters, since they study hard how best to
please their masters, and profit themselves.
Wisdom for a man’s self is, in many ways,
an immoral thing. It is the wisdom of
rats, who will be sure to leave a house before it falls.
Vocabulary:
Brexit – Britain’s exit from the European
Union
a figure – a person
a bill – a sum of money to be paid
shrewd – having or showing sharp powers of
judgement
a tendency - something which happens mor
often than not; a habit
proportion – the relative size or amount of
two things when compared
hurt – injury or damage
No comments:
Post a Comment