(Jun 25, 2016 04:44 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: Listening to the pundits, one gets the sense that this wave of isolationism is not limited to the UK but may extend to other countries as well.
Well, it isn't "isolationism", for one thing. It's
democracy. It's a yearning for freedom, a desire to rule one's self and not be ruled by others. It's the founding principle of the United States, what motivated our Revolution.
Freeing itself from the EU's 'regulations' and 'directives', from European Court of Justice rulings taking precedence over British law, does't 'isolate' Britain. It just reasserts its political independence, its own control over its own affairs.
But yes, the same kind of feelings that led to Brexit in the UK appear to be widespread throughout the EU. Large minorities (and majorities in some countries) want their own referendums on leaving the EU. Euro-skeptic nationalist parties are on the rise in just about every European country. If there's one thing that the people of the EU share in common, it seems to be distrust of the EU and its agenda.
In my opinion, the underlying dynamic everywhere is the people vs their ruling elites. There's a consensus of elite opinion that dominates the media, journalism, political parties, business, finance and academia, that the average citizen no longer feels has their own interests at heart. My feeling is that most Europeans don't even know who actually controls the EU, who makes its decisions in the 'European Commission' or whatever it is in Brussels, and certainly don't feel that those rulers operate in their interest.
So there's a growing desire to be free of it, just as much of middle America longs to be free of the control of the ruling elites of the New York City-Washington DC axis.
Quote:Comparisons are made with the populist xenophobia of Trump.
As far as I'm concerned. "populism" is just a perjorative term for 'democracy'. It means paying attention to what the people want. 'Power to the People'. The alternative is 'oligarchy'.
And it isn't 'xenophobia' to require that foreigners who want to enter a particular country to obey that country's immigration law. Any would-be immigrant needs to demonstrate that they are willing to recognize and honor the laws of the place they want to move. That should be a bottom-line precondition for entry.
Quote:It seems a mass reaction to the recent influx of Syrian immigrants in Europe and an attempt to reassert white privelege and domination in these countries.
British Euro-skepticism existed long before the recent migrant crisis. But yes, the migrant crisis was probably a factor in pushing 'Leave' over the top. It isn't 'racism' for a country to want to have control over its own immigration policies and to tailor them in the interest of that country's people, not the interest of whatever foreigners want to enter. Angela Merkel ignored that because she felt sorry for the migrants, and then tried to enforce her moral feelings on the rest of the EU, shaking the European vision to its foundations. (Germany has a habit of doing that.)