this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2026
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Europe

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[–] Alpha71@lemmy.world 13 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Brexit is a perfect example of old people fucking up young people lives.

[–] calavera@lemmy.zip 1 points 4 days ago

I think it's the perfect example of people not voting and then complaining. Old people had the biggest turnout and it's the opposite for the younger ones. If they did bother to go vote things would be different

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 9 points 6 days ago (2 children)

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."

[–] creamfresh@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

But you obviously don't understand what a federation is (hint: the EU ain't one).

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] creamfresh@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

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 leave 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 weren’t allowed to call jam products marmelade because of the brits (this has been reversed yay). That’s the level of impact for the average Joe and Jane.

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works -1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] creamfresh@lemmy.world 0 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I guess not, but he also didn’t start talking semantics. Also, bad teeth have usually financial reasons if dental care isn't part of the healthcare package.

[–] TwodogsFighting -3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I was born and raised in the state of North Carolina. One of several states that seceded from The Union during our Civil War. That was right at 160 years ago, and we're STILL riding the waves from that splash. As a student of history I tried to warn them, but the damn limeys had to find out the hard way.

[–] socsa@piefed.social 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] eicker@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

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 Europe’s future is becoming impossible to ignore.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 66 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (32 children)

Not gonna happen anytime soon.
And there is no majority for it in UK when the reality of rejoining is explained.

  1. Give up the British pound and switch to Euro.
  2. Pay full price, the old discount membership is not an option.
  3. Dismantle FPP elections and House of lords which are both utterly undemocratic, and cause political instability.
  4. 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.

[–] huey_m@piefed.social 33 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

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. Rhymes so much with Brexit.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

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.

[–] yakko@feddit.uk 10 points 1 week ago (15 children)

I'm a British voter and I see no deal-breakers.

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[–] JensSpahnpasta@feddit.org 25 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

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.

[–] Kjell@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] JensSpahnpasta@feddit.org 2 points 5 days 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

[–] GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 week ago

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.

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[–] atro_city@fedia.io 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Please, no. The UK held the EU back.

[–] MrKoyun@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Look no further than the EU to push chat control by themselves.

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