#Brexit: Ending EU Membership for…?

Alright, this is the first thing that gets to quite a few people here in the US that aren’t quite capable of putting two and two together. Admittingly, if one views the European Union (EU) in a similar light as the United States of America, with each member state of the USA being it’s own country in the case of the EU, then it helps bring things together. For an idea of what we are going to be covering, I am linking the twittwit rant below. Some people expressed that I had good points and I hope to actually expand on it to help reach a larger audience.

Parliament, Representation and Parallels

Okay, so the first thing that comes to mind with us Americans is that the United Kingdom is leaving the EU! It’s almost a dream come true for some, while others are in a complete and utter panic. The one thing that I have seen regarding the events is that a number of Americans, and even some British, can connect to is a seemingly parallel circumstance regarding the United States #Brexit of 1775, when we started off the American Revolutionary War against the Crown. People are not entirely wrong. Circumstance and times change, but fundamental principles behind why we learn not only our own countries history, but the importance of events is why people tend to make connections, even if what they are arguing for is weak.

Another thing that has come to mind is taxation with a lack of representation. As of the Lisbon Treaty, ratified in 2009, limits the total size of the European Parliament (EP) to 751, 1 seat reserved for the President of Parliament. Direct elections are used to put people to the seats, and all countries in the EP have proportional representation. That is, if you take the total number of seats vs. the total number of citizens in each member state countries with larger populations, such as Germany, France and Italy, have more seats for themselves in EP. Smaller members such as Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta receive fewer seats, but also typically will have fewer voices to listen to per person which results in more direct representation.

With the seat allocations described, the countries all have their seats and it is up to every member state to decide how they wish to elect their Members of European Parliament (MEP). Every country functions differently and has different values, and leaving it up to the member states to decide the how typically works out in favor. However, one thing to note is that regardless of the how involved, the Parliament holds re-election every 5 years, in the years ending in 4/9. Hence, the MEP Elections of 2019 will be a bit of a show when the UK is completely out of the EU, as their 73 seats will have to be completely reapportioned.

The parallel for the US, as far as function is supposed to be anyway, is the US House of Representatives (The House). Similar in function, and much smaller in size, the House stands at a membership of 435 seats with capacity to vote and 6 non-voting seats, though those 6 seats still have a voice on the floor and a vote in committee. Those 6 non-voting seats are Washington DC, American Samoa, The US Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico. The House actually has fewer powers than that of the EP, but it is also because of governmental structure that we have two different houses, The House and the Senate. In any case, both the House and Senate have to agree on a law before it can be passed to the White House for a signature.

Seat allocations for the House are quite similar. Proportional representation, based on the most recent census of the time. However, when election years land on a 10th year, such as what we will see come 2020, the allocation will be based off the previous census. California stands as the most populous state, with 53 seats to their name, while there are 7 states with only 1 seat a piece. Doing rough math, the 10 most populous states by census grants them nearly half the seats in the House over all, similar to how it has functioned in the EP.

Now that there is a bit of a parallel that us Americans can see, we’re gonna start taking some moves on what makes #Brexit such a big deal to the other nations in the EU, a bit of other historical parallels and what we could be in store for the future.

Your Country, The Law, and your EU Membership

The EU, as is common-ish knowledge, is a completely optional cooperation between many of the countries within Europe. Even though the United Nations provided a forum for all countries in the world to speak, many countries in Europe wanted something down to a regional level due to the many issues that are faced within that particular area of the world, especially given the historical circumstances of Europe being the home to hundreds of wars and the graves of hundreds of millions in the battles that have raged for centuries. From the Romans, the Greeks of old and the Crusades, all the way through the World Wars and Cold War, millions have died on fields of battle for one reason or another, and the significance of these has shaped and crafted the history and the lines of intrigue between the modern day nations that stand before us in Europe today.

The EU was established shortly after the United Nations was formalized in succession of the United Powers that had existed prior to World War 2. The idea behind the EU was to create a semi-power that provided a way for many of the nations within Europe to come together, trade with each other, and cover each others backs in the advent of a Soviet invasion. Though NATO and many other agreements were in power and made from time to time, the Soviets were only a part of the puzzle when it came to the EU. The EU of today faces terrorist attacks and a massive movement of fighting aged men under the guise of refugees and immigrants from places of hardship and war to their countries. Some have left Europe voluntarily and returned to their countries, but we see the impact of there being millions of people moving into places all over Europe today.

