02-26-2020, 02:17 PM
(02-05-2020, 11:01 AM)Doook Wrote: Barq, every new thread I read seems to have your fantastic insight. I’m new to this place and absorbing so much. Thank you
Thank you Doook, that's very nice of you to say.
I'll admit to being Brexit obsessed, but that's because I think it is a terrible idea. I have friends on both sides - some wanted to leave the EU because they believe in localism. Ok, fair enough, I respectfully disagree, but they aren't coming from a position of hatred for the "other". However nationalism is on the rise in the UK. Hate crimes that aren't obviously connected to the EU/Brexit jumped just after the referendum. For example, homophobic hate crime went up 150%... I guess it's all those Europeans flooding over here and stealing our jobs gay men... (Obviously I'm being ironic!)
The problems with having a referendum on the UK leaving is that it is a representative democracy. Furthermore a binary referendum is a very blunt instrument. The vote was a bit like having a referendum on whether to go out for a meal or not. Going out for food wins, but it's not clear what where people want to go and eat.
Basically it comes down to 1) pointless Brexit where the UK follows EU rules to continue trading but has no control over the rules (i.e. the total opposite of the "Take Back Control" campaign); 2) dramatic Brexit where the UK really does break from the EU at which point a whole load of manufacturing is in deep trouble.
So far the lost growth in GDP has been more expensive than the entire cost of membership since it joined in 1973. As you might have noticed I'm not a fan of the whole thing. In fact I'd say it is the most serious crisis for the UK since WWII. At this time the UK has technically left but in its transitional phase very little has changed. We can't fully judge the effects until this comes to some sort of conclusion.