Brexit

I must confess that until late last week, I didn't even know this was on the agenda.  Unlike a lot of Brits, who like to meddle in our politics, I don't have much interest in their internal politics.  But yesterday, the Brits voted to leave the European Union.  It's been called the Brexit, short, I guess, for the British Exit.  How quaint.

The Brits weren't among the first countries to form what originally was known as the European Economic Community. The origins of the attempt to form a United States of Europe were to be found in the aftermath of World War II, when Euros wanted to create more economic stability to stave off a possible third world war.  It was a noble experiment that veered off the stated path.

Over the course of the next five or six decades, countries that joined what eventually became known as the European Union ceded sovereignty to a centralized government.  Regulations became Gordian knots of complicated rules.  For an insular country like Britain, frustration grew at what was viewed as a worsening of its position by virtue of having joined the EU.

All of that is for the Brits to decide; as I said, unlike them, I don't meddle in their internal politics.  But there are some interesting parallels between Brexit and our upcoming elections.

One of the biggest reasons Brits voted to leave the EU is the relaxed immigration rules that prevail in on the continent.  Movement between countries is very easy for citizens...or refugees, as it's turning out.  With the Chunnel now connecting Britain to the Continent, that means that refugees, which increasingly include terrorists masquerading as refugees, can gain access to Britain once they get into an EU country on the Continent.  What with the terrorist attacks that have occurred on the mainland and in Britain, this is not an inconsequential concern. 

Finances are also addled in the EU.  Greece, having been propped up by member nations a year or two ago, is hardly doing that much better.  Germany, France and Britain have been financing countries whose largesse has weakened the finances of the membership.  This can't be a positive thing for the British electorate.

The similarity with the groundswell in the United States is very clear.  There is a sizeable if largely silent majority of people who are frustrated and angry about the porous borders.  People are upset that immigration laws are bent and twisted with no reason to allow people not only to arrive here illegally, but also to stay here and derive governmental benefits at the public trough.  Beyond that, the situation at the border is alarming because it allows for terrorists to use the flow of illegal immigrants as a Trojan horse to enter the country and set up their operations on our soil.

Likewise, the spending issue that plagues Washington is gnawing at people. The Leftists' mantra of 1% versus 99% has people looking at each other and wondering why, if they're not in the 1%, their paychecks are being used to subsidize freeloaders.  Washington itself spends recklessly.  People are annoyed and more.

It would appear that populist movements against excessive government are beginning to take root in not only the United States but also abroad.  Apparently, referenda in France and the Netherlands are being scheduled for similar exits.

Contrary to Leftist claims, people don't want more government.  They confuse the notion of entitlements as a desire to be governed more closely.  The one -- entitlement -- deceives the giver into thinking that it is what is desired when it is what is given is desired.  If the recipient could receive it without strings, it would gladly do so.  The only reason the giver keeps getting votes is because it gives; this mirage of politics continues to bedevil Leftists.

Ironically, the same day as the Brexit vote the United States Supreme Court voted to uphold a lower court ruling that held that the President's executive orders violated the constitutional separation of powers.  Thus, four million illegal immigrants who were protected by the President's illegal executive orders now are deportable.

The power resides in the people, not in governments.

That was why we had a revolution in the first place.

(c) 2016 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles