british frantically googling what e.u. is, hours after voting to leave

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/24/the-british-are-frantically-googling-what-the-eu-is-hours-after-voting-to-leave-it/

(sighhh)

[Antonio the Sixth]

This whole debacle is making it very hard to keep any shed of faith in democracy.

[Helsinkian]

Why is everyone presuming that it's the Leavers who were googling that question? It seems more likely to me that it was the non-voters who were doing that.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Why is everyone presuming that it's the Leavers who were googling that question? It seems more likely to me that it was the non-voters who were doing that.

I'd argue nonvoters deserve even more blame and scorn than leavers.

[Wells]

http://metro.co.uk/2016/06/24/man-who-voted-for-leave-says-he-thought-his-vote-wouldnt-count-wins-moron-of-the-year-award-5964450/

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The arrogance displayed in this thread is why you guys lost.

[Helsinkian]

So apparently this "frantic" spike in googling "what is the EU" means that about 1,000 Britons were googling that question after the referendum: https://medium.com/@remysmith/very-interesting-article-ill-admit-to-having-succumbed-to-that-against-which-you-re-railing-f82fb88d6a23#.x9l3aydz7

[Antonio the Sixth]

The arrogance displayed in this thread is why you guys lost.

I lost nothing. The only ones who lost something are Britons.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The arrogance displayed in this thread is why you guys lost.

I lost nothing. The only ones who lost something are Britons.

Sometimes you gotta lose a few pounds after a bad breakup. Then you'll gain them back (which already happened).

[Antonio the Sixth]

The arrogance displayed in this thread is why you guys lost.

I lost nothing. The only ones who lost something are Britons.

Sometimes you gotta lose a few pounds after a bad breakup. Then you'll gain them back (which already happened).

What do you mean? The real damage hasn't even begun yet. Even former Brexiters understand it, and are already trying to do all they can to backpedal without looking like they're betraying the people's will.

[Associate Justice PiT]

The arrogance displayed in this thread is why you guys lost.

I lost nothing. The only ones who lost something are Britons.

Sometimes you gotta lose a few pounds after a bad breakup. Then you'll gain them back (which already happened).

What do you mean? The real damage hasn't even begun yet. Even former Brexiters understand it, and are already trying to do all they can to backpedal without looking like they're betraying the people's will.

     The damage will be so brutal, they'll end up like one of those poor non-EU countries like, um, Switzerland. Heaven forfend!

[Antonio the Sixth]

The arrogance displayed in this thread is why you guys lost.

I lost nothing. The only ones who lost something are Britons.

Sometimes you gotta lose a few pounds after a bad breakup. Then you'll gain them back (which already happened).

What do you mean? The real damage hasn't even begun yet. Even former Brexiters understand it, and are already trying to do all they can to backpedal without looking like they're betraying the people's will.

     The damage will be so brutal, they'll end up like one of those poor non-EU countries like, um, Switzerland. Heaven forfend!

You mean the Switzerland that pays into the European funds and enforces freedom of movement just like Britain did until now? I'm sure Farage and Johnson will have fun explaining that to their voters.

[Associate Justice PiT]

The arrogance displayed in this thread is why you guys lost.

I lost nothing. The only ones who lost something are Britons.

Sometimes you gotta lose a few pounds after a bad breakup. Then you'll gain them back (which already happened).

What do you mean? The real damage hasn't even begun yet. Even former Brexiters understand it, and are already trying to do all they can to backpedal without looking like they're betraying the people's will.

     The damage will be so brutal, they'll end up like one of those poor non-EU countries like, um, Switzerland. Heaven forfend!

You mean the Switzerland that pays into the European funds and enforces freedom of movement just like Britain did until now? I'm sure Farage and Johnson will have fun explaining that to their voters.

     The point I took away from your post was that Brexit is going to cause long-term damage to the country. I certainly concur that it will not work out just as planned or hoped for by its supporters (such complex political processes seldom do), but I think Great Britain will do just fine for itself.

[ingemann]

The arrogance displayed in this thread is why you guys lost.

I lost nothing. The only ones who lost something are Britons.

Sometimes you gotta lose a few pounds after a bad breakup. Then you'll gain them back (which already happened).

What do you mean? The real damage hasn't even begun yet. Even former Brexiters understand it, and are already trying to do all they can to backpedal without looking like they're betraying the people's will.

     The damage will be so brutal, they'll end up like one of those poor non-EU countries like, um, Switzerland. Heaven forfend!

You mean the Switzerland that pays into the European funds and enforces freedom of movement just like Britain did until now? I'm sure Farage and Johnson will have fun explaining that to their voters.

     The point I took away from your post was that Brexit is going to cause long-term damage to the country. I certainly concur that it will not work out just as planned or hoped for by its supporters (such complex political processes seldom do), but I think Great Britain will do just fine for itself.

There are two different scenarios.

1: UK do alright, because they change from being a EU member to a client state of EU like Norway and Switzerland.

2: UK start trading via WTO rule, over the next decade UK grows (comparitive to EU) poorer and more and more irrelevant, slowly falling down the list over the world's biggest economies.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Moderate hero time. Most of the voters, both for Bremain and for Brexit, probably had little idea about how the EU works. I'd say most of the voters in remaining EU countries doesn't know much either.

Let's just face it, uninformed voters are a fact.

[ingemann]

Moderate hero time. Most of the voters, both for Bremain and for Brexit, probably had little idea about how the EU works. I'd say most of the voters in remaining EU countries doesn't know much either.

Let's just face it, uninformed voters are a fact.

