Americans( sorry for the controversial topic), what are your perceptions of Brexit?

30 comments

1. While I understand some of their frustrations with the EU, leaving just seems like an all around bad deal for the UK that will do more to hurt them in the long run.

2. It’s no controversial here. Most of us don’t care

3. Voters were lied to a promised things which were demonstrably false by xenophobic demagogues which resulted in a massive self-inflicted wound to the UK’s economy and geopolitical reputation.

4. Always seemed extremely foolish to me. The UK already had more autonomy within the EU then most while reaping the benefits of an economic and political union. From the outside things just seem like they’ve been worse off since, especially since it’s reinvigorated the Scottish Independence movement and tensions in northern Ireland.

5. I honestly don’t care

6. It seemed like a dumb idea at the time. It appears to have been a dumb idea.

7. I think a lot of older Brits really screwed over the younger generations.

8. It was a bad idea and while the fear mongering against was worse than the reality it’s still a pretty shitty deal for Britains.

   And now they wanna violate the Good Friday accords which is like one of the best achievements the US has had in the past 50 years. If they violate it, innocent people will get hurt and no one wants to see the troubles come back.

9. A divided Europe has not been good for the world

10. Populist nationalist movements are on the rise globally. From which I can only surmise a lot of people slept through some key lectures in history class.

11. In terms of how much I care, I don’t really but my opinion is that it created more problems.

12. That having extreme complex issues decided by a majority of voters that don’t understand the impact of what they are voting for is maybe not a great idea.

13. It was a decision rushed into and rushed through. Watching from the outside, the current state of things was pretty easy to predict.

    But from the US, it’s purely a spectator sport. The UK still remains an extremely close ally and a stable, developed democracy.

14. I didn’t pay any attention to it when it was happening, I thought it was a stupid idea when I heard about it first time and I still do

15. It’s your country. Do what you want. It seems to have had more negatives than positives but not my circus, not my monkeys.

16. I think it’s a good example of why it can be bad to directly vote on policy.

17. It was a bad idea. The UK alone doesn’t have the negotiating power the EU as a bloc did, so they’ll get worse deals with the US and others (if the US and UK ever come to a free trade deal). Plus, their trade within the EU is now threatened. They were better in than out, but decades of politicians blaming “Brussels” for every problem (like on immigration to the UK from outside the EU, or refugee policy, which the UK set and not the EU) weighed on the British people.

18. I don’t get it and it seems like it was not thought through very well. Voters focused on the possible benefits, and ignored the costs.

    It also especially annoyed people in Scotland and N. Ireland, and I recall that a fair number of Northern Irish got Republic of Ireland passports so they can continue to travel and work in the EU, if they wanted to. (Not an expert, but I believe Irish law enables anyone born on geographical Ireland to get an Irish passport.)

19. My first thought was that it ruined both a stable international currency and one of the best passports in the world. It seems very short sighted.

    Someone I know was very pro-Brexit between posts on Facebook about how much they were enjoying the expatriate life in Spain, which was a disconnect that made me laugh every time.

20. I’m a dual US/Irish citizen. I think you can imagine I am not a fan. It actually took me a good 30 minutes to organize my thoughts here.

    Keep in mind I am no geopolitical or trade expert but…..it made no sense whatsoever.

    The main thing that drove Brexit was fear of immigration from the developing world. However, the immigrants who got fucked over the most were EU citizens from Eastern Europe. These immigrants from Eastern Europe that are being fucked over by this are going to have to be replaced by people from somewhere else, and those people from somewhere else are likely going to be from the commonwealth countries, many of whom have skin tones and religious beliefs that the UKIP-types were fearmongering about relentlessly. So good job, you voted for more of the immigrants you were trying to prevent.

    On trade, it made even less sense. They are likely to be steamrolled by at least a few of the major players in world trade like the US, China, India, Japan, South Korea, ASEAN, etc. They are just not going to have the leverage that they would have had negotiating as a member of the EU. They are also going to be new at negotiating these big free-trade treaties, some of which can take a decade or more to complete. Speaking of the EU, it is one of, if not the largest and most successful free-trade organizations in history, AND IT’S RIGHT ON THEIR DOORSTEP!. Leaving it was so stupid. Now they either have to trade with the EU while having very little leverage in negotiations or sacrifice their sovereignty even more than what it was while being in the EU and join the European Single market like Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein do, meaning they will have very little say in Brussels over how that market actually works. Again, it makes no sense.

    Then there is the issue of the Irish border. They have been very fucking casual about the delicacy of the Good Friday Agreement and it’s troubling. A hard Irish border would be a disaster for both countries, a return of an imperialist stain on the island that took decades to wash out. I’m glad Biden basically told BoJo that any threat to the Good Friday Agreement would mean kissing a US trade deal goodbye, especially since the US were the ones who brokered the agreement. Putting peace in Northern Ireland in jeopardy is nothing short of reckless and reeks of hubris on the part of the Tories.

    Lastly, I could only roll my eyes at how often the Brexiteers were going on and on about sovereignty, when they were not in the Schengen Zone, not using the Euro, and had many exceptions granted to them on different things that were not granted to other EU members. They had more sovereignty than anyone in the EU and David Cameron was likely to get them even more exceptions to EU rules if they voted to remain.

    So, while I will admit the EU has its problems, it was still a dumb decision and I really wish they didn’t do it.

21. I don’t think too much about what other democracies decide. 😀 I wish that the Britons kept their free travel to the EU, but I’m not British so it doesn’t affect me all that much.

22. We got Trump and you got Brexit for the same sad, stupid reasons.

23. i don’t care. It doesn’t make dislike Britain or think less of you all. You took a vote, and that was the result.

    I do think it hurts some British folks, which I dislike, as i am rather fond of your country.

24. I don’t know enough about the subject for an opinion

25. It’s not a controversial topic here.

    I highly doubt you are going to find very many Americans we strong feelings either way. As a whole we just don’t care that much about the politics of other countries.

    I guess if I had to pick a side, it seems weird to me you wouldn’t want to be part of the EU. But I guess people had their reasons.

26. I don’t care that much, but I think taking back your country’s sovereignty from a large international organization isn’t a bad thing.

27. I want our European and British friends to be economically strong and militarily secure. That’s partly selfish on my part. We live in a dangerous world, and western-style democracy is under assault on all fronts. Your strength is our strength, and vice versa.

    So, I see Brexit as something that has divided and weakened our European and British friends. I’m as sad to see that, as Vladimir Putin was happy. And for all the same reasons.

    It’s not really my business how Europe organizes itself. I just don’t think Brexit has been good for anyone involved, and I hate to see our friends in that situation.

28. I think it was wonderful for Britain to leave the EU.

29. It was a stupid move led by people with bad intentions who more or less tricked the populace into voting for it. Same reason we got Donald J. Trump as President and might get him back.

    I mean really, just think about that. How embarrassing for both of us

30. I used to not understand it (read: I opposed it). but after living in Europe and watching the discord online — I’ve come to sympathize with it. Understanding it’s the result of right-wing populism, which I also despise.

    But being a part of an organization dominated by Germans and French who stick their noses up at you? Bully the rest of Europe? Who are more open to supporting authoritarian regimes in Russia and China? Who you feel so cautious about that you avoid German airspace to deliver weapons to someone who you both are *supposedly* allies with? Pass.