{"id":6358,"date":"2016-06-26T09:15:53","date_gmt":"2016-06-26T13:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6358"},"modified":"2016-06-26T09:15:53","modified_gmt":"2016-06-26T13:15:53","slug":"brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6358","title":{"rendered":"brexit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/photo-1415829994762-1344c5d2dbe9.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-6359\" src=\"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/photo-1415829994762-1344c5d2dbe9-683x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"photo-1415829994762-1344c5d2dbe9\" width=\"654\" height=\"981\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Some say this was far more significant than any development with the Donald or the Hillary. On Thursday evening, most citizens of Great Britain went to sleep seemingly believing they were still part of the European Union (EU) \u2014 a politico-economic structure to which they had belonged since 1973. On Friday, they awoke to a voting result stipulating the opposite. The people voted. With record turnout, 52% chose to exit the EU. \u201cBrexit,\u201d it\u2019s been called. But what does it mean?<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve been told it means a lot of things\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>British Prime Minister David Cameron long articulated that \u201cBritain is stronger, safer and better\u201d as part of the EU. He resigned after the vote.<\/li>\n<li>Pres. Obama \u2014 saying now he will \u201crespect their decision\u201d \u2014 previously said Britain would \u201cfind themselves in the back of the queue\u201d in regard to trade deals, if they exited.<\/li>\n<li>Donald Trump said it\u2019s \u201ca great thing.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>United Kingdom Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said, \u201cWe&#8217;ve got our country back.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>German\u2019s Angela Merkel expressed \u201cdeep regret.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding said, \u201cI truly believe this is one of the most devastating things to happen during my lifetime.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>English actress and model Elizabeth Hurley thought it was excellent, saying, \u201cAnd suddenly the birds are singing.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>And comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted, \u201cTerrible day for Britain. Great day for Twitter though.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The reactions have been nothing less than mixed.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of advocacy or opposition, part of me wonders if the people knew exactly what they were voting for. I sometimes think we listen more to the media, pundits, and politicians than actually exercise individual discernment. As my older, wise bro pointed out, in fact, in the wake of this significant vote, Google Trends listed the top searches in the UK about the EU as follows:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>What does it mean to leave the EU?<\/li>\n<li>What is the EU?<\/li>\n<li>Which countries are in the EU?<\/li>\n<li>What will happen now we\u2019ve left the EU?<\/li>\n<li>How many countries are in the EU?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Did the citizens know what they were voting for? Or were they influenced more by the media and rhetoric as opposed to actually weighing the issues and discerning the outcome <em>(\u2026 sigh\u2026 bet we never do that here\u2026).<\/em><\/p>\n<p>There will be an economic impact \u2014 although the specifics remain uncertain. At one point on Friday, the British currency hit a 30 year low. Note, too, that 3% of American earnings come from England; hence, America will also be affected. But as all good economists know, economic impact is assessed over time \u2014 not in any instant.<\/p>\n<p>So at this point, as an obvious outsider, allow me to make a few observations, absent the media, rhetoric, or any strong opinion on this issue\u2026<\/p>\n<p>First, it will take many months and even years to fully comprehend the consequences of this referendum \u2014 positive or negative. No one has ever left the EU before.<\/p>\n<p>Second, immigration seemed to be a significant driver of this vote; people have wrestled with the wisest way to handle open immigration \u2014 especially with the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe. How does each country find a balance in welcoming the huddled masses yearning to be free, but not allow the influx to alter the values and freedom that prompted their initial attractiveness to the country?<\/p>\n<p>Next \u2014 and perhaps this is a little ambiguous \u2014 but I\u2019m a little uncomfortable by all those \u2014 especially from so far away \u2014 who seem to maintain an \u201cI-know-what\u2019s-best-for-you\u201d attitude. This is Great Britain\u2019s vote. I figure they know better than me.<\/p>\n<p>And lastly, as written in a succeeding LA Times editorial: \u201cIt\u00a0does mean that politicians \u2014 and not just those on the banks of the Thames in Westminster \u2014 need to wake up. On both sides of the Atlantic, governments and politics are not working.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Respectfully\u2026<br \/>\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some say this was far more significant than any development with the Donald or the Hillary. On Thursday evening, most citizens of Great Britain went to sleep seemingly believing they were still part of the European Union (EU) \u2014 a politico-economic structure to which they had belonged since 1973. On Friday, they awoke to a &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6358\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;brexit&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[592],"class_list":["post-6358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event","tag-brexit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6360,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6358\/revisions\/6360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}