Friedman got that one right.
23
The English want to live in The Shire.
20
An excellent piece! Though how anyone from the America of Trump has the face to criticise British stupidity, only an American would know :-)
65
Mr.Friedman, AMEN!
9
The picture is something like this:
London ---> Capital to foreign nation X
X's government: Yes! All you can give! It props up our power.
X: We have determined that you can only work 60 hours per week, 6 days a week. Anything less and we loose this capital that gives you jobs!
People --> Ok, if that's how it is...
Vote up the regime.
How it should be:
London ---> Capital to foreign nation X
X's government: Here's the formula that governs entering into this agreement. You don't need us specifically to uphold this, this is granted by the UN and the WTO. Do you want it?
People of nation X --> Yes but we want to change some things before we approve, and we reserve the right to change our minds.
Simple as pie.
3
Amen, Brother Tom!
4
Weren't these the guys who went about conquering and "improving" a sizable swath of the world posing as the supposedly progressive frontier of European civilization?
What exactly does "Great" Britain want to exit? Its history is no longer a jealous mistress but an embarrassed cuckold
6
Leave it to The English Paper to brilliantly satrise this national embarrassment
https://www.theenglishpaper.com/click-here-or-die/what-s-next-20-most-likely-brexit-scenarios/
5
Corbyn just wants Britain to fall to Brussles
Theresa May needs to be the Granite Lady and Steer straight into No Deal.
That's what Trump would do. Trump is a proven Impossible Winner.
2
The United States has gone even more insane than the U.K.
10
It's simple. We prize our freedom, and do not fancy living in an undemocratic Socialist superstate, and being taxed without representation.
You must be familiar with the situation. Perhaps you wouldn't mind if we borrowed Fort Sumpter for an afternoon for some target practice.
6
I've reposted my of Thomas Friedman's piece in the comments to today's Brexit piece in the Times of London. It immediately caught a lot of attention. I think it is a great piece. As one Brit said, "Thank you. You can't fix stupid made my day". The Brits need to urge Parliament save them by revoking Article 50.
14
Such a wee country in size, England, sitting on Wales, with a headpiece called Scotland and a chum's arm reach over to Northern Ireland. Doesn't the economy show Mayfair is located where it is, with Kensington and Chelsea (oh, which comes first, I mean), far from the madding .... please excuse me. A has been has always been. The nostalgic All will nary feel the real bite that they're not brave to recognise (just see the plates nailed to their front room walls).
2
First he gets his asset elected POTUS and now, he gets Brexit. Putin wakes up every morning with a smile on his face and a spring in his step.
He thanks his lucky stars every day there are truly ignorant people in the world for him to take advantage of in a very spectacular way.
36
"Being led by a ship of fools"
When this century ends, this will be the epitaph on it's tombstone.
8
So, what do the English make or do which is world class, up there with the best? Oh, yeah, bangers and mash, by Jove. Oxford? I think many would prefer Cal Poly. Fish and chips? Ha!
United Irish and Scottish independence are just around the corner, blokes. What about Wales.......
10
Apparently those 300,000 French have figured out globalization meant opportunity elsewhere, not necessarily locally in rural France. There are plenty of Brits who have figured that out and work all over the world, a bunch here. Americans have to get off their complacent butts, see the future, and go out into the world and become global citizens. Brexit, like Trump and his immigration and border wall, is just a hiccup in the path of globalization, eventually it will happen or WW3, pushed by the nationalists, will. Take your pick.
14
The world, especially England and the USA, are going bonkers because of the global acceleration in markets as described here, but also because of the rise of stupidity of the global situation by bumpkins and citizens who do not read academic material and use the internet for their information. There is no excuse for idiocy, naiveté, and apathy in a fast changing world. Globalism is here and established. Those who choose to fight it and not improve their situation in it are destined for chaos and tragedy. I love the Brits, but over half of them voted for Brexit without a thought towards economic realities. They wanted to believe fairy tales as have nearly half of American citizens. There is a movement to not call these people stupid in order to not alienate them. I am sorry, but the reality is, THEY ARE STUPID! I am not sure there is any saving them whether you are judicious or not.
25
"The problem with holding out for a perfect Brexit plan is that you can’t fix stupid." Governments have gone to war to try fix stupid when it was obvious that stupid would prevail. As for a perfect plan ... no one can tell me, not even the Pulitzer Prize Winning Friedman, that they will come up with a stupid plan and fight to make it look beautiful.
4
Putin wins!
Conservative in the West now just means member of the international crime syndicate that wants to operate without any rules. The U.S. has been neutered as a watchdog, Brussels is next.
6
You write" your country´s name is not America, Russia, etc " You should know that America is not a country but a continent, Why not just say the US ?
7
David Harvey hit the proverbial nail on the head, when he asked "who do you think is bigger-Proctor & Gamble or the Government of France". The answer is P&G.
Breaking up transnational alliances makes it easier for huge corporations and their lobbies to control your government. Where is the Brexit-promised sovereignty then?
5
.
So sad&unfortunate to observe the "LAST PANGS OF BREATH"of british empire with its self inflicted mortal BREXIT ENGLISH used to smugly boast of their creation of BRITISHNESS which supposed to stand for liberal democracy while actually promoted "WASPISHNESS"which rose in 1960s with the then member of Parliament Enoch POWELL's "RIVER OF BLOOD"speech on immigrants reaching its crechendo 3yrs ago in voting a referendum to GET OUT OF EU.This suicidal self inflicted folly is taking the ENGLISH&the rest of UK to stone age for sure.
1
“This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands,--This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.” William Shakespeare, Richard II
2
this article is is so typical of the tiresome nature of people who view another country through their own country's perspective and cannot understand why things are difference. They find what the foreigner do in their own country is "weired" and it could not happen in "my country" because we we are smarter! We Brits are just as bad.
You must look at the circumstances that has caused Brexit. it is the same circumstances that has caused Trump, immigration and de-industrialization. Brexit was primarily supported in the rust belt North. In Mansfield 70% voted Brexit whilst in cosmopolitan Islington, 70% voted remain.
As for the difficulty of getting a deal through parliament. is it any more silly than US Congress cannot get gun control or deficit reduction legislation passed? Everyone wants a deal, but partisan politics make it hard for agreement, because no one wants the other side to "win". Also too many people do not want to compromise for both political and ideological reason. They think the other side will blink first if they hold out long enough. Unfortunately the other side is thinking the same so as a result NO AGREEMENT. Anyone studying game theory will know this. I do not think the Brits are anymore mad as Americans who do not have universal healthcare or proper gun control. Ultimately it physical circumstances such as Geography that make things "weired" from another country perspective and not because of mad people
10
This article is totally incoherent. Friedman starts by saying the he "gets" the feeling of being "swamped by E.U. immigrants." But, of course, being swamped by E.U. immigrants is inherent to being in the E.U.--you can't restrict immigration from other E.U. member states. That is what it means to be in the common market.
Friedman then gets into why Brexit is bad, despite the fact that it would seemingly solve many of the grievances people have with the E.U. And the reason why Bexit is bad is because it will hinder the U.K.'s ability to "be a leader in the 21st century," which apparently demands openness to "flows" or something. These articles never explain what the average person gains from living in a country that is a "leader" and that gets all sorts of "flows." How does the average American benefit--say--from living in a country with a number of really rich tech CEOs? It is totally unclear, and yet Friedman seems perpetually shocked that people do not allow their politics to be dictated by whatever makes your country the most likely to create "the next google." We're just supposed to believe it is some inherent, unquestionable good.
12
Great intro paragraph. Very funny. And entirely appropriate title.
2
The man behind the curtain is Rupert Murdoch. He seems to have driven Britain, the US, and Australia insane. He will face an ultimate reckoning, but that will be too late for the rest of us.
11
I’m not sure if credit England with the industrial revolution, and definitely not globalization. And finance? Wall Street, anyone?
And it’s hard to commit suicide by shooting yourself in the foot.
The industrial revolution was more than power looms and the steam engine. America contributed communication: telegraph, telephone, and radio. Not to mention electricity itself. Which is the important British firm in steel, automobiles, or flight?
Apart from the raw ingredients, America tamed capitalism first. America invented the progressive income tax, antitrust laws, and environmental protection. It invented universal compulsory education.
As to globalization, the European Union is an American invention, the postwar antithesis if policies pursued by Europe until then. The United States created and led GATT through the rounds of global tariff reductions that ultimately produced globalization.
Finally, it’s not suicide. It’s stupid, sure. It’s based on fantasy and nostalgia. But the UK economy won’t be destroyed. It existed without the EU and it will survive without it again.
So let’s not overstate the case. England wasn’t so very dynamic heretofore, and won’t be brought to a standstill, even by its feckless leadership.
1
"I understand the grievances of many of those who voted to leave the E.U. For starters, they felt swamped by E.U. immigrants. "
...and hundreds of thousands African and Middle East refugees because of Obama failed foreign policies.
2
Perhaps, you and most of those who comment here don't "get it," as you claim. The loss of sovereignty, this last word resting between quotation marks in you column, is more than a fantasy, as that punctuation suggests. The people whom you cast as irrational economic players are indeed irrational economic players. They think economic burdens are worth bearing in order to restore what you regard as fantasy. 18th Century British North Americans were willing to die for such sovereignty. Sadly, the EU has regarded it with equal hauteur. The EU will also sustain losses in virtue of Brexit. The EU and the UK may both pay for this miscalculation.
2
"If your country's name is not America, Russia, China or India.." Who would guess that India, the land of spices and European colonialism, would be in that list and not a single European (and British) country. Maybe Brexit is Britain's attempt to enter this list, from the left-hand side of the road, obviously.
1
Excellent article. However, the arguments have been said time and time again, but they do not appear to penetrate the skulls of the determined Brexiters. There is another force that operates there, and has been operating for some time: the need for relevance after the loss of the empire! The UK has not found a role that it would be comfortable in after the loss of the empire. It has retreated in nostalgia and dreams. This is why the outrageous lies told by the Leave campaign had such an appeal. The dream-like belief of the regeneration of the Anglo-sphere, the re-birth of the empire in another form, the emergence of London as the world capital of finance and trade, ruling the world. In a country in which the trappings of the empire are still evident (and so are the pageants), the rebirth of its reality is quite evocative. It should not be underestimated. I became painfully aware of it during my years of living in the UK. It penetrates anything and everything. Yes, you cannot fix stupid, but when this "stupid" permeates a whole country, stupid is what you get. Maybe Macron is right, the UK needs to be removed from the EU as soon as possible. At least, you can isolate "stupid".
2
Indeed bizarre that the Queen didn’t respond. The political system doesn’t allow her as I understand it to mix up with politics. Or she is afraid that the next thing to go after EU is monarchy ! If a fool can organise a referendum to leave the E.U. why cannot he also convince “the people” to get rid of monarchy? Is that the reason behind the low profile ? And indeed how could she go against the admittedly ill informed opinion of the majority of her subjects? But again great leaders need to take risks She probably is the only person who can unite the country.
So, the referendum, in which a majority rules that the UK was to leave, giving the government a mandate from the electorate was not mentioned in the article, from what I read. The Labour party and everyone else (including members in her own party) are constantly voting against the deal that has been negotiated with the eu because it's not what they want. Yet NO ONE else can say what they do want, only what they don't. But it's the government at fault.
The EU have set their stall out that the UK must submit to a withdrawal agreement that put Northern Ireland in a different set of laws than the rest of the country, which is obviously nothing that ANY sovereign country could ever agree to, and refuse to budge from a position that locks the UK with the EU indefinitely (or until THEY say we can leave). But it's the government's fault. Each time Mrs May goes back to the EU to negotiate they refuse. Then, idiot MPs in the opposition benches vote to take "no deal", the only negotiating tactic still available, off the table.
But it's the government's fault.
No, dear journalist. The EU's intransigence. Their punishment agenda (though they deny it, have no doubt they are showing any other wavering current EU members that dissent is not to be tolerated) and the lunacy that is a remain parliament trying to take Brexit over and sabotage their mandate is what is at fault here. Theresa May is simply the scapegoat.
3
My summary of Thomas Freedman’s summary of Great Britain’s fall from glory: Libertarian conservatives degenerated into Mercantilist bigots and the Ship of British State is torn apart between conservative fools and Marxist ideologues! I am afraid that he is not only correct but also be uncannily prescient about ourselves too! Of course, we are an immense behemoth. If we go down, the whole world goes down. A benevolent God won’t permit that! Only atheists and agnostics need worry! Besides, our Left is Soft-Socialist and our Right is God-loving!
I felt that Brexit was suicide and wrote so where ever I could. Two years ago, it was Britain’s folly. But today, it appears the EU’s twin leaders, Germany and France are petty. They would lose nothing by giving Britain a year more! They seem anxious to push her off the cliff!
A solitary Britain (more probably, England), after some initial painful adjustments, can reemerge as a prosperous Nation State --- economically! They should declare a “Free State” --- no tariffs, no barriers and no military misadventures! They may still have to contend with thousands of foreigners polluting the “green and pleasant” emerald Island! They would get used to it!
1
Scary indeed!! The degeneration seems evident, what is causing this degeneration in Great Britain and what to do about it is the question. It seems more global than just the British. We are ruled by a likely demented President without even a comment!!!!
I know we have a President who has not been and is not civil in many situations. Having said that, it's become common for NY Times columnists to call people with whom they disagree "stupid" or "idiots." The NY Times should change that. As I understand it, the pro-Brexit majority in the UK wanted out of the EU because, among other greivances, they were sick of unelected EU officials controlling their lives through mountains of regulations and not allowing the UK to fully control its borders. I'm sorry, but despite what you argue, people wanting democracy and not wanting some distant group of unelected bureaucrats dictating how they must live are not "stupid." I realize you believe that the economic consequences of Brexit will be severe. I would trade wealth for freedom any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Regardless, though, the economic consequences won't be as dire as you predict. The U.S has a quite healthy trade relationship with the EU without being part of the EU. The UK will too.
6
I thought the West told the world they were the best. I thought Brits have an empire for which the sun doesn’t set, that Americans were “exceptional.” That white Anglo or other Europeans were the best humanity had to offer etc etc etc.
Why do the same people who say they’re the “best” fear the competition now? The same racists say “their” jobs are going overseas or being lost domestically to immigrants.
What happened? I thought white Brits, French, Americans etc were the “best” at it all.
Are they now saying immigrants are better, that they can’t compete with immigrants?
This is astounding! So, they now want immigrants to “go home” because they can’t compete with them? I thought these places loved competition. What happened?
2
Seems kind of like a suicide pact that no one has the courage to back out of for fear of losing face with the other cultists.
2
This is a very, very bad take.
This quote says educated immigrants grow economies: "In the U.S., who is the C.E.O. of Microsoft? Satya Nadella. Who is the C.E.O. of Google? Sundar Pichai. Who is the C.E.O. of Adobe? Shantanu Narayen. Who is the C.E.O. of Workday? Aneel Bhusri. Hello London? The best talent wants to go to the most open systems — open both to immigrants and trade"
Brexit and trumpism both stem from an idea people are averse to admit to: that simply being "white" no longer makes us elites, that millions of whites in the UK and US are & may forever be underemployed, under-educated, and permanently join the underclass.
These whites don't want to face reality, that their 20th century skills aren't desired in this new century. No longer do businesses want the "guy next door" simply because he's next door..... when someone from across the planet can do it much better, faster, cheaper.
The majority of die-hard Brexiters and trumpers lack marketable skills. They know it. They are scared. They're angry. And they'd rather blow up everything -- so no one else can have what they want.
8
Thank you, thank you, thank you. A voice of reason crying out (I hope not in the wilderness)! I have listened to interviews on NPR’s various shows these last two weeks with MP’s from both the Labour and Conservative parties and the ridiculousness of their rationales was appalling. Really a lot like a child whining, “it wouldn’t be fair if he gets his way,” but with a posh accent. The craziest was the one who said the only way Brexiteers will really believe they were wrong is if we crash out and they see how disastrous it will be, so we should just do it to show them. Are they insane? This isn’t a game. This is real, these are lives, the damage will be permanent. If The City moves to Paris, it’s permanent, they won’t come back. If Airbus moves, they won’t come back. You cannot just pass go and get two hundred more dollars and keep playing. It’s more like someone just tossed the whole board into the air and a bunch of the pieces fell down the vents and we’ll never be able to play again.
2
The Brexit referendum was a flawed idea. It seemed like a binary choice--remain or leave--but actually, it wasn't.
While "remain" is clearly well-defined, there are many interpretations of what "leave" might mean, which made it easy to get more votes. Not a binary choice at all--it was one against many.
Now they've voted to leave but cannot settle on what that should mean.
The only way out of this would be to pick one, and only one, leave option and hold another referendum: remain versus the very specific leave option.
14
Great article. We hope they listen.
6
The entire European Union was designed by the elites, for the benefit of the elites. It is inherently anti-democratic. If the EU were put to a clean vote, nearly every country would opt to leave. It was forced upon the populace in the era before the Internet, with the voters being kept mostly in the dark.
The New York Times should do an in-depth investigation on the amazing levels of benefits E.U. employees in Brussels receive. Six figure salaries, early retirement with full salary and benefits. It’s outrageous how the elite have self-dealt in Brussels, and have benefited as Britons can no longer afford to live in London because the realtors have sold them out to foreign LLCs with obscure sources of funds, leaving dark, empty apartments.
11
Lest you forget, Phillip I I of Spain married to Mary Queen of Scots, "inherited" England by Mary's secret Will causing her cousin Elizabeth, who claimed she had the heart of a man, much agony.
And turns out the acclaimed British Navy, was gifted by Phillip.
So what prey tell is really British?
As a barrister in the US, who reads The Economist for fun, it may be worth noting that the U.K. will drop by another 9% in a hard exit, causing the E.U. a decline of 3%.
