It was utter stupidity. The only nation in the history of the world to impose economic sanctions on its self. The nation was lied to so a select few very rich people could make their lives easier.
Do you know what the most googled term was after the referendum? “What is the EU?”
The only nation in the history of the world to impose economic sanctions on its self
A very naïve view on how the world works. There are plenty of countries that have voted for secession, and secession will always have an economic impact.
It can only be considered stupid if there was enough information to understand the effects of the decision prior to taking it. Because of the lies and money spent on campaigns, the relevant information was tainted. Sitting on your high horse and calling people stupid is never going to convince people to change their minds.
The most googled search reference of 2016 was not “What is the EU?”. It did not even strike the top 10.
I agree Brexit was a bad decision, but two wrong don’t make a right. Attacking people for being misinformed is not an intelligent choice imo.
Attacking people for being misinformed
But, I was told people were not stupid and they knew what they were voting for. How dare I assume they didn’t understand the implication and how dare I think I know more about it than they did.
I understand your point that attacking people and calling them stupid wont “make them change their mind”. But they had the time to research and understand the implications before the referendum. They’ve had much more time now to go back over it.
Banging your head on the wall pretending it won’t hurt, doesn’t make you misinformed or need education. It makes you stupid and it needs to be called out. I don’t need to convince someone that banging their head on a wall will hurt.
Sadly, I do need them to stop banging their head on the wall. As it’s a shared house and we’ve all got to live here. Holes in the wall ain’t helping anyone.
If they were misinformed then it was willful ignorance. Anyone with several functioning brain cells could see that it was an idiotic idea. And then they had an infinite number of opportunities to roll it back, but they decided to swim to the bottom of the boiling lake instead of just saying “maybe not.”
The people who heard Gove say they’d “had enough of experts” and thought: “yup that’s me, I hate people who know what they’re talking about”.
It’s obviously condescending to say that it was stupid. But what’s the more generous read of it? A spiteful protest vote against social progress? There could conceivably be coherent arguments for independence, but certainly there weren’t any anywhere near the leave campaign.
It can only be considered stupid if there was enough information to understand the effects of the decision prior to taking it. Because of the lies and money spent on campaigns, the relevant information was tainted. Sitting on your high horse and calling people stupid is never going to convince people to change their minds.
Sorry but I find this naive. The information was there. We have a highly literate population and widespread technology that means the vast majority of the adult population have instant access to unparalleled levels information through a user-friendly device carried in their pockets. It is unacceptable for them to use ‘I don’t have a PhD in economics’ as an excuse for not bothering to inform themselves before voting, in this day and age.
I agree there were lies and disinformation, but for many Brexiters this isn’t what decided their vote. Indeed, many of them were crystal clear that they thought Brexit was a desirable outcome regardless of whether it would cause economic damage - 61% of Leave voters saying significant economic damage would be a price worth paying, 39% going further and saying they’d consider it acceptable if Brexit led to them or their family members losing their jobs.
We shouldn’t make excuses for these people. Call a fool a fool.
Sorry but I find this naive. The information was there. We have a highly literate population and widespread technology that means the vast majority of the adult population have instant access to unparalleled levels information through a user-friendly device carried in their pockets.
Typical gaslighting narrative. Everything was there right in front of your face.
I have a 70 year old living next door to me who was bragging about having her first email address last month. It is this sort of ignorance that you conmen rely on.
C’mon man.
An article from The Times?
A magazine based in the US; with search terms involving the US election, hurricanes, and the Powerball?
These are obviously search terms exclusive to the US.
Here are the 2016 search results directly from The Goog, itself - but from the UK - y’know, where Brexit happened.
While not number 1 under the “What is” section, it does pop as #4, alongside “What is Brexit” at #2.
Do you know what the most googled term was after the referendum? “What is the EU?”
It was top in a sub category of a specific country. This is not what the poster said. All I am saying is keep the arguments for rejoining genuine. Don’t give the conmen ammunition to feed on.
agree with this but just to add that the assertion that “what is the eu” was the most googled term is wrong, but slightly less wrong if you refer to a uk source, it’s still not there but “what is brexit” and “what is article 50” did appear in the top tens by region. source: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/top-google-searches-trends-2016-uk
There was a top trending search within the UK for “Brexit”, which was also within a sub category. I am sorry but this is a far cry from what you said. I agree Brexit is bad, but using information that is not correct gets swooped up by the con artists that try and push the Brexit narrative.
It is very disingenous of you to compare actual independence referendums to the brexit referendum. Those are all about national entities gaining indepence from other national entities. That is not what brexit is, and EU is not a national entity. So those events are not comparable in the slightest.
EU was a trade union, and it was objectively a net benefit for the UK (since it was the biggest market for the UK), and has nothing to do with national independence referendums, even though that is of course what brexit propagandists wanted brexit voters to think it was.
And this is exactly why this particular event is monumentally stupid and without historical precedence.
I would never argue it was not stupid. I am against calling the people stupid as it solves nothing.
As for the rest of your comments that is just down to definitions. The UK was most definitely part of a trading block and took part in the political structure. This is much akin to saying a town is not a city.
Sorry, just a bit angry about it. None of the lies have come true and the politicians refuse to talk about it like it hasn’t made things worse in the country.
