This past week the UK had a historic event occur: they country voted to leave the European Union. Being in Europe for the past month I have had a front row seat to the show and I have been surprised at how similar the campaign has been to the US presidential campaigns. What sticks out the most to me is how much of the campaigns are fueled by fear and a lack of knowledge, popularity contests in politics and the lack of voting from young adults. Political leaders have stepped down, been fired, and been questioned. Within 24 hours the "regrexit" term was being thrown around.
It honestly seems like a big mess to me, when I always thought that places in Europe, particularly the UK had it's stuff together when it came to politics. I mean the parliament members refer to each other as "the honorable sir/madame" when talking in the House of Commons. They have to be much more civilized and polite then us Americans, right? Wrong.
Xenophobia and the fear of immigrants and refugees
Britain holds a very special position in Europe since it is an island and not actual part of continental Europe. However getting from Europe to England is not a difficult task. I can witness first hand how extensive the train systems are and how cheap travel all across Europe is. So it shocked me that one of the big arguments for the Brexit was control of who can come in and out of the UK. This is so appallingly similar to the US-Mexico border issue. People feel very strongly about "controlling the border" in both countries. However when Parliament met for the first time on Monday the 27th, one British MP said something along the lines of how you can't expect access to the free market if you don't allow access to yourself as well, which seems so obvious but fear seems to beat out logic. I understand why people are scared, it seems like every few weeks now there is some terrorist attack in Europe. But living life in fear is no way to live and it certainly doesn't help your country.
Politics has become a circus show
Let's be real the current American presidential race is like a bad reality tv show that none of us can stop watching. It is like a popularity contest at a high school: guys who is going to be prom queen though?! Other countries have been making fun of us the whole time, but the tables have turned. The few days following the Brexit vote were a total shitshow in UK politics. Within just a few days the prime minister announced he would be stepping down and the opposition party (labour party) went to hell. The leader of the labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, has been urged to step down and actually fired several members of the shadow cabinet fired when he heard talks of a coup being started against him. I mean this sounds like the plot to a bad daytime soap opera, this can't actually be happening in UK politics right now?
Young Adults lack of involvement
Only 36% of 18-24 year olds voted in the referendum. That means only a third of young adults voted yet the majority of young adults are furious at the outcome. If this doesn't remind you of American politics than nothing will. In American, and clearly in the UK too, young adults have very strong views on political issues yet over and over again fail to turn out and vote when it matters. Why? Why are we able to voice our opinions so loudly on social media but can't take 5 minutes of our day to actually make a difference? No one actually thought that Brexit would happen and yet it did, showing that yes every vote does matter.
As Americans we should pay very close attention to the Brexit vote and next few months for the country because it is a pretty good mirror of what is happening in our own politics. No matter what your political views are hopefully this can be an example for how important it is to get out and vote on election day.