Unfortunately with Republican economists at the helm, the American ship of state will run aground much like it did under Herbert Hoover, who saved millions of orphans from starvation but was too much of a club man to understand the common man's plight and how to rescue tens of millions of American jobs.
5
Actually Phillip II of Spain married Mary I (Mary Tudor) Elizabeth I elder sister not Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I cousin, otherwise, you are ok with your other observations.
2
While I agree with most of this article. I am always astonished when an American commentator refers to Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party as ‘Marxist’ when it is actually ‘socialist’. It is a sign of how much the neoliberal free market world view has come to be the ‘norm’ since the 80’s & Thatcher & Reagan, and how far to the right successive UK governments have moved since then (including the Blair’s Labour Party) so that now what was once viewed as ‘left’ appears to be ‘radical’.
12
It is Jeremy Corbyn who is a Marxist and since his acolytes, namely Momentum currently appear to dominate current Labour Party policy and victimise traditional (or in their words Blairites) Labour politicians then perhaps the Labour Party should be honest and call itself by it's new and correct title the Marxist Party. At least the electorate will know what they are voting for.
President Trump is committed to a better life for Americans, so he is driven to talk to our trade and defense partners to find ways to change things so America maintains its leadership position while opening up more freedom of trade.
Thanks for all the millions of new jobs, including industrial positions, Mr. President. And cool it with all the tweeting already.
1
I'm sorry but I just couldn't walk past the comment that 'Not a single person working in this whole building is British' about the house of commons. Does the MP who said it not consider himself and his fellow 650 MPs to be working there? You have to be a British Citizen to be an MP. What he means is the people behind the bar or cleaning the toilets, because British people don't want to do those jobs. People don't want to leave the EU because they want to clean toilets more, (some) of them want to leave the EU because they've endured years of austerity while being fed right wing media propaganda encouraging them to blame immigration and the EU for all social ills. Plus the leave campaigned lied and has been found to have broken the law around it's use/movement of funds, which they dropped their appeal against last Friday. The whole thing is a mess indeed.
14
I can't do a blessed thing about it. I get why they want out too. All I can do is say here: I support Britain. There are always unexpected consequences, and this one is the anti-Brexit people, that is, nearly half of Britain, and in the EU administration, who want to force Britain to stay in. They shouldn't stay. They will not get a better chance. Maybe not another. Better to die free . . . . And they won't. They will eventually flourish. But, they may have to crash out. It will not cause WWII. World wars don't happen the same way twice. It's always different. Maybe the EU hegemony will be the cause of the next. I doubt it.
3
Sometimes governments make costly mistakes, spreading the burdens throughout society, but mostly impacting the lower class. Brexit is no exception. The rich and powerful with weather any problems just fine.
Some estimate Trump's trade war cost us $3 billion a month. Just for laughs, you might want to find out how many people have to work each month to make up this waste. Of course, we don't hear of the one-percenters tightening their belts, yet the lower class is still struggling.
In addition to its restrictions on our freedom, whether in big or little ways, government's costly blunders are integral part of its nature. So however bad Brexit turns out, we should be thankful it's not another Iraq War.
10
Either we have voted in the biggest bunch of incompetents in British political history or some of our biggest con artists. I wouldn't put it past our MPs to sit in the House of Commons bar with their G&Ts and brandy and sodas and collude with each other to draw this palaver out so long and painfully that us ordinary mortals eventually throw our hands up in despair. In the end they will probably call for the revoking of Article 50, cite it is better the devil you know and we stay in the EU forever.
5
The radical polarization of politics in the U.S. and U.K. precludes sober, respectful debate over competing ideas. (I use the word "radical polarization" to distinguish the current state of affairs from earlier times in which people certainly disagree, but do not vilify each other to the point of paralysis.) Consequently, there is no way to reach a compromise solution (or any solution) to address a problem. And, in the past, if a poor policy choice were made, it could be re-evaluated and corrected using the same process of sober, respectful debate. Now, however, there will be no solutions, and each country will have no rational governance at the national level. Sad, but I believe this is what we're facing. In a sense, then, it really is over for us.
4
The summary of this article in one sentence: People of the country be damned, who cares that there are too many immigrants, wages are depressed, locals are not getting ahead, London is equated with the UK, buck up chap, be a "global leader" because your people don't count, the world counts.
4
@A Common Man
The 'people of the country be damned' is slightly wrong. The people of the country have damned themselves by refusing to believe the world has changed. The rebuilding of Europe and Japan after World War II, the reduction of international trade barriers through WTO, the creation of US/China relations beginning under Nixon.....all preceded the European Union. Without the EU, England would have collapsed for a simple reason: They cannot compete with foreign countries because they lack innovative products and industries. They import most of their food. England excels at attracting tourists...mainly to London due to their heritage of modern civilization.
They are not a friendly people, but usually put on a mask of good cheer which helps attract the tourists.
1
A large part of Britain could not sustain their tolerance of being an European colony, whatever the gains. Being on the receiving end required information updated from the time of the Magna Carta. Once upon a time, the Sun never set on Britain. Those of us who grew up in former British colonies/slave plantations lived and learned of the indignities and other advantages of being own.ved by Britain. After Brexiteers fumed for years while watching their businesses, Olympic teams and even Royal family being invaded by non white foreigners, they finally took the chance which Cameron offered. Britain, once again, will be ruled by the British and not in association with a non british cabal across the English channel.
They will now experience similar discomforts to those of the colonies which they once ruled and who "won independence" and lost markets for produce which provided support for their plantation societies. I wonder if the stiff upper lip of yore will get them through this maze described by Mr Friedman.
5
The British have survived all sorts of wars from the Saxons-Celts-Norman wars, the War of the Roses, the Hundred Years War, Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the Irish wars, World Wars etc. But I wonder if they will survive Brexit.
8
Aneel Bhusri was born in Pittsford, New York in 1966. He was educated at Brown University, receiving Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. He has a MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. His first job, following college, was as a corporate finance analyst at Morgan Stanley. A pretty good example of a home-grown talent. Tom, please do not confuse "foreign sounding names" with people actually being immigrants.
10
@Edward James Dunne,
What's the big difference ? Isn't he son of Indian immigrants ?
1
The Brexiteers had no plan, just like the Republicans who are constantly trying to eliminate Obama Care with no viable replacement. These are examples of reckless, seat of the pants policies. The UK is/was representd in the EU-why ddin't they take up some of their grievances with feloow members who surely have some of the same grievances. There is no king running the EU by decree. Just like the US, the immigration issues need to be dealt with at the source-the corrupt, dangerous countires these people are runnning away from. Thsi would take leadership and joint cooperation. Instead we blame the immigrants who merely want to stay alive.
9
It's not as if there weren't 100s of thousands of British citizens living in the rest of the EU is it?
5
If anyone can pull this off, it's the Brits. Don't underestimate them. They are practical if nothing else.
Thomas Friedman let's his personal biases cloud his understanding of issues. If the past, this has led him to the support for the invasion of Iraq, and the championing of Prince MBS of Saudi Arabia as a true reformer.
Friedman has a gift for passionate writing but passion is no replacement for the truly deep insight that is needed in these times.
6
Britain is having a jolly ole time doing what they know best (frittering away empire). Every few years they figure out how to diminish themselves and stumble and fall. It is caught up in the social order when a coal miner in Scotland teaches the son to aspire to be a mill worker but not a miner. When the bus driver wants his daughter to marry a vicar but not go to college. They simply care about small things outside of London and the working stiffs and their MP's hate the EU for eating channel Codfish.
1
I voted to remain, and the result of the referendum and everything that has happened since has been heartbreaking. The question posed to the British electorate was binary but the reality of the choices we had to make were not. That being said, I do not support another referendum, nor attempts to say we should just cancel Brexit despite the farce we have descended into, because democracy for all its flaws is still democracy and that is the most important thing.
6
Why is it that every time Mr Friedman comments on something, he tends to nail the subject in a lucid, logic, straight-forward and constructive way ? Personally, I agree at 100% with his analysis.
Inescapable conclusion: People like him should be cloned and tied down to the government benches in the majority of the countries, but especially in today's UK Parliament and American Congress!
3
Tom Friedman is too simplistic in his analysis. Britain doesn't seek separation from the world with Brexit, tho to judge by the rhetoric and action of the right-wing world-wide, there's plenty to question about conservative ideas of "sovereignty" Somehow Assad's "sovereignty" can be accepted in Syria, Britain's need to live by its own laws ignores the benefits of cooperation with like-interested Europeans, and Trump's US thinks it means caring for little except for American exceptionalism that drives away natural allies.
But the kind of globalism Friedman praises doesn't mean interdependence doesn't have its downside, esp when those who accept the benefits from said interdependence don't accept the communitarian values that are often insinuated into their deals. If globalism is the real deal, then we need to change both our language--freedom for and from, eg--and our desire to remain "rugged individualists" when it doesn't suit other ambitions.
2
The United Kingdom has gone mad? Well no. Some of those who have hands on the levers of power could be described as such. But not the 48% of voters who never wanted this Brexit nonsense. We are entirely sane. Brexit has not yet happened, and may never. For that, a million of us sane, upright Britons marched in London on 23 March, under the slogan "It's not a done deal".
12
Are you calling the 52% of us who voted to leave insane?
If Brexit goes through, an independent Scotland will be joining the EU--and possibly bringing Northern Ireland along with it.
7
We have a glimpse into the automatic kind of thinking that characterizes the British behaviorist psychology . Stimulus /response.
The referendum was just as referendum a consultative "reference ". It did not bring any resolution options of how to implement the separation from Europe. Just split. And finally " No deal " As if it was a deal...
The UK is not untying the bouees and sailing away from Europe ( to America ? ) . It stays in Europe. The channel is only a few miles wide.Even if the Uk succeeds at separating from the EU institutions, it will still have to deal with them because the commercial, human, banking, health , immigration conditions are still there.
1
What's really scary to this American is that the US could be next. In some way, shape, or form the current occupant of the White House wants America to withdraw from the world. Nationalism for us. He's nuts of course. But look at what's happening.
283
@Jeff P Scottish nationalists have already threatened another referendum on leaving the UK if the UK leaves the EU. They say that their last - close - vote to remain in the UK was premised on the UK being a part of the EU. Don't forget that the Scots had a long, long history of close connections with France.
And if Scotland goes, will Northern Ireland stay in the UK and lose the benefits of the EU?
25
@Francis A. Miniter Scotland is forever cutting its nose off to spite its face......
Not to be outdone, Ireland will cut off its entire Face in order to spite its nose.....just to prove that even though Scots, Irish, English are really all the same people....Irish are different!!
What I see morphing in the Isles...is that the UK is moving towards a more Federalist Model of Self government. As Scotland now has its own parliament.....so could it be that IRELAND also reunites and is accorded ITS own parliament.....and then it follows that various English regions will ALSO re-organize under their own parliaments.....similar to our US system of states.
@Jeff P Brexit represents a charting of the course of the UK back into its Commonwealth.......
And it is the Commonwealth that represents a HUGE(perhaps even YUGE) Trade Association.....all members at one time were British Colonies....they all share language, customs, and legal codes.
Far from withdrawing from the world.....Britain is about to assert its leadership in the world.....and the USA is its major partner.
3
The demographics tell it all.
The over 60's overwhelmingly voted for Brexit.
A generation brought up in the war or by war parents forced fed on a diet of distrust and dislike. 'we defeated the Germans and had to rescue the French'.....how dare they lecture and influence us.
Those without a higher education.
Those that are fooled into blaming the scapegoats provided by the elitist Brexit neo-liberals set to make a fortune.
Blame immigrants for taking jobs [though unemployment is at its lowest in generations], blame migrant competition for low wages, the housing crisis, high personal debt, the EU. Instead of blaming a deregulated economic and social system implemented by a Conservative government by choice and not on the orders of the European Union.
We're seeing it throughout the developed world. The most vulnerable are feeding off the propaganda of those that exploit.
3
One of the best columns I’ve read on Brexit. An English cousin who is far more knowledgeable about the subject than I said:
What a lucid and intelligent article.
PS best book on the Middle East. From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman
3
The British empire colonized so many countries, subjugated their peopled and plundered their resources. Brexit sure walks and talks like karma, much like the cat in this story.
7
@Andre "And when you reach the scene of crime - Macavity's not there." - T. S. Eliot
The resentment of Brits at having regulations set by faceless E.U. bureaucrats in Brussels is no different than the resentment of many in the US at having regulations set by faceless federal bureaucrats in Washington. Brexiteers and Trumpsters are of the same ilk.
9
What of “Ever closer Union” don’t the Brits and the author understand. Imagine a reborn USA where people from New Jersey cannot live and work in New York.
Please Brits, LEAVE.
1
"Seriously, the United Kingdom, the world’s fifth-largest economy — a country whose elites created modern parliamentary democracy (which gave us Brexit), modern banking and finance (which are utterly corrupt), the Industrial Revolution (whose effects are strangling the earth as I write), and the whole concept of globalization (in which the few get to destroy all but themselves)." Oh, and the BIG ONE you forgot—the Middle East, which the superciliously arrogant British drew a line on a map and gave to the world in the form of never-ending chaos.
So, you know, when Britain goes (if she does), I won't release the doves; but may, I say, probably be a little happy anyway, along with every million of American slaves! As Bond would say, "This was bound to happen."
5
I lived and worked in London for 25 years.
In England there has always been a "tweedies" (those living outside London) versus "townies" (Londoners) divide. Many tweedies voted for Brexit to spite "townies, get even so to speak. David Cameron's yea or nay straight up and down vote gave them the perfect vehicle to exact their revenge. Sadly and confounding the debate is their inability to recognize that the joke is on them.
When I lived there I found Theresa May a reprehensible figure as Home Secretary. Her calling a snap election after avowing not to do so only to have her already slim majority degrade into a coalition government, partnering with the devil made an impossible task even more so.
Never in history have so many gotten something so wrong. Britain has played a role in creating big messes around the world, e.g. the Middle East, I suspect it was only a matter of time before the chickens came home to roost.
8
I'll tell you what stupid is: smart and paranoid, unwilling to give. That's my definition of stupid!
Most of us often forget the overused but proven cliche that "the perfect is the enemy of the good". The major parties in the British House of Commons have failed to learn those lessons of history and are "doomed to repeat them".
1
Some egotistic politicians think that Globalization, as any other paradigm changing trend, is brought about by their decisions and leadership.
Nothing is further from the truth, which is that these changes are the result of technological progress. Good leaders recognize these changes and behave accordingly to benefit from them, others stick their heads in the sand and bring much harm to their countries and constituents.
1
If it wasn’t likely to be macro economically punitive to other countries, I would almost beg the EU to take the deal off the table so the UK learn the lessons of the original decision and subsequent indecision.
2
Boris Johnson (Brexit promoter) claimed in 2016 that there were "...76 million Turks ready to come in if the UK stayed in the EU..."
It wasn't true but it transformed the Brexit discussion into a single issue vote, leading many rural and older Brits to vote "Leave" (the EU). Now what is leaving are factories and other businesses that used to give jobs to them, which are relocating to Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, Madrid...
Coming 2020's elections, we need to be smarter and better here in America, and not shoot ourselves in the foot.
7
One of the problems with Britain is its political system which is based on a court of law and is adversarial. This is unique in Europe and should have been changed to a more co-operative system a long time ago bringing it more into line with its neighbors. It's really like trench warfare - another British invention - and equally as effective. The other problem is the English channel which creates a physical barrier with continental Europe, stoking paranoia about invaders. There actually was a land bridge up until half a million years ago (not that long a time in world history) and the water is only 150 feet deep so it could be rebuilt. It might bring a lot of benefits to Britain's people and its economy.
@Jason Bourne - A land bridge would insure it would be overrun.
the mechanics of working together to achieve goals (eg. Airbus) have been demonstrated so well, I'm surprised Britain made this misstep ...
and if you feel it wasn't a misstep, I would remind you that it's not individual countries but partnerships which seem to do best these days, and there poor Britain is having to make nice with the likes of Donald Trump /
arguably one of the least loved creatures on earth.
2
Meanwhile, as the US and UK try to retreat from the world and imagine they can go it alone, China quietly goes around the world buying up water rights and securing the supplies of rare minerals necessary for so many of the electronic devices modern society can't function without.
6
After the first referendum, the Britons learned that Brexit will force them to think for themselves without the European background.
It is a global white-people phenomenon. Catalonia and Russia also have similar divides. In Russia, all the old folks long for the "good ole days" of the Soviet Empire and support Putin's power. Young Russians can't stand the attitude of their elders. Catalonia is old folks wanting to keep things white.
Where it isn't happening is in Islamic countries where the young men are taught they are superior to everyone else, including women.
1
How much business do we do with Britain? Why do we care so much about Brexit?
These are America's top trading partners for 2017, ranked by total exchange of goods:
China – $636 billion.
Canada – $582.4 billion.
Mexico – $557 billion.
Japan – $204.2 billion.
Germany – $171.2 billion.
South Korea – $119.4 billion.
United Kingdom – $109.4 billion.
France – $82.5 billion.
With only 109 billion, if Britain fails in her test of Brexit, I don't think US will blink.
1
Theresa May: "the people have voted for us to collectively chop off our heads so that our noses stop itching. So, off with our heads".
The far right conservatives: "we cannot just lop off our heads. We must do it in the most painful fashion imaginable. No deals".
The simple truth here seems to be that most Brits did not grasp the complexity and the short and long term costs to their economy for Brexit. May and her party refuse to reconsider the proposition because it was they who pressed Cameron on the issue. Their collective egos restrain them from rethinking what they so proudly advocated without thinking it through the first time.
3
The parliament failed to do their duty and made it like a party game Yes/No.