You're correct, of course even as a EU supporter I have to admit that EU doesn't make it easier for itself, of course the fact that the description of EU in English seem much more confusing than in for example Danish (where Tusk is EU præsident (president) and Juncker is EU formand (foreman) in daily talk) doesn't help either.

Of course the biggest problem EU have is that it listen to what people says and not what they mean. People say that EU need to be more democratic, EU increase the power of the parliament and elect Juncker president of the Commission, which was much more democratic than how the presidents of the commissions was elected in the past. The truth was that people didn't want that. In fact most people would be much happier if EU was just some background thing like the Council of Europe (which nobody hate, even through it also affect us everyday), even if it did the same as it do today.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Moderate hero time. Most of the voters, both for Bremain and for Brexit, probably had little idea about how the EU works. I'd say most of the voters in remaining EU countries doesn't know much either.

Let's just face it, uninformed voters are a fact.

You're correct, of course even as a EU supporter I have to admit that EU doesn't make it easier for itself, of course the fact that the description of EU in English seem much more confusing than in for example Danish (where Tusk is EU præsident (president) and Juncker is EU formand (foreman) in daily talk) doesn't help either.

Good point. I really wouldn't mind combining the two offices, as long as it wouldn't be filled by a smoke-filled room full of individual country leaders.

[Taco Truck 🚚]

The arrogance displayed in this thread is why you guys lost.

I lost nothing. The only ones who lost something are Britons.

Sometimes you gotta lose a few pounds after a bad breakup. Then you'll gain them back (which already happened).

What do you mean? The real damage hasn't even begun yet. Even former Brexiters understand it, and are already trying to do all they can to backpedal without looking like they're betraying the people's will.

     The damage will be so brutal, they'll end up like one of those poor non-EU countries like, um, Switzerland. Heaven forfend!

London has a bigger population than Switzerland... among a bunch of other differences that are too numerous to name.  This is like the ol' let's have tax rates like Ireland argument.  Stop cherrypicking these tiny countries and trying to extrapolate results countries ten times their size with far more diverse geography, populations, religions, cultures, etc.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The "Swiss model" would mean they'd still be paying into the EU funds, be subject to EU norms, and keep freedom of movement - ie, the 3 things the Leave campaign complained about. As I said, I'm sure the 17 million Leave voters will be very happy about that.

[parochial boy]

The "Swiss model" would mean they'd still be paying into the EU funds, be subject to EU norms, and keep freedom of movement - ie, the 3 things the Leave campaign complained about. As I said, I'm sure the 17 million Leave voters will be very happy about that.

Add that, rather than "taking back control", if the UK goes for the Swiss model, it would be subject to EU diktats, without having any say in setting them.

Not only is that hillariously ironic, but all the more delightful when you realise that a post-Brexit EU could very easily move to the left once devoid of the obstructionist, free market obssesed UK.

[Associate Justice PiT]

The arrogance displayed in this thread is why you guys lost.

I lost nothing. The only ones who lost something are Britons.

Sometimes you gotta lose a few pounds after a bad breakup. Then you'll gain them back (which already happened).

What do you mean? The real damage hasn't even begun yet. Even former Brexiters understand it, and are already trying to do all they can to backpedal without looking like they're betraying the people's will.

     The damage will be so brutal, they'll end up like one of those poor non-EU countries like, um, Switzerland. Heaven forfend!

London has a bigger population than Switzerland... among a bunch of other differences that are too numerous to name.  This is like the ol' let's have tax rates like Ireland argument.  Stop cherrypicking these tiny countries and trying to extrapolate results countries ten times their size with far more diverse geography, populations, religions, cultures, etc.

     We can pick another non-EU country then, like the United States. Of course, the same problem applies in reverse in that England is not as powerful as the United States is, such that it can resist the power of the Socialist Sixth of the World.

[Derpist]

Blatantly false news story, but it's probably been shared a million times because it fits into all of the snobby, hateful beliefs of certain worldviews.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/06/27/were-brits-really-googling-what-is-the-eu-after-voting-to-leave/

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

1. Uninformed voters are a thing. They have always been a thing. They will always be a thing. Get over it.

2. Handwringing about "oh the stupid electorate! I despair for democracy!" is a little contradictory of liberal values like... believing in the wisdom of the people to make decisions about their lives, despite not being impeccably educated about the issues.

3. As someone else pointed out above, patronizing citizens and saying, "Oh, but this is the SMART way to vote. I know because I'm smarter and better educated than you." is exactly how Remain lost, is exactly why Trump has a chance in America, is exactly why Berlusconi stayed in power in Italy (well that, and owning the press).

4. We have no idea who was googling that or how they voted or if they voted. If we did that would be scary.

5. Brexit is a complicated process. Claiming that leaving a free trade zone will just be unmitigatedly AWFUL is pretty simplistic. Also, for all the lefties here claiming this: shame on you, bro. Protectionism is a good thing for working people.

6. It's pretty reasonable to be Euroskeptic. It's not really democratic, it's certainly not transparent, and really multinational unions are kinda weird as is.

[Хahar 🤔]

5. Brexit is a complicated process. Claiming that leaving a free trade zone will just be unmitigatedly AWFUL is pretty simplistic. Also, for all the lefties here claiming this: shame on you, bro. Protectionism is a good thing for working people.

lmao learn economics

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

Blatantly false news story, but it's probably been shared a million times because it fits into all of the snobby, hateful beliefs of certain worldviews.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/06/27/were-brits-really-googling-what-is-the-eu-after-voting-to-leave/

you, my dear little fascist, should take into consideration that crocodile tears about "hateful beliefs" have zero credibility coming from a drumpfbacke