A few days after the results of the vote on Britain leaving the European Union, the academic elites and the liberal leaders concluded that the common man and woman in Britain can’t be allowed to make such an important decisions as to whether to stay or leave the EU.
Secretary of State for Justice Michael Gove accused the Prime Minister and the Remain campaign as dismissing Britain as, “too small, too poor and too stupid” to contemplate life outside the EU.
A new petition demands a new referendum that requires a 60 percent majority with 75 percent voter turnout before the government should honor its results. I was watching the vote tally on the BBC television, and I found my sensitivity to the words being spoken was enhanced if I closed my eyes. As I listened well into the early morning hours I heard many of the same issues that we talk about in the United States: issues of immigration, falling wages, no growth, high taxes, dilution of public services, etc.
All these issues and more are being discussed right now in the U.S. We have questions about border security, illegal immigration, high unemployment, declining productivity per worker, lost jobs, and the government seems to be out-of-control. So, as I was listening I began to wonder if what happened in the UK is a precursor to what might possibly happen in the USA come November.
It is no wonder that with no increase in wages, lower hours working, higher costs for healthcare, an exploding government, and runaway debt, the American worker wants something different. Prime Minister Cameron staked his career trying to convince the British people that he knew what was right for them and should support Britain staying in the EU. Some might say that Prime Minister Cameron and the other leaders and elites in the UK lost touch with the British people. Can the same be said about America’s leaders?
The people who are supporting staying in the EU were shocked at the outcome of the vote because most of them live in cosmopolitan enclaves like London, where they can go about their business without ever meeting a single person who voted to leave. They’re now questioning the whole process and the right of the English people to decide their own destiny.
“People are waking up to realize that, look, this is potentially a misguided protest vote, but it is a protest vote, and politics is not working for a lot of people,” says Brian Klaas, a fellow in comparative politics at the London School of Economics in a Monitor interview.
Perhaps the success of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump is because they speak to the American people about the things that were important to them. Sanders is perceived to be a socialist and Trump is perceived to be a nationalist. They both ran for the nomination of their traditional parties and as a result have brought about change, if only temporary, in both parties.
The party that ignores the demands of the middle-class in the United States will be the party that will lose the presidential election regardless of how many billions of dollars are spent trying to convince the American people that the wolf in the sheep’s skin is not a wolf. America, just like the people of Britain, wants to change the direction of the country, and in both cases, the elites who had control for long period of time are fighting tooth and nail to maintain control.
Professor Tony Travers said, “London’s economy and politics ‘look so different’ to the rest of the country and it was up to the mayor to decide whether to argue for more power. Maybe moving more decision making to cities and councils could be a solution to the differences within the country.”
There were many banners all over England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland with the simple message from the middle class that June 24th is our “Independence Day.” We in America may well declare that November 8, 2016 is our new, Independence Day.
The day after the vote the capital markets around the world sold off primarily because of the uncertainty of what will happen to the power and influence the EU will have without Great Britain. That volatility will continue for some time until the world adjusts to a new order. Questions are now being asked about other EU member countries whose people might be interested in having their own Independence Day. The greatest risk to the world of the elites is the dismantling of the European Union, can it be all bad?
Dan Perkins is a current events commentator who writes for the hill.com, the daily surge.com, Reaganbaby.