To expand on Friedman:
Where have you gone Queen Elizabeth
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you
What’s that you say Queen Elizabeth
Parliament has left and gone away
Done their job? nay,nay nay
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey......
Disband Parliament. New elections, no referendum. They’ve lost their chance to separate. Now lead, like the British often do.
Thomas, it is one thing to be interconnected by economics but it is entirely something else to loose your sovereignty to people in other countries that you did not elect. The British are fighting for their very freedom and this is something that liberals fail to realize.
6
It is highly unlikely that May or anyone else will be able to negotiate a better deal for Britain then the one on the table. The British people are the ones who voted to leave, not Parliament. The only logical course is to let the people now vote for May's deal vs remain. Or if you want to make it more complicate add leave with no deal to the ballot with instant runoff voting.
2
Basic mistake made was deciding referendum on a simple majority. Such a monumental decision should require a minimum of 60% approval.
Another problem is British always want to put their foot on all the rocks , so if one wabblrd they can take support from the other. Yet another is , they want to benefit from globalization without going global. Won’t work anymore.
2
Many great civilizations have come and gone over time, because rulers took the ruled for granted. Whether systems were feudal, regal, democratic or dictatorships - once the population loses trust and walks away there's little to stop the inevitable destruction.
The parliamentary system worked because rules and customs were accepted and people abided by outcomes. Over past decades the system broke down and has been manipulated by the powerful few to serve personal ends - resulting in short term wins for them and loss of the population's trust in leadership.
The UK may be the first domino to fall in the 21st century, but the US and others in the EU may not be far behind as their populations have learned hard lessons that the 1 percenters who have politicians in their pockets care only of themselves.
5
The Brexit vote should never have happened, but Cameron and their Conservative party listened to their mostly older conservative voters who hated the French, Arab, and other immigrants coming into their country as well as Brussels telling the Great Britain what to do economically. So instead of addressing each issue individually, they voted to get out resulting in the same Oh God What Have We Done Now look on their faces the day after that election as most Americans had the day after Trump was elected. And both scenarios have resulted in political, legal, and financial chaos since. So now Britain is slowly becoming a 2nd rate country with businesses leaving and reputations tarnished. While the next Democratic American president should be able to clean up most of Trump's mess, I don't know if any of the next several prime minsters will be able to clean up the Brexit mess.
5
It's not the U.K. that has gone mad, it's the Anglophone world. Brexit is just another manifestation of the sclerosis, as was Stephen Harper in Canada, Scott Morrison in Australia, and of course the human cheetoh in Washington.
7
@Gary F.S. Sadly, the world seems determined to relive the 1920s and the worse 1930s, which, of course, gave rise to the still worse 1940s. From the Philippines to India to America, not to mention Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Poland and Hungary, the far right is in ascendance, and strong men are the beloved of the ignorant.
Theresa May is currently and belatedly holding talks with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to try to avert a "no deal' Brexit disaster. The fact that she is being excoriated for even holding these discussions by her extremist colleagues amply confirms TF's diagnosis of madness in the body politic.
1
You are right that there are economic benefits to being in the EU. However, there are many disadvantages. It is laughable to suggest that any of the following, which I have attempted to express objectively, would be tolerated by the US:
(1) most of our laws are made elsewhere - the exact number is a point of hot political dispute, but it is agreed that it is more than 50%;
(2) the European Council, European Commission, ECJ, and European Court of Human Rights all exercise very significant influence over the making and implementation of laws. They are all unelected, and unaccountable;
(3) Membership of the EU necessitates free movement of labour, such that the UK has no control over its borders. That’s right - Citizens from all over Eastern Europe can come and live here freely without any restrictions;
(4) whilst membership of the EU has benefited London, the vast majority of the country has not benefited; hence the huge divide between London and the rest of the country on this issue.
(5) the EU has failed to file audited accounts for the past 8 years, due to the levels of corruption.
This is not about wanting a return to village life, or ignorant xenophobia. The overwhelming majority of us would like to remain in an economic union (which is what we voted to join in 1973), but we do not want to part of a corrupt superstate, in which we have little say.
Despite many attempts, the EU refuses to allow us to remain purely in the economic union - so we are leaving!
7
@Liam prince
Go.
Next step then, NI and Scotland leave the UK. What's left then can get one of those great Trump deals or a Russian doll or a Chinese paper dragon.
It is called divide+ conquer.
4
@Liam prince The same question befell the American colonies in 1776. At first they guarded thier independence and formed a loose confederation, but soon that proved unworkable and even a question as divisive as slavery had to be settled in a uniform manner. There is nothing sacred about the border of the UK, it could fragment into ever smaller domains as people who did not care for the faceless bureaucrats in Brussels realize they don't like the faceless bureaucrats in London any better.
2
@Liam prince You complain about unelected judges.
Since when has the UK EVER had elected judges. I studied British law back as far as the Norman Invasion, and I have never come across elected judges.
1
The pseudo-political pattern behind Brexit, Trump, the Front National in France, 5Stars in Italy, AfD party in Germany and many more is easy to understand:
All of those players have no or minor political education (or true interest) and heavily rely on obvious lies in order to gain access to formerly evidence-based democratic systems to blare out their singular retro-aggressive authoritarian stances. And they do so because they are representing upper-class wealthy clienteles (Mercer et al.) not the poor they are taking advantage of, that is becoming aware that its own outsourcing-everything economics do not halt before their own assets anymore.
Britons, Americans and Germans are not willing to do the foreigners’ low-payed jobs in the House of Commons, or the downtown hotel. The „Brussels Bureaucracy“ is the European Commission that consists of the countries‘ representatives and the Parliament, no remote noblemen making secret decisions. Let us step out of the populists‘ propaganda and take responsibility for the challenges of a world that needs to contain nearly 8 billion people in a world that is getting smaller due to desertification (which is evidence-based no matter which cause we may „believe“ in).
3
Can you imagine the relationship between the UK and the EU once all this gets settled? I wouldn't want to be in the travel/vacation business in the EU expecting business to come my way from the UK. So much animosity has developed it is hard to imagine that normalcy will ever return. And I wouldn't want to be from N.Ireland either. It just might be the right time in history for those two countries becoming just one.
2
The answer to TF's question leaders ask when waking is based in one common theme. We live in a world of class warfare, meaning those who have too much for their own good and those desperately trying to escape from the plight of their existence. This leads to a concentration of haves in big cities that are too expensive for all but the very rich, messaging that revolves around 140 characters and a truly remarkable invention, the internet whose purpose has become a tool of evil.
The problem is exacerbated by inept politicians who believe their only focus in life is to get reelected. In the US any suggestions about change are branded socialism, a nasty concept. Seems only Nordic counties have broken out of the have versus have not cycle, having the highest quality of life ratings.
Maybe the question leaders should ask is how they create what Nordic countries have, use them as a blueprint
3
Sovereignty is important. The UK is not opposed to a common market, they just do not want to be a vassal state of Germany. I cannot blame them.
The current problem with Parliament trying to decide what to do is another matter entirely. The people made the right choice to leave, the elites are having trouble accepting the popular vote.
5
@Asher By a single vote of 52-48 before all the details were known, with Russian influence. It's perfectly reasonable to give them another chance.
1
You can always count on the mouse-piece of the Global Leftist Elite to make a wonderfully biased, condescending, and arrogant argument. It is really simple, though, - no taxation without representation. The oppressive and unaccountable EU bureaucracy doesn't have the consent of the governed, and English people are fiercely independent. The old story replayed in the new settings. The UK is the first, but won't be the last. Hungary, Poland, and possibly, Italy will follow shortly.
5
This old trope! Well look, maybe we wouldn't condescend if they were were all competent, it is clear that they are not. The UK was a founding member of the EU, they have been into this since the 60s. Now the hard work is to be done and they ask 'how were we to know?', this was a very predictable outcome. But, at least the English wont have to worry about funny sounding brownish people anymore.
2
@IndependentObserver
"unaccountable EU bureaucracy"? Really? I suggest you go to the EU's website, or for that matter just Wikipedia, and read a bit about how the EU actually works.
Also: "oppressive"? Come on!
The UK can leave any time it wants. We just don't want it to torpedo the Good Friday Agreements and blow up peace and prosperity in Ireland.
You know, one shouldn't confound the stuff that commentators of Fox News or Editorials in right-wing British newspapers say with the realm of facts.
6
My brother, who is married to a Brit, lives just outside of London. He says the atmosphere is crazy there, that people are stressed out and no one knows what to do. The government is out of control, has no plans, and is running the country into the ground. Sounds a lot like the US, doesn't it? He has universal health care, though, which he loves and for which he is very grateful.
9
A psychiatric patient divorced from reality needs to be reintroduced to reality. The experience of a year or two of experience outside of the European Union will be rough but nonetheless effective and very necessary therapy for the mad British.
3
Absent conquest in war, plague, or mass emigration, nation states and atavistic empires do not suffer sudden death. They die slowly simply by failing to abandon historical ideas that history has bankrupted.
The UK slowly descended into irrelevance across the twentieth century. Its slow ressurection was enabled by globalism, the support of America and its inclusion in the EU. Now, its paleoconservatives , drunk on their devotion to 19th century ideas nationalism based on race,soil,and history , will bet their nation’s survival on restoring the myth of England as an island fortress that can serve as the redoubt of white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant supremacy. Nothing will persuade the English people of their folly than a near death experience facilitated by politicians persuing personal and party ideologies based on historical fantasies.
6
@Thomas Why does no one remember the Commonwealth? Britain was multicultural long before it was part of the E.U.
1
I think Brexit was a terrible mistake, but a self-proclaimed 'expert' lime Friedman writing absurdly abstract mumbo-jumbo like this is as near a reason as I can think of for what they did:
'The second thing the best leaders understand is that in a world of simultaneous accelerations in technology and globalization, keeping your country as open as possible to as many flows as possible is advantageous for two reasons'.
Technology and globalization (off and on) have been accelerating for hundreds of years. That doesn't suddenly render 'stocks' valueless relative to 'flows'. Globalization had pros and cons in the 80s, it has pros and cons today.
2
Time to undo the mistakes of 1707 and 1801. Welcome to the Celtic Republic of Scotland and Northern Ireland.
4
MP says: "Not a single person working here is British." Last time I looked, most MPs were British. But what's for sure is that MPs aren't working at the moment.
4
"Trump believes in competitive Nationalism" is giving Trump way too much undo credit. I doubt if Nationalism is a concept familiar with Trump. The words "Trump" and "believes" should also never be used as conjunctive. Sure, Trump has some egotistical notion of an Oligarchy where he sees himself as the head oligarch and a band of cronies around him much like Putin, but that's it nothing more.
5
The lies before the Brexit referendum along with Putin's interference achieved the desired results. The United States is following the same path. If prayer would help, let us pray.
10
@Cassandra Except in this instance, prayer is beside the point. Come brothers and sisters, let us VOTE!
1
@Sisko24
Very true, but I said "if".
How about getting real about the state of the world: overpopulation, an end to how far we can push basic crop yields, accelerating climate change, and a failure of every system except capitalism with regulations to supply a reasonable life style for most of its population is leading to mass migration of populations for whom there are no jobs available in Western countries. And we should stop pretending that our salvation is in raising other people's babies: the least we need to urge educated (and I don't mean liberal arts degrees from colleges noone has ever heard of) people to stay home and try to build viable societies while we work on our own problems of job availability (which is going to get much worse) and the failure of social safety nets to help people thrive. Check out the British projects. Handouts have been tried, with disastrous social consequences, and sensible Brits are not racist or Islamophobic if they see no reason to add populations for whom they can't provide and who often have no intention of giving up their traditional culture. And to anyone who argues that point, may I point out that more British Muslims joined ISIS than serve in the British military. And that Mohammed has been the most popular boy baby name in Britain for many years.
2
Tom thanks for another wide view of the world.
And please don't apologize for being "despondent." The downward spin toward nationalisms, while understandable, is a very sorry state of affairs. Too many of us are old enough to recall what can happen when things go in this direction. Thanks for reminding the rest!
Hope your words are heeded!
6
Systems fall apart without continuous attention, vigilance, and effort. People weary of continuous effort, which gives an opening for evil and stupidity. Thus things like Brexit and Trump.
5
The Brexiteers are in many ways like the Trumpers; they are frustrated that the successful 'coastal elites' are thriving and they are not. Both of them are willing to burn down their societies before they allow someone else; better educated, more liberal, browner, etc. run 'their' countries. Both have also been bolstered, propagandized, manipulated and organized by the Murdoch run propaganda network. The Murdoch propaganda network, aka 'Fox' is the thread that runs through the destruction of both the US and the UK. Glad to see the NYTimes is finally focusing on it.
18
Back when the Brits voted to name an Oceanic exploration ship Boaty McBoatface, we should have taken that as a warning sign that all was not well.
5
Does globization benefit the meritocratic 20% at the dystoptic penalty to the 80% of regular people dependent of the neo-Company Store conspiracy of the CREDIT CARD scam of the modern Economic System?
2
Mr. Friedman, I think you should join the candidates for POTUS. I would vote for you. We so sorely need an intelligent, experienced and thoughtful person at the head of our state.
1
Well-written piece, but the best part is that the title juxtaposes exactly with that of an essay John Le Carré wrote for The Times (UK) in 2003, excoriating the Bush administration for ginning up charges against Saddam Hussein. No way that was accidental. Sorry if someone else has mentioned this already, but no way I'm scrolling through 1400 comments to find out!
3
I think you just described the US too!
2
Respectfully, anyone paying the slightest bit of attention will tell you this is an *English problem, not a British problem. N Ireland and Scotland do not want to leave the E.U. It’s an English identity crises, one that’s likely to precipitate Scottish independence and Irish reunification.
14
For once I find myself - a rarity - in agreement with Tom Friedman over all and his way of flaying Brexit.
1
Mr. Friedman, you are truly the voice of reason: the adult in the room.
2
I wish the NY Times would stop referring to Britain as the world's 5th largest economy. California is the worlds 5th largest economy.
9
@Rachel Shapiro California is not a country. Yet.
What does this tell us about conservatives, be it in the U.S. or Britain? That self-preservation racist ideology has overtaken greed as their #1 attribute? Wow, just when I thought greed was all there was.
3
What in the world is John Hagel trying to tell us? What in the world does this business school jargon mean? Knowledge stocks indeed!
3
Is Brexit the United Kingdom's wall?
2
I notice that none of those highly touted tech CEO's seemed to hail from south of the border...
The entire world faces the same problems...climate change, the Military Industrial Complex and of course unfettered Capitalism (the labor vs. capital version). Wake up!
6
Actually I believe the Brexit dilemma is the beginning of the cracks in the facade of the populist and nationalistic campaigns and their leaders that have held sway recently. The public is beginning to see the realities of their empty slogans and tiring of their ultimate lack of leadership. It is more obvious with Brexit because a deadline with a written plan was required. However the same thing is happening in the US regarding Trump in a more incremental basis everyday. The majority of Americans are growing tired of Trump's constant use of extreme unilateral measures and positions regarding immigration. They see him using it simply as a political device and not really trying to solve a problem. Also his desire to kill Obamacare while offering no alternative healthcare plan for examination. Just another way to create dissension and fire up his base for his political purposes while harming many Americans.
7
If indeed the big problems of the world are global problems, then we will need some sort of global confederation to deal with them. And we will probably discover that an informal or even an articled confederation are not powerful enough to deal with them and the forces that get money and power from keeping the problems unsolved or solved only in ways that enhance their wealth and power.
We need some sort of world government to deal with global problems such as tax avoidance and global warming. Most people prefer to let the problems overwhelm them.
1
One of the reasons I subscribe to the NYT is the knowledgeable Opinion writers. Writers like Mr. Friedman. I enjoy not only his understanding of the world's social economy but his writing skill, his ability to help me understand. This column is a prime example. Thank you again Mr. Friedman. And God save the Queen.
Oh, and yes to some of the comments. I agree that this very well will cast the stone which causes the ripple leading to the breakup of GB.
1
I don't disagree that the UK has gone mad. But you need to look closer to home. So has the U.S. So have many other countries. There is a complete dearth of leadership. No clear-seeing, principled leaders. Why? Swathes of humanity seem to have become emotionally and mentally unbalanced. Why? If we are to survive as a species we need to take a step back and ask ourselves what it is about modern life that is causing this. Humans are better than this.
5
@Cathie H. It turns out that a life just buying things and watching tv doesn't bring happiness and people have found meaning and belonging in these right wing political cults.
"The past is not dead; it's not even past." -- Faulkner.
As stated in Ed West's "1066 and Before All That," the surest path to success in England has been to have an ancestor who was a friend of William the Conqueror. Perhaps after more than 1,000 years, the Anglo-Saxons have revolted against invaders from across the Channel.
2
Can we set the record straight. Uk has not gone mad. England is being dragged into the gutter by a Conservative party civil war, the Labour Party are completely ineffective as an opposition. This has paralysed England.
Scotland has a much vaunted progressive and effective government , we look forward to a bright prosperous future within Europe. We are not mad, neither is Wales nor Northern Ireland.
England however is a basket case and you are watching the end of the United Kingdom unfold.
9
Like the current GOP in the US, the current iteration of the Conservative Party in the UK has been taken over by extremists. Democracy, in almost any form is anathema to these extremists. Their endgame is nothing other than the zombie ideology of Fascism. And, yes, Mr. Friedman is correct that this form of singular, competitive nationalism, like in the past could very well lead to a world war. With the plethora of nuclear nations the new war would not be like the old wars. Much, much worse...
Globalization based on capitalism made economies more productive. Adam Smith was right and mercantilism was left behind. But problems brewed, the first being the lack of adequate restraints to mitigate side effects like environmental degradation. The other has been the failure of governments to help take care of workers as well as those left behind. Too often we celebrate the winners of globalization but discard the losers.
