In the most perverse recesses of my heart and soul, I do too. But I know full well that those urges come from a well of hate and destruction. If I were from the UK I sure as hell would have voted to Remain because the other people who have urges that come from a well of hate and destruction are backwards, cowardly xenophobes who, if they had their druthers, would send us back to China.
And yet somehow, they won. Pundits after the results were announced were shocked that the UK voted to leave. Yet polls indicated the vote would be really tight, and they were -- the margin was 3.8%. These types of polls, especially the ones in Britain, are notoriously unreliable. But I'm thinking that the possibility that people would say they want to leave was there and palpable, so I don't think the result should be a huge shock. Well, the decision of a massive, important country to leave this union after decades is, but there were indications leading up to the referendum that a lot of people wanted to split, so that Thursday's result could even happen should not.
Was it tunnel vision, specifically ignoring the Leave sentiment that is festering in places outside of London, other big cities in England, Scotland, Norther Ireland and Gibraltar? Possibly. The weather seems to have affected turnout too: There was a huge storm around London, which may have discouraged people from voting, and since this is urban London, the people who would have voted would have been those who wanted to Remain.
But the starkest and most profound breakdown is by age. Look at this YouGov chart: People under the age of 40 overwhelmingly wanted to Remain, but those 40 and over (and especially those 60 and over) wanted very much to Leave. And this is a referendum on whether or not the UK will be a part of the EU -- for the future. Murtaza Hussain of The Intercept is right: The old farts in England voted for a future its youth do not want. How fucked up is that?
Then again ... did the youth of the UK actually go out and vote? The BBC put out what I honestly believe is a bad chart, but it looks as though areas with a high concentration of young people were also the areas that, generally, had low turnout for the Brexit referendum. If true, this once again proves that young people want something but won't do a goddamn thing to do it. It's kind of like the Obama Revolution that ebbed after the midterm elections of 2010 and 2014. There are some hardcore liberals -- Bernie Sanders supporters -- who actually are mad at President Obama for not being progressive enough. Oh, he is plenty progressive. He wasn't able to get anything passed because Congress is littered with Republicans. And why is that? Because young people who voted for Obama decided to sit with their thumbs up their asses so these teabaggin' racists could elect people who'll get in Obama's way. And the young people blame Obama. Same thing here.
Finally, in another sign that people (probably from both sides) don't exactly know what the fuck is going on and have weighed in on a decision they don't fully understand, Google searches emanating from the UK after the results were announced showed that a lot of people were trying to figure out what now. One question I have to highlight because I want to make fun of people: The second-most popular search in the UK regarding the Brexit was ... "What is the EU?" Now, one question when there are a bunch of other (smarter) questions that were also asked is not license to make fun of an entire group of people. But really, all I can see is that people were running to the polls with drink in hand thinking this was going to be party time, and then they hear the results and see people cheering and getting all depressed, so they go, "Hey ... what exactly did we vote for?"
And already there's been some talk amongst Leave voters that ... "What?! This vote is for real?!" My God, stupid people don't just come from the US. Honestly, at some point you can't help idiots. Votes have consequences, and you can't just take back your vote once you realize that you don't like what you voted for. So if they want to Leave, fine. Make them go. Make them pay. Britain wants to skedaddle and leave the rest of the EU -- and the world economy -- holding the bag? If hell is what they want, hell is what they should get.
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