The Brexit Vote

I have no idea how this vote will turn out, but I suspect that the opportunity for Britons to leave the Union will lose, and probably by a large margin. What nation wallows in “tradition” more than this one? This is the land of “Downton Abbey,” a country where bowing and scraping at the feet of established authority may have worked its way into the DNA of most of its population. The Brits never fully recovered from the 18th century American colonials’ separation from the Empire; a parting of the ways that was fueled by the liberating ideas of Tom Paine and the Jeffersonian-drafted Declaration of Independence. I have neither heard nor read of any equally inspiring words underlying the Brexit effort. Is there a modern Sam Adams at work in this land of Tories?

The anti-Brexit forces have warned that a break with the EU would be economically disastrous for Great Britain. You know, much as the colonials choosing to depart the Empire destroyed America’s likelihood of ever being creative and productive, right? Right? I sincerely hope I am wrong on my prognosis, and do find it encouraging that, in this land in which the sun never sets on the status quo, a significant number of serfs are at least considering the possibility of living outside politically-structured cages.