Great Britain’s conservative government went for austerity in the face of the Great Recession. Obama tried to push adequate government stimulus as Keynesian economics prescribes, but he faced obstruction for 8 years. We did too little investing in our country and our people, despite historically low interest rates. And this seemed more out of hatred for a black president than conservative principles. Trillion dollar deficits were suddenly fine once a Republican was in office. Trump is also busy shredding environmental and worker protections.
The current crises in Britain and the US are magnified by modern conservatism. It’s mindless self interest by the rich. As has been said, conservatism seems to be the search for a moral philosophy justifying greed, or words to that effect.
The lower class backlash threatens to throw out the baby with the bath water. Depending on political leanings, they’re for canceling trade deals, closing borders, and installing autocrats. Or they’re for some form of socialism.
4
Very insightful, Mr. Friedman. A wonderful summary of the situation.
1
Divorce is never about that last big argument with its over the top accusations and hardened attitudes. "UK madness" is a costly divorce with suffering kids but the madness is the multicultural dogmas reaching ever higher levels of absurdities and over pretty long period of time. Grooming rape and trafficking gangs going on for years and years, police arresting a nursing mother for a hate speech social media posts regarding male female biology, London mayor taking down ad images of bikini models or bacon and eggs breakfasts in the tube with a straight face claiming it is a health campaign and so on and so on. The people (elites) in charge are basically the crowd we see involved in the Jussie Smollett case. Absurd and bizarre priorities combine with negligence of real issues and having zero relevance to one's daily life. Growing apart, irreconcilable difference, nothing in common are good terms. What does it has to with Brexit? Everything and nothing. Your friends and my friends, your side and my side, your side of the family and my side of the family become pretty defining. The lawyers clean up. Everybody moves on.
Parliament by want to try ranked choice voting (Australian voting) of the alternatives, just so's they can come up with something.
Churchill was right: World War II was their finest hour. It would be entertaining to hear the harangue Churchill would give his fellow Conservatives over a self-inflicted wound like Brexit.
2
The obvious solution to the Brexit mess is to stay in the European Union for, say, the next five years and then revisit the question in a new referendum when cooler heads prevail.
Burt Nanus
5
This article describes the Trump Administration to a tee. We are going to fall as fast as England if we don’t reverse course
5
Smart, educated people want to live among and associate with people of similar skills and interests. They enjoy museums, enjoy the arts, big city libraries, major league sports, edgy restaurants, and bars, etc. Big cities offer opportunity and big paying jobs.
Middle-class folks who sit around small-town America, waiting and hoping, are just plain stuck or stupid. Technology and globalization have rendered small-town America redundant. This may not be what we prefer to happen, but there is no going back to yesterday.
2
Exiting at a time when supply chains are international, when China is linking 63% of the world population along the old Silk Road routes, is economic idiocy.
It will be difficult soon, for the US, and Europe to stand up to what is emerging under China’s Belt And Road initiative. Using China’s funding of infrastructure, and thus tying financially the countries along the routes to China, will create an economic opponent even the US and Europe will have trouble competing against.
For insight into this, try Frankopan’s two books on the Silk Road, the first, historical, the second a look at today’s version.
2
Can we now cross the UK off the list of enlightened societies we need to follow?
Yes! The U.K. should aspire to have an economy as strong as Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal with their high unemployment, chronic underemployment, and massive debt. And don’t forget the political elite that ignores the will of the people. It will be ugly, there are important issues to be dealt with, but the U.K. will be the better for dumping the the EU.
3
"Trump believes in competitive nationalism, and the very reason he is promoting the breakup of the E.U. is that he believes America can dominate the E.U.’s individual economies much better than when they negotiate together as the single biggest market in the world."
... really?
I think you give POTUS a bit too much credit. He is a nationalist and supporter of Brexit for the same bigoted reasons as the Leavers in the UK.
2
What really blows my mind is that the opposition party -- the Labour Party -- has not seized the opportunity to stand for a different future for the UK. On average, the Tories want hard Brexit, and Labour wants, what, slightly less hard Brexit? "Leave" won the referendum by less than 4%. Assuming sentiment has not shifted since then (even though "Remain" has pulled ahead in most opinion polling), nearly half of the UK lacks meaningful representation in Parliament on this issue. I'm not a political operative or anything, but it seems like there would be a great deal of upside for any party willing to take on an explicit anti-Brexit posture right now.
6
I respect Friedman opinions a lot. But in this case, he might not see the whole picture. True, Brexit will cause hardship, and one can ask if it was worth it all. But there is a reason why the UK had enough of the EU's "business as usual". Brussels is not the same as Washington DC (and THAT says a lot!). DC does not waste hundreds of millions of dollars every year by moving between Washington-DC and Philadelphia on a monthly basis just because the nation could not decide where their government should reside (Yes, the EU DOES that, between Brussels and Strasbourg, EVERY month!). DC does not force handout-seeking immigrants on their states. DC is not trying to unite different cultures that can not be united. DC does not try to regulate petty issues like the size of fish-sticks and salt shakers. And so on. So I can see why, 3 years ago, the majority of the British people said "Enough with this nonsense". The problem is that the Brexit referendum should not have been held based on a simple majority to determine the outcome. Because in that case, regardless the results, there will always be half a population that will be deeply disappointed. "Winner takes all" is a bad concept, cause for deep and dangerous divisions in a society. The British only would have had to look at the US to understand that. The referendum should therefore have required a two-third majority for the Brexit to move forward. Then we would not have been in this mess.
5
Large portions of citizens in the UK and America fail tragically to recognize and accept the benefits of embracing the larger community of ordinary people. In a peaceful, democratic world, it's the united coalition of ordinary people that prevents the well positioned minority from dominating the rest of us. Many seem to want things "their way" without acknowledging the connection to others that has become more profound with technology.
2
While I agree with the point that the British authorities and the British public shot themselves in the foot by voting for Brexit. It may turn out to become one of Britain´s greatest historical blunders. However, I don´t agree with the negative view expressed towards immigrants in Britain in this piece. If you go to Spain, for examples, there are thousands and thousands of Brits living in towns and cities along Spain´s southern coast. (They now may not be able to stay in Spain if Brexit becomes the law of their homeland.) So is it OK for the Brits to move to EU countries, but is it not OK for members from other EU countries to move to Britain? The well known Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is frequently asked why all those Nigerians are moving, (they do so legally) to Britain. Her response always is, do you know that all those Brits came to our country without permission and ruled over our land for 160 years?
Also, is Thomas Friedman himself not a descendant of immigrants, who moved to the U.S. from Europe?
3
England has a dark history of colonization. Just look at India, Ireland, Scotland, and China to name a few.
In this context, Brexit is kind of funny to watch.
3
"Seriously, the United Kingdom, the world’s fifth-largest economy — a country whose elites created modern parliamentary democracy, modern banking and finance, the Industrial Revolution and the whole concept of globalization — seems dead-set on quitting the European Union, the world’s largest market for the free movement of goods, capital, services and labor, without a well-conceived plan, or maybe without any plan at all."
>>>
I know this will shock Mr Friedman, but a lot of people aren't all that enamored with much (if any) of the above these days. The thing is, a lot of people seem to think they're not seeing much of a benefit. And they're right.
The thing that blows my mind isn't that voters chose brexit. It's that smug pundits like Friedman refuse to actually engage with the many legitimate complaints people have about their lives being run by unelected, unaccountable technocrats who seem much more concerned with using their power to discipline countries whose citizens dare to elect leaders who question their priorities or methods.
6
Like it or not, far right (or left) - visceral - forces have always existed in Western countries, at least for the last 2 centuries.
It's no surprise that several opportunist media and foreign powers have managed to exacerbate those feelings, and make it succeed in the political arena.
All the myths accepted by pro-brexit voters or nationalist fans are based on questionable or simply false assumptions. And the main and worst one is the superiority complex.
It can happen anywhere, provided some people want to buy the lies that make them feel better.
1
This is the perfect example of why a national referendum is always a bad idea. We live in representative democracies; we elect political leaders to speak for us and decide important issues. David Cameron foolishly allowed the referendum, confident in the outcome, and when the vote went against him he walked away. You want out of the EU, elect MPs who agree with you and have a detailed plan. A general election on this issue seems the only way forward.
3
If there was ever a feasible plan for Brexit, Shakespeare would have written a play about it.
1
The picture of Brexit today is a startling contrast to the fairy tale that was sold to a slim majority of the British public. If the Brexiters are so certain that they have a mandate from the people, allow the people to confirm their desire in a confirming referendum.
It goes without saying that a mandate from the people should in rational minds be based on a supermajority - say 60 to 66%. But that is perhaps a bridge too far.
You have to wonder if Scotland and Northern Ireland wished that Hadrian's Wall and the Irish Sea were more formidable barriers; serving the reverse of the purposes they historically did. Instead of keeping people out of England, to keep the Brits in.
1
Assume a no-deal Brexit. Scotland and North Ireland will probably choose to become independent and join the EU. The UK will either make a success of the exit or make a mess of it, completely discrediting the true-blue Brexiteers. If the latter, the UK will probably rejoin the EU. Are these results so awful?
@PeterE
Rejoining the EU will mean likely to adopt the Euro especially if the UK will want to play a full role. As for the rebate - I doubt that will ever be reconsidered.
@PeterE Unfortunately, the EU will not allow Scotland and No. Ireland in trhe EU in order not tio set a precedent for other independent movements to join the EU . That's the case with Catalonia-- where we just want to leave Spain but not the EU and Spain will always block
our entry in the EU unless laws change.
But the difference here is that Spain is in the EU, while the UK won’t be.
1
Re: the comment about too many French speakers in London. On a vacation to Majorca a few years ago, at least 2 days passed before we encountered anyone speaking Spanish. I don't recall any Majorcans complaining that there were too many English speakers. In a city as cosmopolitan as London it seems a bit bizarre to complain about people speaking foreign languages.
8
@A. Cleary Funny you mention this. As a part time resident of Barcelona and California (I'm a diual citizen Spain/US), I could say the same thing about the hordes of arrogant working class, British hooligans descending on Barcelona, Mallorca and other hot spots on the Spanish coast to get laid, get drunk and cause unbelievable havoc wherever they go. There is much to admire about Britain of yore but these behaviours do not contribute to the country's reputation. Hopefully with Briexit they won't be able to even afford the cheap flights fronm Raynair any more.
5
@A. Cleary
On the contrary, in Mallorca, and many other parts of Spain, there has been a growing number of attacks on tourists. There is an increasing rise in intolerance unfortunately: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/spain-attacks-anti-tourism-british-tourists-visit-barcelona-majorca-valencia-san-sebastian-a7886371.html
When I was a tourist in Paris, one weekend, the only people I heard speaking French were the waiters. The Irish tourists kept shouting at each other over the court yard in the quaint hotel we stayed in.
1
I divide humankind into three groups:
1. My little circle, comprised of my family, friends and colleagues. Almost all of us were born "lucky," in affluent societies among well-educated, mostly emotionally healthy people. Because of our initial advantages, heroic efforts are not required of us to live "lucky" lives.
2. Having been raised among decent people, I care about the billions of people who were not born lucky and have not done anything to deserve the miseries that the world dumps on them. To the extent that I have discretionary resources, I prefer to direct them to this group of unlucky people, especially hungry people nearby because that is most efficient and if not me, an almost neighbor, then who will help them?
3. Having been raised by responsible people, I try to take ownership of our own lives. I strive to inform myself, aim for reasonable goals in a changing world, equip myself with the knowledge and skills needed to achieve my goals, constantly seek the additional knowledge and skills I need to cope with new circumstances, work reasonably hard toward my objectives, then periodically review my life and redirect my plans and efforts as new conditions require.
I have zero sympathy for America's or the UK's perseverating coal miners, subsidy-addicted farmers, low-information disengaged voters, or fatuous unemployed who refuse further education and training. They are their own - and western democracies' - worst enemies.
7
Where was all this noise before 2010 when the biggest bunch of incompetents came to power. Sure there were murmurings but it was sidelined.
The conservatives wish to use the financial crash of 2007 and then their rise in Govt in 2010 to implement major ideological changes to the country - slashing back local govt budgets - watching as peoples earnings shrank found an easy scapegoat it blaming it all on Europe and Labour. Surprise then when people started moving to UKIP and we had a snowballing anti EU agenda facing the establishment.
And this is where incompetence comes in. Cameron - folded to provide a referendum. Even when loosing - he or May could have used that to demand changes in the EU or the implement Brexit. Even when it came to implementing - it was not landslide victory and most sane politicians would have looked at getting cross consensus. But as the Tories only ever plan for their own good - they tried to use the Brexit vote and use it to their own advantage and use Brexit to further implement their ideological programmes on the nation. It's embarrassingly funny if not painful.
".......I understand the grievances of many of those who voted to leave the E.U. For starters, they felt swamped by E.U. immigrants. There are reportedly some 300,000 French citizens living in London, which would make it one of the biggest French cities in the world...."
You think they voted out for any other reason than the EU ceding control of England, a now border-less country, to the German chancellor and her laissez-faire immigration policies? Com
e on.
These are individual countries with their own languages, until recently their own monetary system, heritage, thousand years of history, etc.. They want their country back.
This is not hard to understand?
5
May didn't wan to work with Labour party on a deal. Hence, she fails to push for her deal. Even a generous incentive like stepping down, didn't work.
Corbyn is the best that can happen to the UK at this point.
I share Mr Friedman's view that Brexit is a bad idea for the UK, but don't agree that Parliament has failed the people. Not yet, anyway.
The referendum was a cynical partisan maneuver presented to the people as a false choice, The PM literally owes her job to the results, and has continued in the role because nobody else wants to be the Brexit PM.
The deal she has negotiated with the EU would satisfy no one. Even she can only say it's the best she can do to deliver the result the people have demanded.
Yet Parliament refuses to act. It stands firm even facing the cliff edge. That is what they should do until the government puts forth a viable plan. There should be a general election in my view so that the Parliament that decides what to do next will have been chosen by electors who have Brexit on their minds.
Unbridled capitalism and globalization is also not the answer. This divides the world into have and have-nots. The stark economic disparity within the states in the US is a prime example.
Brexit seems to be a muddled reaction to all negative side-effects of globalization and other factors.
No use viewing Brexit in the narrow time-slot of the present. In thirty years, may be the Brits will be viewed as the torch bearers of a more sane world...
I don’t understand why capitalists can’t understand what capitalism does, and what it does, as Marx said, is to dissolve all that seems solid into air—or more precisely, into capitalism.
It’s an economic system, okay? Or in modern terms, an algorithym, not a person. It isn’t “interested,” in anything, and certainly not in countries and nations. If it were a person, its only real interest would be in expansion, both overseas and internally; “it,” converts other ways into capitalist ways, and “it,” reaches into and converts everyday life at every level among those who’ve already been occupied.
“It,” is only interested in national borders, or nationalism, or even racisms, insofar as they help keep the game going and growing. Because if working people around the world (and the international bourgeoisie, for that matter) ever clearly saw the game for what it is, they might just get together and make a few little changes.
That’s what Trump, and Putin, and all the petty nationalisms, and all the racisms, and all the religious hatreds, are FOR: to keep everybody running, so the oligarchs—who themselves aren’t nearly as smart as they think they are—can keep the algorithim running.
And that is why Brexit, too: to pretend an independence that hasn’t existed in fifty years.
2
Marx also said the capitalists would dig their own graves. Too bad it looks like they're taking the rest of us with them.
1
@Robert
I don't think Karl Marx had the solution, either -- take a look at world history in the last century.
The results of the Brexit vote benefit the anti-Western motives of Vladimir Putin. I don't for a minute think he wasn't a prime mover in that narrow win for Leave. Dark money, mystery accounts, social media invasions -- a familiar story.
And his motivational theme was anti-immigrant. The diaspora from the Middle East and Africa has made UK uncomfortable with their immigration population, dominantly dark skinned and easily recognized on the streets.
Middle Eastern upheavals are the source of the instability that prompted so many to leave their homelands. The Iraq War upended the strategic stand-off between Iraq and Iran, Sunni and Shia. And before that the plot by Osama bin Laden to provoke exactly what the U.S. did. We took the bait.
Malevolent forces are actors in the world drama, and their goal is money and power. Their mode is cyber. Smart governance is the only antidote.
3
I applaud the UK and their fight for independence from the EU which is completely antithetical to a free nation state built from elected officials. The unelected bureaucrats in Brussels represent a globalist agenda. If you are in ANY way a proponent for democracy and the freedoms included there in, you must be pro-Brexit. Good luck to them on leaving the EU.
4
The English have for centuries been far more tolerant and open to diverse peoples living in their society than other European countries, especially those with strong homogenizing nationalistic tendencies such as France. This since the industrial revolution has indeed been tied to economics; relative freedom of movement in and out of the country has been from people coming to England for economic opportunities and them being able to enjoy more benefits and a better welcome there than most other places. Other countries that are held up as models of 'progressive' welfarism such as the Scandinavian countries do not even begin to have such a history. The Netherlands may be the closest other example. What has happened in England over the last forty years is relatively unprecedented in scale and in the fact that many of the people living there at a given time often have no desire to stay permanently and become assimilated into very many aspects of the traditional society there; to many, its cosmopolitan value lies precisely in this, in feeling like a collection of expatriates who move in and out of the society without necessarily much of a commitment to it. While some are racist or xenophobic, I think many who voted for Brexit would be more welcoming if those who came to the UK from elsewhere were like immigrants to the US historically in seeing the journey as a lifelong commitment to a future in a new country and with a concomitant desire to be part of its social fabric.
