Brexit Metaphor No 62
If the apple gave rise to original sin, a cashew apple may have given rise to Brexit: the original sin of British "emotion politics".
Britain does not grow cashews, a tropical fruit from Brazil. Yet, Brexit very much resembles the cashew.
The cashew nut comes from the cashew apple. Botanically the cashew nut is not a real nut but rather a fruit seed, and the cashew apple is not a real apple but rather a drupe (a fleshy fruit with a stone). So there seems to be some disconnect between the description and the facts of biological reality. On the other hand, the disconnect with political and economic reality is visible in the Brexit process: neither is Brexit a solution to Britain's issues, nor is the EU the source of the problem.
The analogy, however, does not stop here. The strangest thing about the cashew nut (seed) is that it grows not inside but outside the fruit. This is why the botanical name of the cashew is Anacardium (Greek for "the heart is out"). And this perfectly describes Brexit: people poured their heart out in the 2016 referendum, as hostility to globalisation and the discontent with the slow recovery from the 2008 financial crisis took their toll in the 2016 referendum. When emotions boiled over and triumphed over the facts, the seed of dissatisfaction emerged from the fruit as a Brexit "nut".
Is it a surprise then that Brexiteer politicians all look and sound a bit nutty?
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| Cashew apples and nuts (Source: Wikipedia) |
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Notes:
1. Timeline: This article is part of a daily #BrexitMetaphors series, with 99 more Brexit Metaphors to follow until Brexit day, March 29, 2019.
2. Disclosure: The author has a master's degree in European Integration.
3. Invitation: If you'd like to contribute to the debate, you are welcome to leave a comment below.
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