Brexit is a perfect example of old people fucking up young people lives.
this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2026
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Brexit is the single best modern example of why direct democracy is a critically flawed idea.
Direct democracy should have a minimal threshold of mandatory participation/voting otherwise you end up in the Brexit problem of 1/3 yay, 1/3 nay, 1/3 nah can't be bothered.
Brexit is turning into one of those rare political decisions where the people who will live with the consequences the longest were mostly too young to vote on it. Whether rejoining happens or not, the generational divide on Europeβs future is becoming impossible to ignore.
I remember before Brexit, I was still on Facebook. That's been so long I struggle to remember exactly how Facebook worked; mostly you were posting among your own coterie of friends but some places were more public. I remember posting my own "You really don't want to do that" on the subject of Brexit, and some idiot Brit came back with "you yanks don't know what it's like having your laws made for you by politicians you didn't elect 500 miles away."
Motherfucker I live almost exactly that far from Washington DC, out of 435 congressman and 100 senators I get to vote for exactly three of them. The difference between me and the average citizen of the UK is I understand what it means to be a citizen of a federation.
In the words of my grandfather: "You made your bed, now eat it."
But you obviously don't understand what a federation is (hint: the EU ain't one).
I'm a citizen of the United States of America. I know what a federation is, the separation of powers between my state's government in Raleigh and my nation's government in Washington D.C. has direct effects on my daily life.
Per Wikipedia, "The EU is often described as a sui generis political entity combining characteristics of both a federation and a confederation." So it's a Federation Umm Actually. The part where it has a legislature populated by delegates from each member state is the relevant characteristic here, a trait the EU shares with federations.
That Blimey Limey that bitched at me years ago was presumably expressing frustration that the United Kingdom only got to send one representative to the EU Council, and then accused me of not knowing what life is like in the United States of Mitch McConnell.
A few federal traits does not make a federation. My federal government in Berlin impacts me on a daily basis, and it may overrule state or communal governments. My state shares a common constitution with the other states and leaves a bunch of tasks completely on a federal level; they could not function on their own.
The institutions in Brussels on the other hand do not impact me much, mostly because they relate to specific areas like trade or environment. Member states retain a very high degree of sovereignty, so much that the EU constitutes a unique, supranational construct. Non-members like Switzerland or Norway can productively co-exist with treaties, a bureaucratic hurdle the UK has to face now, too.
This blimey limey has been told by rat catchers that Brussels has far more power than it really has. I mean we werenβt allowed to call jam products marmelade because of the brits (this has been reversed yay). Thatβs the level of impact for the average Joe and Jane.
Argue about how specialweshul you are until you're blue with stars in the face. Doesn't change the fact that an idiot with bad teeth said something stupid to me over a decade ago.
I guess not, but he also didnβt start talking semantics. Also, bad teeth have usually financial reasons if dental care isn't part of the healthcare package.
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I really think that it's time to stop bashing the Brits. Esp. those younger brits. There are many Pro-Europeans who got totally fucked by the older generation. Many of those older Pro-Brexit voters do not have to deal with border controls and bad job prospects, because they are dead. No one who is currently under 28 was even allowed to vote.
So stop the senseless bashing and let's try to work together to bring the UK back.
When is the plot from? It would be interesting to compare one plot from 10 years ago with one plot from today to see if the numbers in favour of EU is increasing in the middle age groups as the young people becomes middle aged or if people are losing faith in EU as they grew older.
Edit: okay, since it says leave and remain it has to be from 10 years ago.
Edit: okay, since it says leave and remain it has to be from 10 years ago.
Yes, it's an exit poll from the Brexit vote
I am happy to have them back, but they should get zero special treatment this time. Full benefits, but also full financial responsibility and ideally Euro integration.
Trump and Brexit was 10 years ago.
I feel old.
They need to take the euro and move to pr-st voting.
They had a great deal and fucked it, letting them inwith Farage athe door is disrespectful to us in europe.
Not gonna happen anytime soon.