2
@J Morris "The English have for centuries been far more tolerant and open to diverse peoples living in their society than other European countries"
Well, except to Catholics.
1
@Daniel R.
The word 'more' is a comparative, and if you wish to examine the record of Catholic countries towards minorities, I think you will find England far more tolerant than most, despite, as you correctly note, a history of intolerance as well. Nevertheless, England is, and has for a long time been, far more diverse religiously than France or Spain, which much more thoroughly stamped out dissenters. Examples such as medieval Spain of relative tolerance really predate the modern nation state. Prior to Vatican II, the Catholic church was in fact and as a matter of official policy far from promoting modern, democratic pluralistic values. Indeed, it was a fight during the Second Vatican Council on the part of people like John Courtney Murray to get the church to countenance liberal democracy as part of its official political theology and thinking. The prewar church was very suspicious of, for example, American democracy, as something modern, secular, and compatible with liberal Protestant rather than Catholic views, and that would mold and transform its Catholic adherents into modern, liberal, secular people rather than faithful Catholics--which arguably it has in many respects done. At many points during the council Murray was driven insane by the intransigence of the traditionalist voices. The same situation still largely obtains with regard to many social issues, and Catholic teaching still sits very much in tension in many respects with many modern democratic values.
Considering the magnitude that the vote represented it should never had been a plurality decision.
Not being familiar with the particulars of the British political system beyond their 2 Houses of Parliament and the PM , the vote to leave should have required at least a 60/40 margin if for no other purpose than to demonstrate a firm commitment by their citizens.
2
The EU is a not simply a market entity. It is also a centralized political organization that has significantly contributed to the unhealthy political climate within all of the EU countries. Once moribund right wing organizations are now active as the second largest political parties across EU member states. The strength of these parties are a direct result of the ill-considered decisions on freedom of movement and authoritarian decisions affecting fisheries and agricultural policies. The EU could have been a great thing, but instead the Brussels' bureaucrats did what bureaucrats always do. They created resentment and inflamed ordinary folks.
2
"The wisest leaders also understand that all the big problems today are global problems, and they have only global solutions. I am talking about climate change, trade rules, technology standards and preventing excesses and contagion in financial markets."
That's ridiculous. Those aren't the biggest problems any country faces. Look at the big issues we face in the United States. None of them are on that list. Same with the United Kingdom. With Germany. With France. With China. With Japan.
We are not citizens of the world--of the United Nations--or of regions like the European Union. We are citizens of countries. Our biggest problems are local, in the places where we live and work, with people we share culture and language and community with. Brexit reflects that.
The United Kingdom will work things out. This is good for them, not bad. They are not going to crash out. But they will (I'll bet) leave, and they should leave. They have never really bought into the whole continental Europe thing. And they never will.
2
I would normally agree with you on the local issues thing but for the way that inequality and climate change affect us locally. Our towns cities and states are all struggling with ways to cope with homelessness, mental health, lack of health care, flooding, wildfires, wind storms, you name it. These are global issues but their reach is immediate and local, make no mistake.
1
I see much bemoaning the fall of a traditional Britain to outsiders. I see excuses, mostly. Britain has 300,00 people living in South Africa alone. The difference? It no longer stuffs its coffers through blanket colonialism. That’s what the EU was for.
The actual story here is old and Greek. Britain hates its father and is in love with its mother. A Britain that has never existed is now put on a pedestal. The people rushing there (escaping the wars and abject poverty the Brits and their policies helped create) are needed by Britain or they’d just call their missionaries home. 190K Brits live in France. 300K in Spain. For Gods sake just tell the truth.
The problem there is the same here. They see people as economic assets. Functionaries in “their” war of labor, wealth, and livelihood. Job stealing we here, not sending their best, sucking from the teat of government. Oh yeah? Ask the Windrush Jamaicans Britain has recently booted from the country for no reason at all. I feel nothing, ever, for people who want to continue to live their lives as they always have while the global “have-nots” struggle to make their way in a world not of their choosing.
Instead, Britain cuts its own throat. And, as usual, they do it spectacularly.
American with no dog in this hunt, been following this since the start, the Net has its uses. Utter Stupidity , and Gross Criminal Incompedence are the words that come to mind. I once thought the U.K. was on top of their game. But these guys have willingly gone up a blind alley, and are economically heading for the cliff, worse instead of stopping as the economic signs of disaster grow louder, they are shouting more gas. Anyone with half a Brain could have seen through the lies told by the pro Brexit campaigners, but a lot of the British public, were more interested in giving a blackeye, to the upper classes, then thinking about their own self interest. The reason it’s a pretty self-evident, the U.K. Government has let a lot of the country rot economically, and people on the bloody end of the economic bottle, may not act in their long term self interest when there is a change to put a fist in the face of the ruling elite.
2
Brexiteers and the GOP, all graduates summa cum laude from the John Phillips Sousa School of Management — find a parade and go stand in front.
3
Very sad - the country that defied the Nazis and where modern computers began, is being manipulated by ignorant populists. This great country needs the EU. Please stay with them to stay strong and great.
2
There are villages in Wales that voted overwhelmingly 'Leave'. These villages almost literally owe their continuing existence to grants and other forms of funding from the EU which they will now lose. In one case the village's major employer is moving back to the continent, taking all the well paying jobs with it, and the people of the village still seem to think leaving the EU is a good idea although at least the margin seems reduced.
It's bewildering how even the evidence before their very eyes every day could be overwhelmed and negated by the lies that were told by posh English chumocrats.
These places are too small to have the tax base to even be able to pay for the upkeep on what the EU built for them. And now the EU won't be funding their villages any more. Yet neither will Westminster-just as Westminster was content to let them decay into ruins prior to the intervention by the EU.
There will always be an England but there probably won't be a United Kingdom in another few years.
4
@Dana
It's right in the title. "You can't fix stupid".
This refers not only to the whole of Brexit, but also to the slight majority of individuals who supported it out of emotion but with zero appreciation or understanding of the direct (negative) consequences to their own best interests. Much like the red-hatters in US flyover states.
In the end, they get the disaster they deserve. Unfortunately, un-stupid people are forced to swirl around the drain, watching it happen in horror, and then go down along with them.
1
Great Britain has not been all that great for quite some time, and continues on its downward spiral as any influence in the world, or even regional affairs.
Just as much as the idea of any person rising above another only because of an hereditary path is antiquated, the idea of raising the drawbridge and only allowing select people in is as well.
The world functions now as a global market that tries to be fair. Goods and services pass freely across lines on a piece of paper, but along with them comes people, and ideas of freedom and human rights.
Wars and strife cannot be waged (continuously) over there without there being repercussions over here. If people are so affected that they have nowhere else to go to just survive, let alone prosper, then of course there will be an influx of refugees seeking asylum.
The vote that happened was a reflexive one to that influx, so here we are. Now the country is going to lose at least two more countries from its control.
All self inflicted.
1
The British are very good at making themselves appear wonderful. Really they are a bunch of feudalist believing ruling class who love to argue, particularly in Parliament, until the topic is out of date. Like banning slavery and the Corn Laws.
As feudalistic leaders they have forgotten about the average person until they voted. Now the British leaders find shouting as a good substitute for common sense.
In fact, is this another time Americans have to rescue Europeans from their foolishness? And should we favor the southern countries over Germany and the northern countries?
Tom, why don't you tell us what a good plan is and should accomplish and how to get there. If you lived in Italy what would you write about what is best for Italy. You do know England, what should happen to Great Britain?
I live in the UK and voted to Remain in the EU. When the first result came in I stayed up all night (dozing on the sofa) and cried when the result was announced but very proud to be in that little yellow island of Remain amidst an East Anglian sea of blue. The whole Brexit thing is a total mess and parliament at the moment not fit for purpose. Maybe if 'Remain' had got a catchy title like 'Brexit' and they actually campaigned to stay in things might have been different. Brexiters voted on lies and not necessarily leaving the EU but the usual protest vote against the government. Whatever people say it was not, necessarily, democratic. The majority of people who voted to leave won but it was not a big margin and in some countries it would have not have been allowed to go through, and it was less than 50% of those on the elctoral register. Tough - you might say. They should have voted.
This is one of the best articles I have read about Brexit and does echo my feelings, so thank you. I shall be sending a link to my friends, especially those who voted to Leave - and who despite that still remain my friends.
Jan
5
Brexit, and also the Trump regime in USA, are excellent teaching material for high school textbooks to explain "Western Democracy" based entirely on the ideology of "1-person, 1-vote" to solve soceity's problems.
Other sections of the chapter on "Western Democracy" explain variations of Western Democracy in different countries. Students will write reports on the pros & cons of how such political system works in India, Australia, Philippines, Turkey, Ukraine, Taiwan, Japan, etc.
1
Idiotic Brexiteer supporters have been protesting recently that March 29th came and went with no Brexit, and have been deliberately driving slowly on the motorways, putting 'suspicious packages' on railway tracks, and protesting at the ferry ports.
Their message is: "We can, and will, bring this country to its knees".
The irony of which seems to be completely over their heads.
4
Such good, powerful writing! The problem is that the grievances you understand are so powerful that people have grasped at a lousy solution. The only thing that will change this is genuinely addressing those grievances, and that would be easier with the economic and political resources that E.U. membership provides. It may be to late, however. The time for elites to mitigate the effects of their own greed may have passed. In the words of a 60s British musician, Graham Nash:
"Shouldn't have took more than you gave, or we wouldn't be in this mess today. I know we've gone our separate ways, but the dues we have to pay remain the same."
Britain joined in 1973 and most of its people have had enough. They also have a good understanding of what the EU wants to become. It is an organization with grandiose ambitions. It wants political, economic and military union. In a democracy, ordinary people should be able to decide if that is what they want.
3
Tired of the constant conflating of highly educated legal immigrants with illegal unskilled people flooding into a country, whether it be the US over the southern border, or the EU forcing down the throat of its constituent members people from all over the third world coming to the EU claiming to be refugees.
The more elite opinion characterizes opponents of very high levels of immigration as xenophobic racists, the more we can expect to see of Brexit, Trump, Orban, and other populists. Indeed, I could not think of a better plan to elect right wing populists than forcing down the throats of the citizens some form of open borders, and then personally attacking anyone who opposes open borders as a racist. Good Job!
3
It's important to point out that it's NOT Great Britain that's gone mad, it's England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted remain.
784
@Keta Hodgson Although Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain England has never really cared about them or Wales.
27
@Bruce Northwood A sweeping generalization, this one. Yes, England (53-47) and Wales (53-47) voted to leave. But it was knife-edge close. There were wider margins for remain in Scotland (62-38) and Northern Ireland (56-44), but we're still talking about sizeable minorities on the other side. Over 1 million Scots voted to leave in fact. So this binary Scotland good, England bad narrative is a red herring. The UK voted to leave as one and my hope now is that, after all the lies and cheating of the 2016 campaign, they will get a second referendum and the chance to make things right.
30
@Keta Hodgson
Exactly. My brother lives in North Wales and cannot understand why they voted to leave. It's a poor country and they receive millions of pounds annually, all improvements in the infrastructure is all down to EU money. Voted against their own self interest.
36
Only a fool would want to escape the workers’ paradise of the European Union just as only the mentally ill wanted to escape the workers’ paradise of the Soviet Union
4
For many Labour party supporters in the UK the EU is a capitalist bosses’ club.
1
Typical Tom editorial, blame both sides and sit on the fence with no good solution of your own. For heaven sake, take one side and stick with it. Brexit is either wrong and should not be done or right and Britain should get out of there. Can you for once not sit on the fence!!!
2
The United Kingdom Has Gone Mad ?
The turmoil you see, just as in the US, France, is the outcome of a badly handled globalization policy by the elites - who profited turning London in the gilded capital of global finance, while paying no attention how job after job migrated to low wage countries, and their British plumbers were replaced by immigrants from Poland.
Inevitably, the plumbers revolted
3
It is not stupid and we are wrong to call it that. Billionaires row. Hudson Yards has an elaborate installation that is inaccessible except in the most rudimentary way to the disabled.
We best be careful. The depression was caused by depression. Stupid is really those that think that this can go on forever.
1
Economic output, GDP percentage increases, more markets, more money...this is all that seems to matter in articles such as this. People are reduced down to simply being units in a system to continue these financial programs.
Any talk of countrymen with a common language, custom and traditions or a shared history is simply dismissed as bad think.
4
Once again the perspective, insightful as it may be, is from the 1st class cabin looking down from 30,000 feet.Leadership? Bush, Trump, and McConnell. Two third-raters regarding the public good and the other a servant of raw capitalism and naked power.
And former PM David Cameron 'mistakenly' gave the British people a means of expressing their anger at the way the system is functioning.
Friedman still doesn't appreciate at his gut level the dissatisfaction out there and the need for serious and meaningful change which will not come voluntarily from the present socio-economic-political elites as people do not willingly give up power and privilege unless forced to do so.
2
May and the Parliament continue to deceive themselves that they can just make up options to suit themselves.
They have been doing that all along.
But the current alternatives remain just what they were told by the EU when the date got moved back from March to April.
They can agree on May's deal, they can crash out with no deal on the 12th, or they can ask for a much longer delay, a delay that would require them to take part in the elections to the European Parliament.
Talk of anything else is delusional.
There is no time for another plebiscite, no time for a new Parliamentary election, no time to play footsie under the table with Labor.
But they just cannot bring themselves to face the reality staring them in the face.
No more now than at any time these last three years.
1
I think the British freak out over immigration wasn’t focused on arrivals from other EU countries; it was the massive influx of Muslim migrants that Merkel invited which proved to be a bridge too far. Even for EU countries that weren’t immediately affected by that massive migration, there would be no way to prevent freedom of movement for these new arrivals that represented a cultural earthquake. Added directly on top of that unease, there was serious talk at the same time of Turkey joining the EU, which exacerbated the cultural fears.
One can argue endlessly whether or not this is racist, but one cannot deny feelings and fears. And to deny that the huge influx of such a dramatically different culture is destabilizing is the insanity of wishful thinking.
The same fears delivered the presidency to Trump. I’m tired of being scolded over the natural human incapacity to absorb so much dramatic cultural change. The backlash is proving to be very painful. On a personal level, I’m angry knowing that all my own progressive values (women’s rights, health care reform, environmental improvement, education, etc) are being readily sacrificed over the single issue of illegal immigration. My liberal friends seem to be blind to the trade off they are forcing with their holier-than-thou misguided purity.
5
Just because peoples’ fears are real doesn’t mean that they should be respected. As a small child I was convinced that there was a panther under my bed, but my parents did not build a cage around the bed; they talked calmly and sensibly to me until I abandoned the fantasy.
1
I am willing to argue that the changes that are happening in the world today are much larger than even the changes that happened during the Industrial Revolution, a time in which many people suffered because they could not make the right changes and because the governments of Europe didn't have a clue on how to deal with it.
Now, we know a lot more about how to go through changes and how to help our countries go through changes, but we don't have the leadership--or the citizenry--to do it right. We are just repeating history.
I join Tom in his despondency. I will never understand why people don't solve problems that we know how to solve.
2
To anyone outside of this madhouse, it must be difficult to comprehend the apparent lunacy afflicting the British parliament. In a nutshell, this country is hopelessly divided on this matter, having been asked a simplistic question to appease one element of the Tory party and then giving an unexpected answer by actually wanting to leave the EU.
Despite what some will say, this decision wasn't based on balanced and sensible information about the consequences, but reflects a knee jerk reaction to the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to upset the apple cart. There was undoubtedly a lot of jingoism involved, and a lot of blaming other people (immigrants) for every shortcoming within the UK economy.
No thought or planning was given to this eventuality and the politicians responsible for asking the question jumped ship immediately, leaving a vacuum.
Theresa May as the new leader of the Tory party has proved to be an ineffective PM, compounded by calling a General Election that promptly decimated her majority. Instead of seeking cross party consensus she threw her lot in with the DUP, effectively buying a slender majority that evaporated immediately a 'deal' with the EU was unveiled.
There is no real consensus to be had because the country split fairly evenly across the population and across political parties. Who knows where we will end up, but the UK is not a pleasant place to be at the minute, however you voted.
3
Both Britain and the US are at a cross roads because a vast majority of the voting population in our two countries are intellectually lazy. We rarely bother to check facts, are willing to buy into paranoia and in general revert to tactical engagement as opposed to sound policy decisions. What we are witnessing is an outcome of bad inputs driven mostly by laziness.
6
"... and a Labour Party that has gone Marxist."
Sorry, but I've been following British politics closely since the start of Brexit and nowhere have I seen Labour Party go Marxist.
1
@pewter
No, but Labour is considering an even deeper transgression-- going after the unearned wealth of Real Estate magnates and the Landed Gentry- a Land Value Tax.
If I remember correctly, it was Adam Smith who suggested collecting the ground rent-- but Adam Smith, Karl Marx-- what's the difference, right?
1
@pewter
If you follow British politics, I'm surprised you haven't at least heard the rumours ... This from the left-leaning Guardian newspaper: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/19/marxist-corbyn-revolution-ken-livingstone-labour
Britain never adopted the Euro, smart. Why should they stick around and bail out bankrupt countries like Greece and Spain. Germany though very noble and pulling more than their own weight are going to further their economic stress. Other countries around the world aren't "unionized." With Brexit, Britain will still have trade with other countries and countries will continue to do financing with London. They will survive Brexit and be better off for it. What was wrong with Britain before the European Union, nothing.
4
Brexit will happen. What Britain needs to achieve with Brexit is a stop to immigration from the third world. It is too much immigration which is driving down living standards for Britain's poor.
Britain should do as much as possible to preserve economic union with the European Union so long as it is consistent to an end of immigration.
Brexit will be painful. But it is necessary. In the long run, the European Union will have to adopt more realistic policies regarding immigration or it will break up.
