Brexit

As I write this, it appears clear that British voters have voted to leave the European Union.   Or rather, English and Welsh voters have so voted.  Scottish and Northern Irish voters appear to have voted strongly to remain in the EU.

I know.  I'm an American.  This isn't my battle. 

But I have opinions about everything under the sun.  And my opinion is that this has been a tragic decision for Britain, and to a lesser degree for Europe.

Those voters who have longed for a "Little England" -- and their grandparents were longing for it way back in the days of the British Empire -- will get their wish.  Maybe more "little" than they hoped for or wished.  Scots voters, who almost voted for independence in 2014, voted to remain in the EU, where their economic interests lie.  Northern Ireland, struggling to recover from years of violent unrest, will now find immigration and customs barriers erected between itself and the Irish Republic, its leading trading partner.

I can't see any real advantage to the English -- especially if the United Kingdom breaks up -- other than the psychic pleasure of feeling totally sovereign and in full control of their own destiny. 

But in today's world, that may be a specious sense of control.  We are a global and inter-dependent world -- a fact that segments of our own American public find hard to accept.. 

Britannia no longer rules any waves -- either literally or figuratively.  England plus Wales is the lower, highly populated portion of a small island, surrounded by members of the EU.  It will confront tariffs it hasn't had to worry about for many years.  It hopes to tie its fortunes to the English-speaking nations, including the United States, but may find that those nations aren't all that eager to ease the path of their former colonial ruler, and are no easier to get along with than were its partners on the continent. 

Who knows?  Things may work out.  England prides itself on muddling through.  But it has taken a big step tonight toward creating its own muddle.