Brexit Is About Much More Than Just England

Philip Mauriello Jr.
Jun 24, 2016
6 min read

As Donald Trump's plane was about to touch down in Scotland to mark the grand opening of a new Trump resort, the BBC began to project that the UK Referendum to leave the European Union would be passed 52% to 48%.

In a storybook way, this could not have been a more appropriate coincidence of events. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee who won his way through the primaries with a populist, strong nationalist, dialogue was touching down in a country where a referendum passed based on a populist, strong nationalist, dialogue.

While many Americans may shrug their shoulders at the thought of Britain leaving the European Union and get back to their summer vacations, but this is one international news story where Americans should take a quick break from their suntanning and pick up a newspaper (or their iPhones in most cases).

First off, why does anyone care if Britain leaves the EU? What is the EU? Why is the EU important?

A quick summary of the European Union really begins back in the 1950's when European states began to band together after the end of World War II and established the European Economic Community. There were plenty of names and plenty of goals, but the one major goal was to establish ground rules for trade, rules, and regulations regarding the European states. In 2009, the European Union was formally brought together under the Lisbon Treaty, and the EU we know today was born.

Ok, before American readers start to yawn with too much international news stuff, let's get to why this is much bigger than Britain leaving the EU.

Consider that Britain has left the EU only after seven years of being in existence. That's a pretty quick turnaround to go from forming an international super bloc of states, to saying they want out. Britain is the second strongest economy in the EU and fifth overall in the world. The British Sterling (often referred to as the Pound), is one of the strongest currencies in the world, even stronger than the American dollar. Needless to say, Britain is a big player in the EU.

But the Leave campaign didn't plead to the citizens' rationale about economic disasters. They didn't talk about how leaving the EU would literally (and figuratively) leave the UK an island separated from the rest of Europe. Instead, the Leave campaign made arguments based on sovereignty, and maintaining their independent status as "Great Britain". Their biggest argument was that Britain was being forced to take on more immigrants (sound familiar?). The tipping point being the amount of Syrian refugees that fled into Europe.

So what does this matter across the pond? It means a couple things for Americans.

First, people aren't over 2008. 2008 was the worst financial crisis in recent history. It sent millions of hard working people into economic chaos. Now eight years later, those at the top are doing really well again, and those in the middle, well, not so much. As it stands right now, the income divide between the poorest Britons and the richest is fifteen times. Between 2011 and 2015, the trade deficit grew from 1.7% of GDP to 5.2%. There are still millions of Britons out of work, and millions more who have just stopped looking. The economy is still teetering on the edge of a cliff and could go over any minute, and the least prepared are those in the middle and lower classes, and after watching the rich get richer, they were determined to send a message to the oligarchy that they weren't going to take it anymore.

Which takes me to my second point, the ruling class were sent a very strong message last night. The people are angry and they are storming the gates. Already in less than 24 hours, the Brexit result has sent Prime Minister David Cameron (who was always pro-EU), packing by calling it quits. The British people stood up yesterday and said to the EU "to shove off". No longer would they be ruled by a supra-national bloc of European states with unelected officials.

While the officials in America are still elected by the people, the continued theme against people like Hillary Clinton is that she is an insider, part of the ruling elite and that her inevitable march to the Democratic nomination was rigged from the get go. This has left many Americans feeling that their vote doesn't matter, that the ruling class will do whatever they want regardless of what the people think. Bernie Sanders supporters felt this through the whole campaign. In several primaries, rules seemed to be muddled and confused to disqualify delegates for Bernie and put them in the Hillary camp. And let's not get started on the issue of super delegates. Floating entities with no loyalty to voters? How can that be democratic? Sanders supporters have been left out in the cold by this "rigged" system. How they respond is yet to be seen, but I doubt a majority of them will just accept Hillary Clinton wholeheartedly after what just happened in the primaries.

Third, sometimes it's better to say "shove off" than to stick with a terrible situation. Let's look at the current trade situation between Britain and Germany. Currently, Britain is posting a $4.4 billion trade deficit with Germany. Germany, of course, benefits here because of the lax EU rules on trade. Compare that to the current monthly trade deficit America has with China of $37 billion a month and you might be wondering what Britain has to complain about. The number is scary, but the fact that Britain could do little about it was even scarier.

Here in America, we can do something about our trade deficit, but we choose not to. We have the power to help ourselves, it may just take something drastic to get it going, but it has to be remedied. Just like Britain needs Germany and vice versa, the same could be said of the US and China. Maybe it's time to take hard looks at the trade deals we have in place, and if they don't work in our favor, to simply say "shove off".

Finally, and most importantly, polls are informative, but the people are the ultimate voice. Going into this referendum the polls and the experts were all predicting an easy win for to Remain. Markets were easing themselves back into business as usual, and most of the world went about their business. But when Sunderland came in with 60% saying leave, all hell broke loose. The pollsters had to re-calculate and the numbers swiftly began changing. The chance of a Leave win jumped from around 30% to 75-80% in a matter of a couple hours.

Why? Because the people had spoken. You can conduct polls every minute, every hour, of every day, but in the end, it's the people who go to the polling places and cast their ballots. Democracy had won, the people's voices were heard, and now the ruling class had to listen.

This may be the most important reason why Brexit is important. It can just be the beginning of a global domino effect. Rumors were already starting before the referendum that if Britain leaves, other referendums may pop up like the Spexit (Spain), the Itexit (Italy), or Pexit (Portugal). This could be like tugging on the loose string of a knit sweater, one pull, and the whole thing is coming undone.

But compare that to here in the states. People are already polling Hillary Clinton ahead of Donald Trump (with a long election not even ramping up yet), and experts are already ordering the decorations for Hillary's coronation..err...inauguaration. Yet, we still have a long way to go and lots of campaigning left to do. In the face of experts and pundits warning Britons that a vote to Leave would cause utter destruction and mayhem, so too are experts and pundits predicting that a Trump presidency would cause destruction and mayhem. The British spit in the face of the experts and voted for destruction and mayhem, will Americans do the same thing?

In the end, Brexit is an interesting case in the global politics. It could mark the beg

inning of many countries backing off the world stage to focus on their own domestic issues. The people of Britain can't be the only ones who are tired of being subjected and worked for the benefit of the ruling elite. Citizens from all around the world woke up to a Britain that voted in favor of populism and national sovereignty. Who will be next to cast such a vote? Does this vote give hope to those that your voice can make a difference? How much longer will the EU be able to drag on without the UK?

The Brexit results provided many more questions than answers. But one thing is for certain, the Leave campaign touched upon something in voters. They touched on the idea of putting Britain first, and it proved to be a winning strategy when the voters went to the polls. Which brings me to a quote I've heard recently;

"We will no longer surrender this country or it's people, to the false song of globalism. No American citizen will feel that their needs come second to the needs of a foreign country."

That quote was said by the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, long before the Brexit vote.

The Leave campaign won on a strategy of appealing to Britons nationalistic pride.

Will the same happen here in America this year?