Indeed, politics in Italy is already tending towards exit from the European Union. And populist movements have arisen in Hungary (Victor Orban) and Poland (Law and Justice Party). Rumblings of movement to the right can be found in France (Marine Le Pen) and elsewhere.
The problem is that elites like Thomas Friedman deny the impact of population growth on quality of life. But ordinary people can see the effects in their own lives.
Europe, like the US, has limited resources. Liberals claim that it is possible to simply "grow" out of economic problems. But growth cannot continue forever. This is particularly true of population growth.
The population of Africa is projected to double by 2050. That will cause a continuing stream of migrants which will tear Europe apart, just like illegal immigration is destroying the US.
We need to control population growth with family planning in third world countries.
Without family planning, politics will continue to move right.
4
Given that they’ve listened to morons like boris johnson and nigel farage, the English have scored an own goal. I suspect the Scots are wishing their leave vote had gone differently.
3
Is there any possibility that I can marry the French European affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau?
3
But the idiot-scrambling in re Brexit is so much fun to 'watch' -- and, for a moment here and there, it takes my mind off the trump '& co.' catastrophe.
1
Me? I just kinda wish that all these "high-I.Q. risk-takers" who Friedman seems to believe will be the saviours of the world through their high I.Q. ability to promote even more growth, more consumption, more ... well, 'he who dies with the most toys, wins' ideology were offering something a bit more sustainable for a globe wallowing in what I believe is too much growth, too much consumption and ... well, a really sad kind of death, regardless of the toys accumulated.
But, hey, what do I know? Friedman's a respected pontificating pundit with a privileged perch at the august NY TImes. So ... well, why worry about things like death by gluttony.
Friedman should do some background research before writing op-eds for public consumption. Two minutes of Googling reveals that Loiseau admits she was joking and doesn't even have a cat. This was fact-checked and reported by major media outlets nearly two weeks ago, on Mar. 19th. Maybe that seems tangential, but one's credibility depends on getting facts right, and if you blow it in the first paragraph it doesn't really give the reader confidence in the rest of the article. Grabbing the easy anecdote without asking whether it's true is a bad sign: lazy reporting goes together with lazy thinking.
1
Interesting critique from someone who lives in a country where the administration makes false statements on a daily basis, is trying to deprive health care from sick people, is being out-maneuvered by international adversaries (Russia, China, North Korea) at every turn, and has a media organization working as if it were state controlled TV. Yes, things are a mess in the UK. But Mr Friedman's comments are a case of the pot calling the kettle black if you ask me.
2
The following quotation from Edward O. Wilson provides a concise and, I believe, accurate assessment of the human condition today.
“Humanity today is like a waking dreamer, caught between the fantasies of sleep and the chaos of the real world. The mind seeks but cannot find the precise place and hour. We have created a Star Wars civilization, with Stone Age emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology. We thrash about. We are terribly confused by the mere fact of our existence, and a danger to ourselves and to the rest of life.”
― Edward O. Wilson, The Social Conquest of Earth
Wilsons perspective explains most of what I read in the daily papers and experience directly. The problems facing humanity are with us for reasons much more complex than the fact that "you can't fix stupid."
2
There are millions of people in this country and England who -- because they aren't getting what they believe they deserve -- are knowingly and deliberately voting against their own interests as a means of punishing others they believe are having a better time of it.
This is a phenomenon known as getting even.
5
Well, the EU has gone mad itself. Article 13 is evidence of that.
They are not holding out for a perfect brexit. They are--each group--holding out for the one they want. There is no "they".
"Where have you gone, Queen Elizabeth II, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you."
Indeed.
Might be a good time for the monarch to step in and end the anarchy. Dismiss the government, dismiss Parliament and call for immediate new elections. In the meantime, put Brexit on hold and put the question to the people.
Seems to me that the value of having a monarch is the potential to step in and slam on the breaks when democracy insists on driving the country off a cliff.
1
The British economy and political system is in a tailspin,- many Brits feel like they don't have a fair shake and their country is going broke-- their "blessed isle" has "now been leased out" as Shakespeare eloquently put it.
The solution is right under their feet. Paradoxically-- despite all of the talk of decline-- the value of the city of London continues to get higher and higher (the same is true of NY, San Fran- all the "sexy" urban hubs.) I'm talking about Real Estate, even more specifically-- the value of the Land.
I think Brits would feel less "invaded" if they collected the unclaimed land rents from the luxury homes now owned by oil sheiks in central London. The same goes for Russian and Chinese billionaires in the US stashing (or laundering) their money in the luxury real estate market.
The solution to this problem is to collect the increasing site values of the land as the rightful source of public revenue--- the resentment of Brits would go away when those trillions of unearned asset gains go into revitalizing the NHS. It would spur the development of more multi-unit housing options and bring down the cost for non-billionaires. Furthermore, when this unearned value is collected, it makes the rest of the country look like a better place to invest in actual productive activity because of the comparatively low cost of land outside of London.
2
The problem is democracy. There are no safeties against stupid ideas promoted by stupid people capturing the psyche of a mass of voters wholly uneducated and incapable to decide complex issues. Look at what happened here. Face it, it's a systemic failure.
1
" ...looking for the perfect fix, the pain-free exit from the E.U. But there is none, because you can’t fix stupid."
I couldn't have said it better. Britain will become a backwater country...sooner, rather than later. As an ex-pat it grieves me that British leadership has been reduced to feckless idiots.
4
The comment, '...a member of Parliament ... on Tuesday whispered to me that “not a single person working in this whole building is British.”
Just a reminder: there was a time when the British monarchy was imported from Germany. The queen herself is married to a Greek/German with extensive family ties to Hitler, a German grandmother, a Danish great grandmother, a German great-great grandfather and so on.
'British' has always been code for English, and the populace has wallowed in self-delusion forever, aided and abetted by the greatest propaganda messages ever devised: 'Rule Brittania,' 'There'll always be an England....'
The campaign leading to the referendum was deceptive, manipulative, determinedly design to mislead. It appealed to the worst devils in our nature.
Thomas Friendman sadly got it right - stupid. But no more so than Trump supporters.
3
Spot on!
I’m no expert but it seems brexit comes from a failure of the political professionals to interpret the de facto result globalization and EU membership. They didn’t see that membership in the EU would lead to a partial loss of sovereignty although they were smart at the beginning with the retention of their own currency. Finally, we in the US we are given a apt lesson at the grave peril of direct democracy. What a pity our great leaders can’t see what is right in front of them.
2
No fixing stupid. Put Theresa May on her cross. What comes next? Boris Johnson - the British Trump? That should end well.
Brexit was sold with over simplistic over optimistic la la land demagoguery. No realistic planning, resentments far greater than the offense given. Ending in amazingly self destructive politics. At the end of the day tax cuts will be passed and programs will be further cut. The economy will settle out in a much weaker position. The EU has created a two tiered system. The weaker tier is becoming more resentful daily. Trump might get his dueling economic nationalisms of a broken up EU.
1
"The entire Brexit choice was presented to the public in 2016 with utterly misleading simplicity. "
And when have you ever seen a national ballot measure that was presented with all the complexity and nuance that it truly entails?
You focus on the Brits mistakes, but why on earth must a nation tie into the whole EU deal when all it really needs is free trade among nations? Its the EU flexing its muscle and refusing to do what's best for England and for its own people by threatening to punish the Brits with trade barriers. Sounds Trumpian right?
2
@jrd Was the whole design of the EU about low cost labor?
Thank you, Mr. Friedman. As others have stated, while your article focuses upon Brexit, its thrust is surely applicable to the entirety of the world order. At its core is the struggle between two unresolvable forces, "identity" and "unity", forces that must be kept in balance for the world order to function. I fear we are swinging radically towards "identity," with the very significant possibility of some form of repeat of the catastrophe that was the first half of the 20th century.
God help us all.
3
There is a global revolt of the stupid going on. Technology has made complex problems and activities seem so much more simple than they really are, that, as here with the election of Donald Trump, people think that not only can anyone fill these demanding roles, but that "common sense" is a panacea. They have come to resent the skilled and educated specialists as elites, which they are, with good reason. It's as if after a few drinks, the airline passenger thinks he's just as entitled to fly the plane as some pilot with a fancy uniform.
11
@Peter Aretin After a few drinks most people will tell you things are not working very well. If the elites were good leaders all inhabitants would be saying life's ok.
For both Britain and the US, the tyranny of the minority still maintains since both democracies are heavily tainted by the ultra-rich.
4
This column is bang on. The United Kingdom is no longer united because of racist, anti-immigrant Brits who consider themselves superior to Asians, Africans and East Europeans simply because of their accents or skin color. There's nothing more stupid than a bullheaded cockney who's never ventured beyond the sound of London's Bow bells, or a Brummie from Birmingam, or a Liverpudlian Scouser. Not dissimilar to Trump's MAGA-hatted masses.
7
The cat named Brexit is fake news. It's surprising to find this in Mr Friedman's column.
The British Empire is dead; parliament should get over it.
1
When Mr. Neoliberal says Brexit is stupid it has to be a big confidence boost to the Leave advocates.
1
We should NOT blame British politicians or British voters who made this happen. This is democracy in action because people chose to leave EU and they will be responsible for the pain.
While we attack other countries for lack of free election or governance of democracy, we forget to remember there is a price to pay for our own system. Sometimes, voters will vote for stupid!
1
Where are the intelligent and wise conservatives? Do they even exist? Have they ever existed? As in the US, conservatives are anything but conservative. Their solutions to problems aren’t based in reality but rather they revolve around blame and hatred and if they could only restore a past that never actually existed everything would be great. Their beliefs are formulated from ratings seeking media outlets, not from educated professionals who have an entirely different agenda. I think things will only get worse before we can rebuild from the ashes. We need to expel these clowns from positions of power just like the nazi machinery was after the war.
1
Why some decisions should not be put before the voters.
2
I find it difficult to criticize the British Brexit because look at us - we are not doing so well ourselves here in the U.S.
4
I find it amusing to watch the average well-read, liberal democrat, NYTs reader offer simpathy and intellectual approval to GREECE in its attempt to assert independence from EU and NATO etc. We sit in our happy places on Sunday Morning and quietly ally our thoughts with those of the Yellow Vests in Paris...as they shout against the powers of EU....perhaps re-living vicariously those days of our youth spent in the SDS, summer of 68, the whole world is watching, blah, blah, blah.....
And THEN do a complete reversal and condemn the UK for daring to leave the EU.
Its a head scratcher.
No Rain! No Rain! No Rain!
3
Some unfortunate bits of Brexiteers' propaganda (or is it ignorance?) entered this - otherwise nice - piece. The EU being "swamped by EU migrants" (swamped is quite violent - and BTW the problem is not French migrants!) is the UK's own doing: other EU countries used a transition period before moving to full freedom of movements of citizens of new EU countries after the enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe, which the UK waived (it seemed like they wanted/needed the EU migrants at the time). The "faceless bureaucrats" don't impose anything: there is a democratic decision-making process in the EU which involves national ministers in the Council and elected Member of the European Parliament. Maybe time to brush up on your knowledge of the functioning of the EU.
2
Friedman, having married into his wife's family money, is fantastically wealthy beyond anyone's imagination, and lives like any billionaire - de facto without a nation because of that wealth. Can he make judgements respecting people who's citizenship is the most valuable thing they own, on the value to them of their sovereignty? I doubt it. He makes the same foolish mistakes that all rich people make, that the little broke people are simple and don't have the will to sacrifice for their values. He must be forgetting Churchill's humorous aside to the US Congress, "The British people, are the only people, who actually enjoy hardship."
This review is full of holes and insult; the analogy to a fussy cat, the claim of farce where what really happened is a referendum. The peasants need a monarchy! More British people voted to leave the EU than ever voted for anything in British history. Friedman may worship money, the British apparently worship their sovereignty,
4
Some aspects I feel are missing:
Britain may have not had an oversize economic and military influence over the world for a long time, its cultural and sports impact remained very strong (pop-stars, actors, soccer etc.). This added to an ongoing English feeling of superiority, reflected for example in disrespect and mockery over small EU countries like Belgium or Denmark.
Brexit fantasies have now morphed into resentment. Tories realize “Brussels” has much more grip over the British economy than they thought and they hate the EU for it, rather than concluding Brexit was/is a bad idea.
6
According to the Ashcroft poll, it was sovereignty and not immigration that motivated Brexiteers, by a healthy margin. "The serious national discussion" of the costs and benefits of EU membership have been taking place for decades. It is treated here as a spur of the moment decision, fed purely by lies, a characterisation no Brexiteer would accept.
As for economic suicide, it bears mentioning that the UK's unemployment rate is half that of the wider EU. Also that its currency even now in the throes of no-deal "economic suicide," is not much lower than its 10 year historical average against the Euro.
The claim that the UK needs to be in a powerful bloc to have a say in global affairs might be offensive were it in any way coherent.
2
Britain survived and thrived for centuries without an army Brussels bureaucrats. Cutting them lose will not make the sky fall.
4
ahh ... to be or not to be ...
freedom from the tyranny of a foreign government that is plundering your community with an empty promise of future prosperity.
1
Remember when the British were proud to proclaim "the sun never sets on the British Empire?" Now collectively there seems to be the attitude that unless they are totally in charge they want to take their toys and go home.
2
"....a country whose elites created .... modern banking and finance...."
Sorry, Tom. The Dutch did it in the 17th Century. The British still have a lot to learn from them.
5
Hard to adequately express how completely out of touch, ill informed and facile this article is. You completely misunderstand how well informed leave voters were - it was all about sovereignty - all else is window dressing. We understand that there may well be short term consequences and accept this as the price for self-determination. I guess it's not hard to realise why you guys still can't understand how Trump got elected. Stick to Russian conspiracies.
6
Dear Mr. Friedman,
You speak of new ideas, but this grand utopia you’ve been writing about for decades now, this “flat, interconnected world” that you’ve rhapsodized, sermonized, lionized, and idolized, is the very world that is now tearing itself to pieces precisely because of its grand “successes.”
Just as Fukuyama’s End of History was nothing of the kind, neither is the inevitability of this flowing globalized paradise of yours. The global proletariat is fully aware that their chains may be digital now, but they’re still chains.
Vast inequality, cultural divides, and environmental chaos have all ACCOMPANIED globalization, and everybody knows it.
Except, of course, the global elites. But there’s revolution in the air. And it’s “flowing” all right, and coming soon to a nation near you.
Between the born-again Communists on the left, the troglodyte Trumpers on the right, and the creative annihilationists in the middle, God help the handful of innocent bystanders that remain.
Cordially,
S.A. Traina
6
@S.A. Traina: Very well said. Bravo!!!
1
Not all the United Kingdom went mad. Scotland voted by almost 2:1 to "Remain", Northern Ireland voted to "Remain". The madness of voting to "Leave" may well result in another flag having to be altered as, given how Scottish interests have been ignored by Westminster, this will advance the likelihood of an Independence referendum. If a hard border results from Brexit, what are the odds of the Good Friday Agreement collapsing and "The Troubles" kicking-off again in Northern Ireland? The vote to leave, and the dubiety around it, brings the future of the United Kingdom itself into doubt.
8
The U.K. will survive this idiocy for 2 reasons. 1) They retained their own currency instead of adopting the Euro, and 2) they have survived greater calamities in the past.
1
@mike warwick This time the calamity is self-introduced and implemented.
5
@Markku
As my sole British acquaintance told me, the UK scored an own goal.
2
Living in the EU (Denmark, not UK) is is as if this opinion might just as well have been written about the Trump & Republicans version of the USA we see from afar. Both countries seems to have lost their minds.
13
When I was a kid, a wonderful neighbor gave me an English history book that was used in classrooms there. It was called "Looking at History." While many of the narriatives have been wrong by our current standards, or tailored to suit the politics of the moment, one thing really stays with me from that book. And that was the way invasions happened, and peoples migrated into England, changed everything about the culture, and then vanished as another wave of conquest occurred. It was quite emotionally stirring really- just as one got fond of one people, another would come to replace them, wave after wave. The changes were sometimes abrupt, very painful, and took some getting used to, but this was how Britain came to be as it is today. The more things change...
2
One thing; The UK hasnt gone mad. ENGLAND has gone mad. But I will say the Uk is in a near state of political collapse. Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain in the EU and are being dragged out against their will because of a Con that has been carried out against the English Electorate. Northern Ireland hasnt had a sitting Government for over TWENTY MONTHS. England has had two hung-parliaments in a row and now has a collapsing Conservative Government that has turned on its own citizenry. In Scotland we have a strong, stable Government that is performing well.
12
For over 800 years Britain did fine by itself and was the dominant world power until World War II. It has been part of the EU for only about 40 years. The EU has its own laundry list of problems - and so, if Britain leaves the EU, how is it economic suicide?
Why should we assume that no one would trade with the U.K. if it is no longer part of the EU? Countries of most of the rest of the world (Japan, China, Australia, India) are independent nations (not part of any bloc) and are doing fine, why can't the U.K. also do fine?
Until you try Brexit, how will you know that the EU may have been a bad idea? Or is that the elitists don't want to know?
The U.K. is the perfect candidate to withdraw because it wisely held on to its currency during Euro's launch. Just imagine how shrill the debate would be now if Britain had to reconstitute the pound.
I'm sorry, I'm not going to listen to pundits who can predict the future with such dire certainty as Tom Friedman (remember the 2016 election, the happy times leading up to the Great Recession, the Iraq war).
6
Anarchy (Minarchism?) really does seem so much more appealing, before the larger implications become evident.
But to be perfectly clear, it’s probably safe to say that a good portion of Europe’s leaders are aware of the Faustian bargain made as World War II was drawing to a close.
