The United Kingdom鈥檚 vote to leave the European Union is a serious matter, no doubt about it, but let鈥檚 wait a while before we panic. At the same time, let鈥檚 not hesitate to learn lessons from Thursday鈥檚 referendum, in which Britons voted 52 per cent to 48 per cent to leave the EU.
The vote has sparked a tsunami of gloom-and-doom predictions and much hand-wringing over the terrible things that will inevitably follow. Those concerns are not imaginary 鈥� there will be heavy consequences that go beyond Britain and the EU. The global economy is a fact of life, and the EU is a major sector of that economy.
As the results of the vote were announced, currencies and stock markets plunged, in what some see as the beginning of more havoc to come.
Political instability in Britain and Europe will spill over borders and across oceans. Scotland, in which the majority voted to stay in the EU, is already musing about another independence referendum. There鈥檚 talk of a vote on the reunification of Ireland. The United Kingdom faces a real risk of no longer being united.
We will all feel the impacts, political as well as economic.
But a reasoned, logical approach is needed. Hysteria and irrationality brought the world to this point; more hysteria won鈥檛 help. Everyone needs to take a breath, calm down and examine the facts. And then get down to work on what is a tangled, complex, difficult problem.
And while the experts are tackling that Herculean task, the rest of us should reflect on what led to the outcome of the British vote.
Xenophobia and racism were huge factors, as Leave proponents shamelessly stirred up fears of hordes of immigrants, especially Muslims, threatening British values. Sound familiar? That鈥檚 one of the warped planks of Donald Trump鈥檚 ramshackle platform as he plunges his truth-challenged way toward the U.S. presidency. Similar sentiments are on the rise in France, Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries. Let鈥檚 do what we can to keep such ugliness out of Canada.
The Brexit referendum was also a populist rebellion, a vote against the establishment, academic elites, wealthy corporations and politicians out of touch with the public. Facts often take second place to emotion in such uprisings, but the fear and anger involved are based on realities that should not be discounted. People who believe they have nothing to lose, who think they are overlooked, can be dangerous if ignored.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, although he led the Remain campaign, is to blame for this fiasco 鈥� he promised the referendum in a strategy to keep his fractious party together. He is not the first, nor will he be the last, person to sacrifice the public good for political gain. It can happen here; it does happen here, and we should be on guard.
As we should be on guard against those who campaign on an oversimplification of a complex issue, boiling it down to Yes or No, promising a new and better world if you pick the right answer.
Britain鈥檚 exit from the EU is a momentous development, one that creates a set of serious, urgent problems. But let鈥檚 not meet urgency with panic and haste. Let鈥檚 not repeat the mistake of seeking one simple answer for a situation that requires multiple solutions.
