It's the biggest political event of the summer and it's not even the United States's fault. Yes, this week the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a historic vote that felt like it was going to fall towards remaining in the European Union. The common American might be going " WTFis happening now in England, Ireland, and Scotland?" So, basically, the U.K. voted on Thursday, June 23 on whether they should remain part of the European Union or whether they should leave it all together. Everyone who could vote came out but ultimately the U.K. decided that they should leave rather than stay with the E.U. The referendum won by a historic 52 percent to 48 percent. More than 30 million people voted in this decision which is insane because the last time there was a huge turnout like this, it was in the 1992 election. Crazy right!?
So ultimately, you might be wondering what the hell is going on and what do these fancy British words mean and which side is what?
So the side to stay with the European Union were worried that leaving might diminish the United Kingdom's prosperity, lessen the influence over worldly affairs, threaten national security and cause trade barriers between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Ultimately, this would cause the United Kingdom to have a decrease in jobs and just lead to no business between the United Kingdom and the European Union. On the flip side, the leaving side believed that the borders of the United Kingdom would be controlled better, save billions of pounds in fees and allow the United Kingdom to be its own person. Ultimately, this side felt like leaving was the best decision for the United Kingdom at the moment. They wanted to limit the amount of people coming into the country and focus on becoming a more "United States of Europe." The figuring out of splitting the United Kingdom from the European Union will take about two years but that's a lot of fixing nearly 40 plus years of peace and harmony. You just cannot try to patch that with two years.
Ultimately, this is not what the United Kingdom needs right now and it makes some Brits ashamed to be British. That's never a good thing, just FYI. Now the Prime Minister, David Cameron, is stepping down in October because he feels like he let Britain down in the referendum. The front leader to lead the Tory party and become the Prime Minister is Boris Johnson. Let's be real here, nobody wants a Donald Trump look alike to be the Prime Minister of their country. Nobody.
Due to the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, Scotland will probably once again vote to leave the United Kingdom and this time around, they will be successful. Since a majority of Scotland voted to remain part of the European Union. It raises the question of whether or not Northern Ireland will finally kick the United Kingdom to the curb because they should after this incident.
If anything, this just proves that America might have this same wake-up call this November. Do your research on each party and what they represent and if they represent your best interest. The majority of voters in the United Kingdom were googling what the referendum meant after they casted their vote. So basically, do your research before you cast a vote in one of the most important and historic election race that the United States has had in a long ass time.