Greece has the Golden Dawn, Italy has the Five Star Movement, Germany has Alternative for Deutschland, France has Front National, England has UKIP, America has the GOP, and so on.
As for Russia, their populace probably has a few more legitimate grievances with the Western powers than we allow ourselves to believe. Saint Petersburg didn’t always go by that name, and it wasn’t always known for being Putin’s place of birth.
1
In this morning's version of this op-ed - got edited out in the meantime - Tom was saying, about the surge of immigration in the UK:
"The E.U. should have protected the U.K. from that surge ; that was German and French foolishness."
This is disinformation.
In fact, upon the accession of the A8 Central and European countries to EU membership in 2004, it was the UK, along with only two other European countries, that chose to waive transitional controls on immigration from this new joiners, which had been negotiated with them.
The UK economy was growing fast and it was the Blair government that grossly underestimated the influx of EU workers that this waiver would trigger.
Please check facts - don't just take at face value the rant of fanatical Brexiteers.
3
@Lorenzo: With all due respect. The “fanatics”, have legitimate grievances beginning with Thatcher and continuing with Blair(and Sarkozy), his aiding and abetting the lies that dragged America and Britain into the Iraq War, (which created the surge of refugees and the diversion of taxpayer money away from things benefiting society at home), along with his coziness with anyone that might advance his lot in life has everything to do with the revolts now going on in Europe and America against a status quo that for forty plus years have been selling out the Middle Class while using the lower classes as cannon fodder, all to benefit their special interest mega donor class.
1
It still blows my mind that you would let such a big decision up to the people with a referendum. And if you do so why don't you take an effort in explaining to them what leaving the EU actually means. How could they (David Cameron and friends) let whole debate get hyjacked by a bunch of people? They never really fought for it, it was so arrogant and so dumb.
I always loved the Brits for their love of history and sometimes old fashion habits (I've spend all my summers here until I was 18 yo.) But Brexit makes no sense to me, like they still think they own the world like they used to. Like they think they can install the Commonwealth back again and everything will be as it used to be.
In Amsterdam we do know we don't own the world anymore and we have to work together with the (big) countries around us to be relevant in the world in 2019. It's so easy to overestimate yourself these days...
I wish the Brits wel, let's hope they don't make bigger fools of themselves as they already doing...
7
@Suzanneke
"It still blows my mind that you would let such a big decision up to the people" - this view from a European illustrates perfectly why I believe the UK simply doesn't belong in a supra-national organization like the EU.
2
How so?
You can’t expect the people to know about all the consequentions of such an disiscion right? And a democracy has people voted in to office who must make those descisions for the people, don’t you agree? That’s their job! And if you don’t like them, you vote them out.
In my opinion that’s how it works...
2
Isn’t there a risk that a hard Brexit combined with Trump’s closing of the Mexican border could destabilize the world economy and plunge us all into a serious recession or worse?
3
"Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind."
Albert Einstein
I would add that it destroys all it touches. That we have not yet learned the lesson of how noxious nationalism is, whichever its form (Brexit, Trumpism, Catalonia...) is simply amazing to me.
7
Fantasy sells. Magic insidiously replaces hope. Apparently we need to indulge in more children's morality tales.
1
The U.K should have heeded its base impulses--and never signed up to be part of the EU. Really...it's all about the standardization of everything--countries, immigration policies, trade--even the currency. The fact that the British held onto the Pound Sterling is a clue--that there was always going to be some resistance to this pact. There was never complete buy-in.
Central Planning is bad enough--when it's limited to just one country. But when an entire region, consisting of many different countries, cultures and languages tries to pull it off, is it any wonder things might go wrong?
A suggestion to our British friends--get out. Just get out. Take the pain--whatever it may be for now, and just get out. Reclaim your sovereignty, your identity and your dignity. Don't let bureaucrats from Brussels tell you how to run your country.
4
There's a BAR in the House of Commons??
2
The three common threads shared by the U.S. and U.K.
1. Reduce extraordinarily complex problems to simplistic talking points.
2. Use divisive (the other) rhetoric to shift the blame
3. Repeat the same lie over and over.
These chestnuts seem to never get old.
7
David Cameron displayed a stunning lack of leadership. He set this whole mess into play and then did what so many so-called leaders do, he bailed. Teresa May was set up for failure from the first moment she won the worst prize in the world, leading a bunch of fools into the abyss. Again white men, with their white, male, privilege laid a trap for someone else to clean up their mess. Works for them, they don’t have to be the responsible adult in the relationship to clean up after they foul the home, just as it has always been. And people wonder why we are so over the patriarchal system of holding the people back. Enough, they are wayyyyy past their sell by date.
Well. Good points made in this article, but it's funny reading the title and knowing that the writer comes from America - the craziest place in the developed world.
1
You are quite right Mr Friedman.
But I can't resist it - have you looked at the US lately?
It is actually quite unnerving, the two leading English speaking great nations are, at the same time, for the first time ever, governed, in the main, by incompetents, clowns and morons.
It may well be the historical marker for the end of Western Anglo-American leadership, and who would have thought it would be so comical, and reduce both nations to absolute laughing stocks world wide.
Soft power, so easily wasted.
No-one is listening to the US or the UK now.
7
Well, now at least I comprehend what is going on in merry olde england
Yes, the same foolishness as usa
As an American on SS, I may spend my final days in Portugal, at least I won't know what most people are talking about
As I am losing interest in all political foolishness
I give up
6
Dear Mr. Friedman, Globalisation began when the first empire was established. The first European country to pursue globalisation was Portugal. Get your facts right.
Maybe they should just split England in two - either on a east/west axis or north/south.
The Remainers get half and stay happily within the EU.
Let the Leavers take one half and find out how they make out in their new free world.
2
@Hugo I have been thinking in terms of Scotland and Northern Ireland leaving the UK to join the EU. I do not know how hard that would be.
1
@Hugo, that’s my fantasy for the USA, too.
1
london is all well and good.
but travel to the midlands. yorkshire. cornwall. east anglia, northern northern ireland.
none of these places look, feel, or are as successful as london.
its like comparing west virginia to new york. google being run by an immigrant is all well and good. wheres the 25,000 person HQ in Huntington? Wheeling? there isnt one. its in NYC, in Chelsea. as libertine and cosmopolitan a neighborhood as one can get.
google's in london - a giant glass building right by the train station and harry potter tourists. its not in Greater Yarmouth or Fenland.
so how is immigration of billionaire CEOs helping Fenland?
the US is a perfect example. Amazon got offers from 200(!) cities. what did they pick? NYC and DC. Not Camden, Nj. Not zainesville, Oh. Not even pittsburg or the southside of chicago. they picked the two biggest east coast tech markets and weren't going to hire really anyone from the neighborhood for 100K$. instant gentrification.
so how is global capitalism helping? the flow of talent is leaving for the cities, hollowing out the core. leaving racial resentment behind.
coal plants recently closed in OH. what are those homes now worth? what business wants to open in downtown? who wants to move into that town? capitalism just destroyed ppls wealth. why would they want to connect more to it?
the flows of knowledge are not traveling through these places. and the ppl are stuck to them. just see the movie CARS.
425
@chris, shutting down borders to trade will not solve the problems you rightly note. They will exacerbate in the long run.
72
@chris - Migration to major urban areas (almost all coastal) is going to continue unabated. Large cities and their suburbs are where the jobs are. Nothing can or will stop that.
And as far as capitalism destroying wealth - you can assign some of the blame on rural folk who couldn't wait for WalMart to move to their small town, destroy local businesses, and supply goods so cheaply made they require constant replacement. Yes, rural North America is being hollowed out but it was its very inhabitants who first picked up the shovels and started digging.
137
@chris The dirty (not) secret of capitalism is that it's designed to reward the talented, connected, and educated, not your average Joe.
Until governments face up to the fact that unbridled capitalism will, by design, funnel resources to big cosmopolitan centers, and replace labor with machinery, these trends are not going to change.
70
Thank you Thomas Friedman for a very thoughtful article! In my opinion, you have articulated very well what is happening concerning Brexit and its potential ramifications.
1
The proponents of globalism tend to have an impulse to move far too fast. 15% of the population of England today is foreign born — more than 1 in 10. What exactly do you expect people to feel who are watching a society that is based on thousands of years of tradition and up to 50 years ago was largely homogenous chance at lightning speed before their eyes? This isn’t a English thing, or a European thing, it’s a human thing.
Similarly, here, we are told that any form of immigration enforcement is racist, even in light of an utterly astounding 30 million individuals living here illegally, and 100,000 refugees a month seeking asylum.
Societies cannot change so quickly, and it is foolhardy, reckless and selfish to the extreme to expect them to do so.
Of course, there is a backlash. Here, there, everywhere. And you know what? The arrogant elites who orchestrated it deserve it.
249
@John change is inevitable. You can either put on your big-boy breeches, and be a part of the change, or you can get steamrolled while you whimper in a corner and throw tantrums (a la Trumper and Brexiteers).
63
@John
I expect the people who actually see the immigration to give a more accurate and honest response than people who live areas where they never see an immigrant.
The areas where we have most immigrants welcome them. The areas most afraid of immigrants don't have any in the first place.
A little over 50 years ago we were coping (successfully) with a huge influx of American military - the common complaint being they were "over paid, over sexed and over here".
Our society changed quickly enough. The progeny of their (your fathers generation) presence in my country successfully assimilated without difficulty.
51
Change may be inevitable; its direction is not. Are we heading for a global federation? I doubt it... @Tom
10
I wonder if Thomas Friedman Found it difficult to point out the UK's foolishness, when our country is just as guilty of stupid.
Putin's army did a fine job screwing up the world's economy without firing a single shot. He too must have read history.
Every day we let Trump trample our institutions and our moral compass, we give Putin a win.
Every day the parliament refuses to acknowledge that having that vote to leave the EU was dangerous and then refuse to back away from certain destruction, they give Putin a win.
It hurts to sit by helplessly and watch the world implode when so many people do not want what the nationalists are selling. Where are our leaders? In our country, we have been sold out by the GOP and their complicity with Trump's wholesale destruction of our Republic. In Britain? Well your Parliament could actually stop this foolishness, but nobody is stepping up to do it.
9
There are two original sins in the debacle Great Britain is currently experiencing :
1/The blame for the immigrants furore lies solely with Germany's Angela Merkel. She heightened feelings of paranoia and xenophobia with her guilt-tripping demands that the European Union should be a sort of open bar for all of the migrants running to Europe for either political or economic reasons. Hell is paved with good intentions indeed;
2/Cameron's folly. The referendum for Brexit should have been of a purely consultative nature, a sort of Rorsach blot for (presumably) more qualified individuals in British government to analyse slowly in order to plan for British withdrawal from the EU in the most practical and rational way possible.
3
Hi Thomas,
I agree, its a mess and looks messy from the outside, but then our parliamentary democracy is confrontational by design, and is struggling to gets its head round only the 2nd national referendum we've ever had, with an unwritten and un-codified constitution. Not helped by the fact that a majority of MPs don't agree with the referendum result, and want to find a settlement which pleases both sides. The problem is this is impossible, it was a binary vote on a binary question. I and many others don't see how it is possible, you're either in the EU, round the table and buy into the further political, financial (as laid out in the five presidents report) and military integration, and subject to the European Courts (with the Civil Law system, in contrast to the UK Common Law system) or you're not and free to arrange your own affairs. When I voted to leave, it was not on the back of a few grievances or the fact that there are French people and many others living in London (which is great), it was after watching in horror as youth unemployment was allowed to explode all over the Eurozone for over a decade, as Greece was put to the sword, the migrant crisis screwed up, the situation in Ukraine badly mishandled, a ballooning EU budget, Cameroon sent packing when he asked for concessions, all of this convinced me that the EU is collapsing,even as it tries to gain more power, and, a hard choice as it is, the UK is better off leaving now, before the whole thing sinks.
81
@Andy That's kind of fact-based discussion of reasons to leave the EU that is missing from public/parliamentary debate. You point out some real weaknesses & drawbacks in the EU system. But considering the benefits that the UK derives from membership & its prominent role and influence in that body, don't you think you're better off staying in and using that influence to make the reforms you so rightly believe are needed? What can Britain do on it's own from outside the tent?
44
@Andy While vehemently disagreeing with the decision you arrived at, this is the most well articulated and coherent explanation that I’ve heard someone give for why they voted leave the EU.
29
@Andy , if you believe that a different economic policy is needed in order to fight youth unemployment on the continent, that Ukraine should be "handled better" (whatever you mean by that), that there should be a different policy with regards to migrants.... how do you come closer to that by taking Britain as a major player out of the Union? By not participating any further in decision-making, by not trying to influence that? You seem to claim that by leaving the Union something improves - but how should that be possible?
What concessions has Cameron asked for which he did not get? This is a serious question. When coming to the table he had serious problems to come up with concrete suggestions. He knew that limitation to the free movement and further "privileges" for Britain were absolutely unacceptable for the others. But he needed to pretend something else, because in the British public discourse hardly anybody has a clue about the EU and the way it works.
The "whole ship" will not "sink". Simply because the EU is a common project formed over 7 decades in order to pursue the (national) interest(s) of its member states. They will develop it further because they need it. They will defend it also in future just as they are defending it these days against a "Britain gone mad".
40
The Brits should have considered more carefully what it meant to give up their sovereignty before surrendering it to the EU. They entered a one way street having those spikes that puncture your tires if you back up. Stupid move, and why the US is reluctant to join certain treaties and put itself under the jurisdiction of certain international courts. Given that the price of regaining their sovereignty is economic decline at best, the Brits need to realize that they will never fully regain their sovereignty. Their best move at this point is to forget about Brexit and just suck it up.
1
The EU can't afford to sever itself from the fifth largest economy in the world. Even if the UK quits the EU without a plan, a deal will emerge. Consider the star athlete who sits out the beginning of the season until his contract demands are met. The UK may suffer a brief period of economic decline, while it waits, but the end result will be worth the wait.
I assume Mr. Friedman meant to say, "Where have you gone, Queen Elizabeth I." Queen Elizabeth II is still around.
I'm hoping that whatever ideas for Brexit arise from now on are put to a #peoplesvote and hopefully the result would be #nobrexit. In relation to the Labour Party, policies are social democratic. The idea is to promote fairness and social justice. Preferably that would be within the EU.
It should not be allowed to use ballot measures for major changes like Brexit or say splitting California in two. Having to use a ballot measure implies that the government has no propensity to do the thing on their own. But in order for a major change to succeed you need to have the government in place to carry it out. So trying to shove Brexit in to the agenda without having the power in place to make it happen is a recipe for failure. Win parliament with a Brexit mandate of you want a Brexit. If you can't do that, don't try to go around it and sneak it in with a ballot measure. Its a cure trick, but it is not how government works. Forget it.
2
@James Smith Government may well have a propensity to do something on its own, but without the people’s consent, it has no authority to do it.
Tom criticizes Brexiters for misleading voters during the 2016 Brexit campaign, but, just like them, he's gratuitously making up stuff.
He says: "For starters, they felt swamped by E.U. immigrants. (The E.U. should have protected the U.K. from that surge; that was German and French foolishness.)"
In fact, in 2004, when the EU welcomed the sol-called "A8" 8 new members states from Central/Eastern Europe, the UK was one of 3 EU countries that chose not to avail themselves of transitional controls on migration from these new member states that had been negociated as part of their accession to EU membership.
The Blair government thought foreign workers would benefit the then overheating UK economy and vastly underestimated the magnitude of the resulting influx.
It was a deliberate decision of the UK government. Nothing to do with "German/French foolishness" - whatever this means (does Tom know?)
4
Fly into the UK business class, have a few drinks with some chums in the House of Commons, hear how the UK’s gone mad, head back to Heathrow and bash out 700 words in the BA lounge before heading on to the next glamorous/fading destination. Nice work if you can get it. But a symptom of what the Brexiteers (understandably) can’t abide. There’s so much wrong/off in your piece Tom that I’m heading to a dark room to lie down.
6
@Ben Pring Starting with “You can’t fix stupid.” Why does the media think that it’s somehow cute to write and speak as if they are adolescents? Never mind, I know the answer.
2
Maybe Britain knows something you don’t, namely, the list of CEOs tagged best talent is a routine recipe mixing myth, people who talk fast (the better to dupe you with), hucksters, shape shifters (euphemism for con man/woman), and often enough criminals.
When I write criticism of big business people, NYTimes refuses to publish my comment. Let’s see how they behave this time.
So you can't fix stupid. And who was/is stupid here? Certainly not the people who bought the "misleading simplicity" and the "pack of lies" and who are still dead set against a second referendum -- the majority of the voters. As we all know, in a democracy, the voters cannot be wrong -- only the stupid leaders.
We have our own Obamacarexit and Trumpwall to deal with. Can't fix stupid.
2
Good god, Friedman’s panicking.
It’s THAT bad.
1
Concerning the number of French people living in the UK, Boris Johnson once said he would welcome more of them on a red carpet. The 2011 UK census numbered them at 137,892.
Across the Channel estimates of British people living in France vary between 172,000 and 400,000.
This cross-pollination is not actually related to the EU, it has a very long history with peaks in Norman times and later the Hughenots....
1
Zero population.
I'm so tired of hand-wringing, when the solution is clear for so much of this.
Don't like economic or war-ravenged refugees?
Then, worldwide, offer full reproductive choice.
Free birth control.
Free abortions.
Sex-education classes.
Free child-care.
Mandatory education.
Free university.
Free sterilizations.
Free vasectomies.
End the Hyde.
End the Helms.
If parents do not want to avail themselves of choice, that's one thing.
But in this world there is active refusal to allow choice for billions.
How bad do I feel for UK and EU?
Not as bad as you would think.
You see, I'm aware that "reproduction" is waaayyyy down on their list to give a rip about.
