Dear Crabby,
It’s been about a week now since the United Kingdom broke up with the rest of Europe. Do you think other countries will also decide they want to leave? And does that mean the U.S. is in trouble?
Thanks!
Ella Europa
Dear Ella Europa,
I assume you’re referring to Brexit. Good to know it’s not just celebrities that get these ridiculous compound names. But talk about buyer’s remorse. After a close vote—almost 52 percent said ‘see ya!’ while 48 percent wanted to remain—the world woke up the next day with the worse financial headache in years. I mean the last time the British pound was that low was in the ‘80s. Shoot! If you’re as old as me, you probably remember learning in history class that the British empire was unshakable. Something about the sun never setting on it. Now, all of a sudden their Prime Minister is resigning and everyone has lost their minds coming up with one world-ending scenario after another. As for other countries jumping ship, in 2014 Scotland tried unsuccessfully to gain freedom from the UK and they’ve already begun talking about taking another crack at it. And while not a country, for decades the province Québec has attempted to say, ‘au revoir’ to Canada. Bless their maple leaf-shaped hearts. Why stop there? If memory serves me correctly, even Texas has thought about parting ways with the rest of the country. Might as well make it official and then Hank Williams, Jr. would be happy. What a mess, eh? I think everyone should just take a collective breath before continuing all this ‘sky is falling’ rhetoric. And I get that the UK’s decision to say ‘cheerio!’ impacts a lot of different areas like trade and finances, and of course the United States. All that means is that U.S. voters out there need to make sure they’re paying attention and doing their homework about the issues and candidates. Don’t be gullible and take everything handed to you at face value. Yes, I know some politicians can be slipperier than a pig in grease, but that doesn’t mean you get to blame them for your poor decisions after the fact (I’m looking at you Brexit ‘leavers’). And for goodness sake, if you’re not registered to vote, get cracking! I don’t want to hear any bellyaching about that either. That’s how I could see the U.S. getting in trouble: by not having informed citizens and thinking their vote doesn’t matter. Too many people have died giving us that right, so don’t disrespect them. This election season has already been a joke. Let’s not give the rest of the world the punchline by doing something stupid. Oh. One final thing that may have gotten lost in all of the hullabaloo: Parliament still has to vote on whether or not to approve the breakup with the European Union. So, all may not be lost… yet.
Hope that helps!
Dear Crabby
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