EU Membership, though, is completely voluntary and has some requirements. Aside from being voted into the EU, there are other things that you have to take into consideration. Annual membership fees, certain kinds of laws that would be required within your country in order to retain membership and other such things, and it starts to become somewhat of a parallel to the US. Though we have not seen a Statehood Act since Hawaii and Alaska have been admitted Statehood to the US, there are requirements from the US Government in order to be a part of the States, not withstanding the taxes. Though Federal taxes and State taxes are separate, ultimately the money comes from the pockets of all taxpayers living in those locations. And that money is used for a variety of things, again disregarding locale, also to be used for the expenses of the governments involved.

EU Membership does have it’s own perks. Free movement between member states as long as the person has citizenship within an EU member state is one of the big talking points that everyone seems to want to keep up. Yes, it is a huge deal to be able to travel freely within Europe, as there are some places that you can’t drive for more than an hour without crossing borders frequently. Many countries will still require permits and visas in order to work within their countries and tax laws do vary depending on country of origin and country of work.

But you see, this is where we can diverge from the EU a little bit and look more specifically at the UK. Many citizens are sick of immigrants/refugees coming into their country and sticking around indefinitely because there are some EU member states that are giving out IDs/citizenship to those that come through them heading out to the other nations, only to disappear and ditch those IDs once they reach their destinations. It is difficult to identify all individuals involved and is just as difficult to deport individuals that claim they are from, say, Poland, yet has zero identification for it. And then governments trying to work with each other and figure out the mess that is involved, and you have a boiling cauldron of failure ready to make a mess all over your delicious spaghetti that you can’t seem to keep in your pockets.

What makes things even more strenuous in this situation is that with the loss of accountability for these identifications that are getting handed out is a lack of thorough investigation into the backgrounds of many of the individuals looking for asylum in these circumstances. The people in both the US and the UK aren’t saying that individuals and families with a need for refugee status aren’t allowed in their countries. What the people in the UK are facing with the unending tide of Middle Eastern immigrants is similar to what we in the US have been facing with people from Mexico, Central America and South America for many years now, and what is building up to be a bigger deal with many Middle Eastern people coming this way too.

Put it simply, the people have had enough of the bullshit and they want answers from their representative bodies and their leaders as to why they are allowing a sort of an INVASION to happen of fighting aged men into their countries with zero accountability for them. Look at Sweden and the total number of crimes that have been reported, and the demographic information collected on it. Look at Germany. The mainstream media does not want to report on this kind of news because it would look bad on the larger agenda of the world. That is its own discussion topic there, but the people that do not know how to open a browser and look for various news sources that is not CNN, Fox News or BBC are the ones that are not really in the know of the issues that are part of the larger problem that we have in both the world and our own country.

Cultural Comparisons

To start this off simply, we all know that for many years that the countries in Europe have had it out for each other in one way or another. Countries being rivals for centuries came together during the Great War, namely France and the UK. That rivalry alone extends all the way back to the age of the Norman Conquest, yet they banded against the German Empire that was seeking to conquer all of Europe. Conquering all of Europe has been a goal of many great nations and empires through the ages. About the closest things that came to that very goal was Napoleon and the Holy Roman Empire.

But to put things into perspective in the modern day, there seem to be two major factions if ideology and culture at play, and that is Westernism and Islamic Fundamentalism. Westernism has it’s basis upon the freedom of individuals to choose for themselves what they are, what they represent and the freedom of religion. Islamic Fundamentalism wishes to return to simpler times of the Islamic days where women stayed at home, the religion was everything and that anything that was not Islamic in nature should be eliminated. If one were to look at these two ideas at a high level, you would quickly note that the two powers are fundamentally incompatible.

Cultural compatibility is an important discussion when it comes to uniting peoples from across national borders. Many of the countries within the EU tend to get along with each other, although there are some groups within a variety of places that are more hostile towards each other than others, but that is to be expected when crossing national lines. Hell, we see it here in the US with the various cultures that have developed over the last 100 years. But when peoples that hold beliefs that are fundamentally incompatible with each other and they intermingle with each other, it builds resentment and disgust with others. Some are more tolerable than others. But eventually, you will have people on both sides of the fence that are out for blood.

Once you start forcing the idea that these individuals that hold these fundamentals to be incompatible with each other to be intermingled with each other and cooperate with each other, that resentment grows even stronger, much more so when people go from one place to another in an attempt to take the money from one country and send it to ‘family’ back where ever they have come from. Again, not saying that it is an inherently bad thing, but look at how much money leaves the US to Central and South America on a regular basis. A fair amount of it is from persons who came here legally, and then there are those that are otherwise.

