Member-only story
Brexit: A Nasty Little Future
How the forces of populism are driving Britain to fragmentation and tyranny
Back in 2016 the United Kingdom held a referendum. The choice was between two polar opposites: leave the European Union or remain in the European Union. No details were provided of what the implications of leaving would be, nor was any nuance permitted. It was a binary choice and everyone old enough to vote could have their say in true democratic fashion.
No informed intelligent person believed for a moment that Brexit would triumph. There was no reason at all for the UK to abandon a highly successful economic union that also had created a framework for human rights largely based on UK input and that was contributing massively to UK economic success. But as we all know, very few people are intelligent and well-informed. The Brexiteers won the day by a narrow margin and the UK committed itself to a program of self-destruction accompanied by lots of patriotic flag-waving and heartwarming racism.
How did the British get themselves into such a mess?
For most of the 20th century the UK Conservative (Tory) Party was devoted to stasis and then to managing decline. The ineptitude of Tory leaders made World War II inevitable, and that war bankrupted the already-shaky UK economy. Instead of being able…
