Backlash against the status quo does not always lead to positive-sum gains

The result from last week’s vote highlights the dangers of anti-status quo politics to the public at large and the working class in particular. Alison Johnston argues that anti-status quo politics in the Brexit referendum selected false scapegoats as targets of outrage, as facts, experts and political and economic reason were drowned out by grand visions of change. She concludes that political backlash against the status quo does not always lead to positive-sum gains: rather, it may simply and solely make things worse.