And there is no majority for it in UK when the reality of rejoining is explained.
- Give up the British pound and switch to Euro.
- Pay full price, the old discount membership is not an option.
- Dismantle FPP elections and House of lords which are both utterly undemocratic, and cause political instability.
- Being willing to allow EU to become even tighter (may imply giving up an additional bit of sovereignty) to be able to work with more new member states, and avoid a Hungary situation in the future.
There is a majority in general that is for reentering, but when the above points are stated, support in the general population drops to about 13%!!
It's probably higher among younger people, but without mentioning the above points, no poll on reentering is worth anything, because they are polling a pipedream.
They really didn't grasp at all the sweetheart deal they had with the EU... other countries would have killed for that.
It reminds me so much of the Americans complaining about their position in NATO and the "world policeman" that they fought tooth and nail to get because of the huge amounts of soft power it grants in negotiations and generally shaping world policy.
The irony of a Republican working to undo that... Kissinger's gotta be able to power a small country with how fast he's spinning. Ultimately, good for the world in the end, but another pretty hilarious example of a nation misinterpreting a boon as an albatross around the neck and shooting themselves in the foot by getting rid of it lol.
Yes, the privileged tend to think they are somehow entitled to their privileges.
I guess both UK and USA have been fucking around too much, and are in the find out phase now.
I'm a British voter and I see no deal-breakers.
Good, IMO they shouldn't be. ;)
But to be fair I forgot what for some is the biggest deal breaker, which is the Schengen agreement that allows free travel for EU citizens within EU. Which of course again IMO is another benefit, not a drawback. But propaganda uses it to stir up xenophobia.
As an EU citizen I too don't see any problems in the above points. Getting a better democracy would seem to me to be a HUGE bonus. But sometimes Brits are a bit stubborn, and they want special treatment because they believe in British exceptionalism.
UK always considered itself separate from continental Europe, and somewhat superior to the rest of Europe. Which for decades was true, because UK were first to industrialize, and was immensely wealthy from having colonies and the world reserve currency.
But when that broke down after WW2, UK declined quickly and became a "normal" country. But the mentality never really followed the reality.
At least that's how I understand it.
But maybe the steep drop in support when the points are presented isn't so much because they are against them, as maybe they don't quite understand them, or think UK can get a better deal.
What for instance does it mean to switch from GBP to EUR? That's probably not so clear for everybody.
Good, IMO they shouldnβt be. ;)
yeah I didn't have any issues until that, fuckin creepy.
Why is it creepy to say that for instance better democracy shouldn't be an issue?
And UK has to pay the same as everybody else!
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Sadly, it'll take years for the UK to rejon the EU, and only if there's a government that actually wants it too.
There are unbelievable levels of bureaucracy in the entire process. Tons of topics to negotiate, requirements to meet and verify.
There's at least one country that will become a new EU member before the UK rejoins. Possibly 2 or 3, depending on how the others do.
It's just sad how much time and resources were wasted because of this idiotic move. So many Brits could be living considerably better lives, but instead they have to deal with this shit for like 20-30 years in total. But hey, the politicians got their votes, ruled the country for a while, and they're set for life.
and of course, no special treatment this time.
Decades*
That's how long it takes.
Not only would UK not get any special deal, but they would have to align in terms of anti-corruption, monetary policy, infrastructure, health, food, commodity, energy sector planning.
Facilitating corruption is the biggest single component of the UK economy, ain't no way its ever meeting those requirements.
Very true. It'd have to completely revise most of its policies. As an existing member, it could have negotiated special terms or just stalled, but as a candidate, it has to follow requirements to the letter.
Kind of like an existing employee at a company can slack off or make silly mistakes, but a candidate on an interview cannot, because they just won't get accepted.
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Please, no. The UK held the EU back. They'd had to change their political system first. We don't need them pushing Chat Control and other crap in the EU too.
Look no further than the EU to push chat control by themselves.
Doesn't mean we need to invite another country that's pro total surveillance.
I'm 46, I'm not young!
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