Eventually, the pressure will build up and then bad things will start to happen. Crimes will explode in a relatively short term. Look at Germany and Sweden over the last year or two. Look at how Germany has attacked towns of relatively tiny populations saying they were taking in zero ‘refugees’. There seems to be a bigger plan at play, and the UK says they have had it. At least the citizens in places where it really matters, sorry London. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their reasons why they have voted in favor of staying, and it seems to be economic assistance because they have relatively little wealth compared to the rest of the UK.

The Comparison: American Revolution and #Brexit

The idea behind this takes in the things that we see above. Dissatisfaction in the handling of affairs in the EU, a disregard for the desires of the people in the MEPs and the destruction of their country from within, through its economics and medical facilities. Dissatisfaction can take many forms, and this was a rather peaceful occurance, almost a revolution without a single shot fired. Well, unless you exclude the assassination of an MP literally the day before the vote.

In any case, most of us here in America can parallel #Brexit with the American Revolution because we were dissatisfied with a greater and larger power and said no more. That we wanted to stand on our own two feet and become something more. The UK was part of the EU for over 40 years, and we seen how well that had worked out for them. By the people deciding for themselves that they want to stand on their own, they’re standing up for themselves and for what they believe in, and not some greater good project that has been mismanaged for many years and having some bad laws get thrown into the mix.

The American Revolution resulted in the United States being formed and the British rule overthrown, in part due to taxation without representation (mind you a 3% tea tax, vs the rediculous taxes we pay now) and in part due to there being other laws, such as silencing speech that does not agree with Crown authority and the disarmament of the colonists. The massacre of Boston, the Tea Party and many other events eventually culminated in the Declaration of Independence being drafted as General Washington’s Continental Army was making their moves to secure victory against the British Army, while the Continental Navy would take shape a decade later.

Today, we see Britain saying enough is enough, and that they will never be slaves.They’re almost in a point where they are fighting for their very survival as a British identity because of all the crap that had flowed into places like London.

Long Term Effects

This topic is going to be interesting, and some of it is honestly going to be predictions on my part. But stick with me a bit here as attempting to see the light of the situation and how things could play out.

First off, David Cameron, PM of the UK, has thrown in the towel for the count and will be out of office by October. Implication of this is that there is going to be an election held to appoint a new PM.

Next, there seems to be many MPs in the UK that are out for certain individuals failing for one reason or another. A degree of political upheaval and dissent is expected in these circumstances.

The Scottish Independence movement has already declared that they will hold another referendum to push a vote again to leave the United Kingdom and declare independence. Implications of this will be great but I cannot see a significant economic defeat in these parts. However, Scotland is a home for a major Royal Navy base with the only submarine port that is even remotely accepting nuclear submarines, so that is going to be a significant point of contention.

Northern Ireland has implied that they are likely to implement a referendum themselves as well, as they do not wish to have a border between themselves and Ireland. However, there is also a possibility we could see a new unification of Ireland in the next 20 years, as the isle has not been united in quite some time. It’s funny that Star Trek history pointed out an Irish Unification in 2024, and I’ll link that here for your review here. A united Ireland may not be a bad idea, but there are some cultural differences between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The succeeding PM of France has declared support for #Brexit. Whether a positive political move on her or not we will see in coming days.

People in France, Italy, Holland and Denmark are making calls for referendums to quit out of the EU as well.

Sweden is calling for an emergency meeting as the loss of the UK from the EU, along with all the economic turbulence we will see for weeks, may cost Sweden a significant amount of money on their trade agreements with the British. #Swexit may be a thing in the near future.

Italy has warned the EU to change or watch the entire train come crashing down, in some ways that the Soviet Union did.

When the UK finalizes their leave from the EU, many laws that are in place in the UK are likely to be declared null as they were governed by the EU. This was also going to be one of my talking points about some laws in the UK being mandated by the EU, but it got mixed up some.

Closing this out

Well, this certainly has been one hell of a long topic of discussion and it’s taken me quite a bit of time to type this out between food and water and trying to keep myself awake through this whole thing. This has been quite inspiring to see happening. Throw comments below, hit me up on Twitter, etc etc. Let me know what you guys think, and we can MAKE THIS ARTICLE GREAT… AGAIN.