As a citizen of the U.S., I sometimes feel insecure about what I may or may not really know about the happenings of the rest of the world, but yesterday, taking into consideration that most of my friends also predominantly live in the United States, my social media feeds nevertheless blew up with news about the U.K.'s EU referendum voting results.

The majority of 52 percent to 48 percent voted for the U.K. to leave the EU. The more I read about what these results meant, the more shocked and worried I became. Most importantly, I thought of one of my best friends who just happens to live in the U.K. As a 26-year-old English resident, Sam Lewis will be directly affected by what the Brexit results will mean for the U.K. —not to the mention the rest of the world — and he's generously agreed to answer some questions to explain the situation from his perspective.

Q: First of all, what were your feelings/concerns in general before the vote results were announced, and what was your initial reaction(s) after?

Sam: Before the results were announced I was hopeful. Worried, but hopeful. Usually, in these sorts of things, there's a not insignificant percentage that just vote for the status quo. Scottish independence for example. That looked practically a certainty before the referendum was held, but they voted to stay. (Much to their eventual disappointment.)

The first thing I did when I woke up today was check the result, and my initial feelings were shock and disappointment. I'm still feeling the second of those, and I imagine I will be for a good while yet.

Q: What are your greatest frustrations/concerns now?

Sam: My greatest concerns are what this represents. Beyond the economic repercussions (which will likely be pretty dire, but we will survive, the U.K. won't trade itself in for the post-apocalyptic, "28 Days Later" aesthetic because of this) this represents a victory for xenophobia and rhetoric over sound thinking and fact. It's a God awful direction for a nation to take. There's also the fact that this will likely fracture the U.K. Scotland (which as mentioned have previously voted on whether or not to leave the U.K.) and Northern Ireland voted pretty solidly to stay in the EU, and there are already noises from both countries about wanting to leave the U.K. to try and seek membership in the EU.

Q: Where do you live in the U.K. and do you know what the voting results were like in your specific area?

Sam: I live in a teeny tiny town called Rugby (yes, like the sport) right in the middle of England, and yeah, I do. The residents of this town voted 56 percent in favor of leaving, as did most of the rest of England. Not surprising given the largely working class nature of this town. Even though the working class are the ones most affected (at least in the short term) they were also the most heavily influenced by the "Brexit" campaign, it seems.

(You can find more info on who voted what and where here )

Q: How do you feel about the propaganda and potential manipulation U.K. politicians have been using surrounding the Brexit issue? For instance, this "Good Morning Britain" video shows Nigel Paul Farage backtracking on his past claims about how the supposed £350 mil pounds a week being put into the EU would, following the U.K. vote to leave, be spent on things like the National Health Service (NHS)?

Sam: To put it mildly, the referendum has been a farce from start to finish. Even a die-hard EU fanboy such as myself knows there were both pros and cons to staying, and anyone who said otherwise was either a liar or simply ignorant of the facts. Every single politician (save one, Jeremy Corbyn, who later got lampooned in the media for being honest) who spoke out about it pretended otherwise. That doesn't say a great deal about the people campaigning. We've had the Brexiters comparing the EU to Nazism. We've had people in the remain camp talking about how it could start a war if we left.

As for that £350 million that we paid to the EU each week, the thing Farage and his merry band of xenophobes (so much for impartiality) didn't want us to know, is that we got a lot of that back. Farmers subsidies for example. British farmers barely scrape by, and they relied on EU subsidies to survive. Obviously, a huge chunk of that money would have to go to them. To say that we're going to have an extra £350 million to put into the NHS was a blatant lie. I'm still scratching my head as to why anyone fell for it.

Q: How are you feeling about the announcement of David Cameron's resignation?

Sam: This is very unfortunate. Don't get me wrong, I despise the man's politics. Given my way, I wouldn't trust him with a goldfish, never mind my country. He is, however, the best of a bad bunch. The potential replacements are all much, much worse. As for why he did it, well, it was inevitable. He invested all of his political capital into this, and he failed. His ability to control his party would be severely diminished. Plus there's the fact that someone who so steadfastly supported us staying in the EU probably wouldn't be the best person to lead us out of it. Even when the other options are all Satan.

Q: Have you been talking to your friends and family about the Brexit voting results, and do they share your thoughts about it? Have you noticed any patterns about how, for instance, older generations are reacting to the results vs. those younger?

Sam: Most of my friends are as gutted about this as I am, because most of them are in my age range. My family are all gutted about it too. As for other people, weellllll, I've made a point today to avoid socializing with people I know would have voted for leave. I don't want to damage any relationships due to how butthurt (disappointed, scared, angry) I am.

Q: Do you worry at all about the potential fading of interest from people outside the U.K.? Or do you think the news is being covered as well as it should be in order to get the word out to those outside the U.K. — like in the U.S. for example?

Sam: From what I've seen, people outside the U.K. have had a far easier time getting impartial information on the referendum, and those that want to be informed on it generally are. In some cases, people outside the U.K. know more about it than those in, which is depressing.

Q: What do you feel is the most important thing for people in the U.S. to understand about this?

Sam: The most important take away from this for the U.S. I think is this: For the love of God, don't count on others to vote the way you want. Don't count on the voting public doing the "sensible" thing (no matter how you see it). Voter turnout for the referendum was 72 percent, which is high, but that's still 28 percent of people who didn't bother to use the voice they're given, and look where it's gotten them. Democracy is a gift, one not all of the world enjoys. Don't be ungrateful, don't count on the populace doing the right thing. Vote.

That's his final message, folks: if you're worried to any degree about the turnout of the U.S. presidential election that will be taking place later this year, vote. It's all right and even admirable to want to have faith in your fellow citizens, but the only way you'll know you did everything you could to get your preferred candidate in the White House — as long as you're of age — is to put in a vote yourself.

Think of Brexit. Think of what you want and envision for the next four years as a resident of the U.S.

And keep whomever may be struggling with the results of the EU referendum in your thoughts.