It’s not that the country should put aside its differences and come together: a horrible, stifling thought. It often seems, in the heat of Brexit rage, that ardent leavers and remainers have forgotten how normal it is for nations to be divided. “United” nations made up of people who agree about everything are fictions invented by authoritarian regimes. The point of democracies is not to unite a nation so that everyone is happy, but to manage the unhappiness of whoever feels they’ve lost out without resorting to civil war.

“How to See Beyond Brexit,” by James Meeks in The Guardian 23 February 2019.