If they had planned for the future back in the 60's then the world's population would be down, naturally and without bloodshed, by 50%.
The concept of "unfettered growth" is the philosophy of the cancer cell.
4
Yes. A failure in leadership. The leadership failed to educate the voters on how globalization benefited their family income, health and happiness. They also failed to direct the benefits of globalization more broadly. For voters all economics is local. If they are suffering while the barons of globalization are prospering they are going to lash out. Regrettably, the demagogues have succeeded at misdirecting that rage. And the demagogues have been successful because leadership has been lousy.
2
"... bless you, Mrs. Robinson." Tom put an old timers fastball right past most young progressives. The resistance is in danger of drowning in its own seriousness.
After WW2 there was a push to stop Soviet Communism. Europe and GB were going that direction. Two world wars and a depression took its toll. Welfare states were created to stop it. For people who had nothing this worked for awhile but after seventy five years people have found themselves in the same place economically. Basics are being taken care of but never capable to getting ahead is no way to live. The elite saying foreigners have more of a right to your country than you do is a problems.
Europe and The USA seem to be reliving the 1930's. Left wing policies replaced religion for people who desperately need religion. People who need to be told they are good and holy and everyone else isn't.
The Brexit vote, Trump as president, the resurgence of racism, nationalism, xenophobes... they all point to a world that is angry. It usually ends in world wars.
Therefore, what "great" timing for the UK to decide to go it alone. Except that it can't, because there's not a single MP who knows how to govern its country outside of the EU. That much was obvious from the day the vote went in the direction none of them expected.
They hadn't planned for "Plan B". And that is why precisely zero has been accomplished since the 23rd June, 2016. The average UK MP is not representing "its people"; they are largely self-seeking individuals looking to use MP privileges to maximise their income and status - Tony Blair and others from the past, please note this means you too.
Unfortunately, those who believed the - since much documented - Brexit campaign lies, and voted "leave" somehow fail to understand this reality. I think that is a reasonable definition of "stupid".
Whatever happens, the UK is divided - they might as well create an artificial border and have "remainers" on one side and "leavers" on the other. Let me put this into perspective via something as mundane as an online UK dating site. At least half of the profiles contain a line such as "and if you voted to leave, don't even think of messaging me". I think that's a proof-point of irrecoverable division at the most fundamental level.
2
Thank you, Mr. Friedman, for this view of Britain. What scares me is that this is what's in store for the United States if we continue down Trump's path of America first, in which we win but others lose. Very scary indeed.
3
"There are reportedly some 300,000 French citizens living in London." Pretty much explains why and how London has become a culinary destination.
4
Thank you Tom Friedman for a great essay. I like many of the popular comments, but have something to add. Angela Merkel let some 1.5 million mostly Syrian refugees into Germany in one year, and caused a backlash protest against too many foreigners too quickly. Refugees from climate change and civil war are increasing dramatically, as populations around the world have exploded. We were 2 billion people around 1930, and we have grown to 7.6 billion in just 89 years. It is probably not going to work, to just let a billion or two billion refugees into the healthier more stable parts of the planet. The EU could help diffuse the brexit movement, with some reforms to limit immigration. The world powers need to help the poorer countries with a host of services, including family planning.
David Lindsay Jr. is the author of “The Tay Son Rebellion, Historical Fiction of Eighteenth Century Vietnam” and blogs at TheTaySonRebellion.com and InconvenientNewsWorldwide.wordpress.com. He performs folk music and stories about Climate Change and the Sixth Extinction.
1
News articles and opinion pieces all mention economic devastation to the U.K. because of its decision to leave the E.U. It appears initiating a Brexit plan all comes down to some forms of the “seven deadly sins” rather than rational thought.
The political leadership cites a return to sovereignty, pride by any other definition, and while pride in one’s country is not a bad thing, using a return to something that is not entirely lost is a false pride. It is an excuse or a justification, not sound reasoning.
As we in the US have experienced time and time again (where a non-majority can even win national elections, for example) people do not always make the right decisions regarding their own economic interests, and we must live with it even if it means possible loss of social programs upon which tens of millions of people rely. In the face of losing the freedoms and ease of travel and trade throughout the UK and the continent, potentially devastating economic loses, hardships that could have been avoided, it would appear more important for political leadership in the U.K. to stop appealing to negative emotions and to start appealing to common sense.
There is a reason no majority can be achieved to pass a Brexit plan. The simplicity of the pie-in-the-sky, emotionally induced decision to exit the E.U. is much more complex in the real world.
2
I think most people don't understand how much negative Karma has been built up in the UK. I spent most of my youth there in the 80s and with a dark skin, was racially abused almost every day. The message has not changed.
2
I love it when Americans point out the faults in other countries. America is arguably in the biggest mess it's been in for 50 years. Its standard of living decreases, being catastrophically ill for anyone but the very well off is either a ticket to the grave or bankruptcy, legal defense is beyond the means of most of its citizens. Etc., etc.
3
Good job Mr Friedman. Although, to add some historical perspective; the UK of today is looking very much like Germany in 1944, Japan in 1944, or even the US in 1864. In those cases, a loosing war was fought for another year, costing millions of dead, for objectives that seemed (given the circumstances) entirely irrational. Of course, the key insight to these situations is that the objectives were never rational to begin with.
3
The designation of Corbyn as a Marxist takes away a lot of credibility from this article. He is in favour of bringing transport, energy and the postal services back under state control, a policy that finds overwhelming popularity with the UK public. He is also in favour of halting the privatisation of the NHS, and of halting the breaking-up of our state school system (many schools are now run as profit-making enterprises, financed by people who have dubious views on, for example, evolution). He is in favour of a fair taxation system. These are social democratic policies.
5
Here's the truth: there is no Britain of yesterday. Even since the Brexit vote in 2006, filled with dishonesty and racist overtones, the world is more tightly integrated from top to bottom. Britain's strength and wealth is within the EU. If this goes through, Britain is through and will find herself in the quaint nostalgia of medieval darkness. Madmen at the helm.
5
Tom, this column is a great cross reference to another article on today's NYT site - the story about the Rupert Murdoch empire. It was Murdoch who created the Brexit insanity, using his Sun tabloid to push the exit fervor. Brexit was just one more piece of Murdoch's own insanity and disregard for the welfare of anyone other than himself. It's no wonder why he and Trump are such good pals.
The point is that our world is woefully corrupt. The rich get richer by stealing from the rest of humanity, and there is no way to control it. That is the story you should write about. Brexit is only one small part of the overwhelming firmament of global corruption.
5
The EU must evolve in order to prevent Brexit and to stave off other countries from leaving the EU.
I think that the greatest energy behind Brexit and other movements with the EU are directly related to the flow of citizens within the EU and the inability of the various nations to control migration. It is the force that has given rise to extreme right-wing movements from Germany to Denmark.
I am not a closed borders person. But I do believe that in the post 9/11 world, a nations control of its own borders has great value and purpose. This doesn't mean that I believe that Europeans should prevent entry of asylum seekers, that nations should close their doors to outsiders, or that persons within the EU should be restricted in travel.
The EU article, Freedom of Movement, includes free movement of labor. Modify or remove this one article and I feel you will neuter the extreme right sentiments dramatically.
Britain is just the first EU member acting on this impulse. There will be others.
3
@It Is Time!
uhm...no. there won't be others because EU leaders are so committed to making an example out of UK so that no one will ever conceive such an idiocy again, that UK will be crushed. It has already. They have lost $1 trillion in assets, and counting. You don't come back from that. You won't get your old jobs back because we live in a globalized world, whether you like it or not, no Brexit can erase that.
As an Italian (and a European) I kinda have mixed feelings about Brexit, on the one hand I hope they brexit hard so that the inevitable havoc that will follow prevents anyone else in their right mind from doing this again for, say, 20-30 years. On the other hand, I feel really sorry for our fellow Brits because I do realize it could have easily been us. We were just lucky nobody actually promoted this in Italy, cause we would have been just as stupid. Probably even more.
And the funny thing is that when the poor, weak, clueless people who supported this will pay the price (they'll be the ones who suffer the most), another fool will raise his voice and create enemies and point fingers and place the blame on anything... but Brexit.
2
Tom criticizes Brexiteers for misleading voters during the 2016 campaign, but here is he doing the same.
Regulations are not made by faceless bureaucrats, but are voted by members of the European Parliament, and they're elected.
They've been in fact extremely effective in creating the freest common market for goods in the world, but more than that the freest common market for services - to the great benefit of the UK.
Free trade agreements focus mostly on lowering tariffs on goods, while keeping sizeable barriers on services.
Even with an FTA with the EU post-Brexit, there's no way the UK will enjoy the kind of access to the EU market for services it now has.
Just realize that the UK has a higher-than-average share of its GDP coming from trade in services, and that 40% of UK service exports go to the EU and you'll start seeing the problem post-Brexit. And financial services make up a quarter of those 40%.
1
Rhe chattering classes made the UK a part of EU. The muttering classes created Brexit.
The muttering classes are those that are unhappy with the way things are going either because their economic future has dulled or they feel an existential pang. The reasons could be anything from a globalization resulting job loss to bad personal choices to immigration.
Usually the muttering classes would grumble over a pint. But the power of social media has fostered an activism. This is a global phenomenon. The Arab Spring, Trump/Bannon, the GreenVests, Brexiters, AfD.
Some of these movements wanted real change. Others are thinly disguised bigotry masked in outrage.Mostly though they succeed in chaos.
Friedman unfortunately has failed to highlight the single biggest failing of the Brexit imbroglio. David Cameron allowed Brexit to be decided on a single vote rather than as a result of a series of referendums. This aspect is well reported elsewhere.
This singular failing of the Cameron government - especially the refusal to partake in lessons from other countries (e.g. Canada/Quebec) has resulted in the mess.
The reason it is proving difficult to clean up is because the thinkers and the sane people in other words the truly competent people (of whom there are plenty in the UK) realize that it is a bad decision and will not step up to provide leadership. That leaves the incompetent to lead at a critical juncture for the UK.
3
Virtually every major institution of any importance has been developed or invented by "old white men." Why is it so bad to want to preserve that? Aren't we important, too? Don't we have a say in all this? After all, with out us old white guys, there would be no modern world.
2
“... dead-set on quitting the European Union, the world’s largest market for the free movement of goods, capital, services and labor.” It’s the free movement of labor that is the problem - that’s the real reason people voted to leave. The problem is that the cosmopolitan columnists for the NYTs can’t wrap their head around the idea that many people want to be part of a community, they want to invest in that community with their time, money, and other resources, and they get upset when a foreigner can freely come in and disrupt that community and investment. The free movement of people around the world is causing a backlash everywhere- look at the calls for a “wall” in the US, the stress caused by migrants over the Mediterranean, issues with Venezuelan migrants to Columbia and Brazil, and...Brexit.
2
I hope they're listening to you Tom. Look at how quickly Montreal lost its business supremacy to Toronto due to xenophobic politics in Quebec. Only a full retreat can save the wealth of this nation, the U.K., from a cataclysmic outcome.
3
Please remember that 48 per cent of us Brits (or those that bothered voting) were not daft and were intelligent enough to reject this nonsense at the referendum, voting to remain in the EU. Sadly 52per cent were unintelligent enough, that given a binary choice on a complex issue of EU membership..they voted to leave. I am ashamed to be British.
5
But the passengers on the Ship of Fools are Brits themselves who voted under a cloud of ignorance which they themselves fashioned. As bad as Trump is, he is temporary. Worse is BREXIT, as it is permanent. Unless the Ship of Fools is hijacked in coming years by statesmen who forge a new alliance into the EU. It could well happen once the Ship of Fools sinks.
2
Elected officials just mirror their constituents, so don't blame the officials, blame those that put them in office. Group identification is at its apex when fear is, they have a direct relationship. Currently fear is being created by the gilded age the world finds itself. That fear will only abate when the wealth is more equitably distributed.
I'm an American who lives in Switzerland and Italy (I left the US last year for obvious reasons). I was in London last November to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I wanted to get there before it became a third world country. I was blown away by the international feel of the city. More than half the people there were from elsewhere pursuing work opportunities. It was somewhat thrilling. A true melting pot of people co-existing happily and working hard with smiles on their faces, a huge improvement from the first time I was there in my teens. Unfortunately, some people can only see white, or lack thereof.
4
The UK did not invent the "whole concept of globalization." Julius Caesar did, even Alexander in a less developed way, but the impetus was there. In any event, by the time Augustus got his feet under him, he was deliberately developing a "global" system of trade, distribution and centralized authority -- which ancient Britain was a part, off and on.
And let’s not forget Genghis Khan, the greatest globalizer of all.
FYI
2
I have only awe and respect for Ms. May. To come back time and again to the lynch mob in Parliament with one plan after another, only to be shot down and disrespected each time - frankly, I would have walked away long ago and told them a pox on both of your houses.
1
@RMM. One plan after another? Seriously? I see one plan going on 4 times. She's the definition of insane.
Brexit is the UK equivalent of Trumpism in the US. Selfish oligarchs have persuaded idiots to vote against their own self interests. Too many lazy thinkers not questioning false promises.
9
I would only add that all of the politicians, as well as their constituents, who are beating the drum for Brexit, are too stupid to understand reality.
They are being played like a fiddle by Trump and Putin whose goals could not be more obvious to wit: to destroy the UK, the EU and NATO,
3
" For starters, they felt swamped by E.U. immigrants. (The E.U. should have protected the U.K. from that surge; that was German and French foolishness.)"
Sorry, what? The UK is the only EU country without any kind of ID cards and along this, without any requirement to register your residence with your local council.
Everywhere else in the EU, freedom of movement is the freedom of movement *of labour*, i.e. you can move wherever you want *if you have a job to go to*.
The UK's free-for-all for benefits and healthcare that so many Brexiteers resent is rooted in the country's stubborn refusal to implement to implement any registration of citizens and immigrants, and the resulting inability to control benefits allocation.
This is an entirely home-made problem and cannot be laid at the feet of Germany and France.
6
Thank you! I've been trying to understand for years now how it is that the flow of migrants to London was so unrestricted while that of other European capitals seemed far more under control. You have opened my eyes.
@Michael V You're dead wrong in what you've said.
We in Ireland don't have a national ID card, for example (one is currently being mooted by the government, but resisted, and not implemented). Sure, we have passports, driving licences, and other forms of ID - but a government-mandated national ID card? No. Not at all, yet there you are, saying that the UK 'is the only country [the UK is not 'a country'] without one'.
As for freedom of movement, yes, it exists - but it's not like I can easily go straight to London and then easily sign on for free (measly, meagre) unemployment benefits - I still have to have identification, proof of address, proof of residence, etc. Controls and restrictions exist.
To suggest otherwise is at best mistaken, at worst, dishonest, especially for distant foreigners (and Americans) who might think you're being accurate - when you're patently not.
1
@Joe
You make a lot of very good points, however the issue still remains that while proof of address and some of the other things you mention are certainly required for e.g. a benefits claim, they do not enable any limitations or restrictions on such a claim in the same way that a central register/ID card scheme that tracks length of residence in the UK etc. would, in the same way that most (but not all: had no idea that Ireland also didn't do that - this is super-interesting!) other EU countries do.
You can fix stupid if you are not stupid.
An army of Russian trolls sent thousands of messages with the hashtag #ReasonsToLeaveEU on the day of Britain's referendum. The Brits need to hold another election free of Russian interference just as the US needed a redo of the 2016 presidential election for the same reason. Both countries have been engaged in a battle stupid. New elections can fix it at least in Britain.
1
"I say bring back the monarchy" and "you can't fix stupid" ... says the man that prematurely and openly applauded prince Mohamed bin Salman, a conman and one of the most horrific leaders in the modern world.
Yeah, but you can duct tape it up real tight and hope for the best.
One mistake in the article California two weeks ago became the 5th largest economy in the world leap frogged over tthe UK. Jim Trautman
3
Great column. Just one correction: the fifth largest economy in the world is California. The UK is sixth.
1
Last time I checked California was not a country.
Brilliant.
Same idiocy as in the USA with Trump.
You can't fix that.
It has to go to the end of its own process of starvation and death.
How could they fix nazism in Germany and fascism in Italy ?
1
It's difficult to take someone seriously who discourses on the stupidity of others and yet uses 'stupid' as a noun.
The UK government CHOSE not to apply restrictions to immigration allowed within the EU and currently used by countries such as Belgium, France, Germany, Austria. E.g. EU immigrants who don't find a job in six months in Germany must go back to their countries. The UK does not use any of these provisions and that is a CHOICE. Stupid and gravely irresponsible.
3
As a person who has his origins in the sub-continent, pardon me if I indulge in a moment of.....schadenfreude.
1
The subtitle made me " laugh out loud" for real. Well, I've said it before and I'll have to reiterate, if somebody would have told me that a leader of a well established European democracy can out-stupid Trump, I would have referred them to a good psychiatrist... Theresa May... you leave is all speachless!
3
Britain held up against the scourge of Hitler (With the help of the U.S.), now it is doing its best to destroy itself from within. Maybe it shouldn't be so painful to someone from the U.S., but it is, and maybe it is because I can see what's happening from a distant perspective. A short-sighted rabble started this, a short sighted rabble will bring Britain to its knees. God save the Queen. God save Britain; nothing else will.
One of the first things that came to mind when this campaign to divest Britain from the EU was that Britain has a significant stake in Airbus. Once Britain is no longer a contributor to the EU there will be political pressure by counties in the Union to move those jobs to member countries. Mr Enders correctly points out it's not just the jobs in the Airbus plant itself but the supply jobs than support the plant and he didn't mention all of the ancillary jobs created. Shops, barbers and hair salons, doctors, dentists. Those jobs go away as well.
5
I will call the disease, of which Brexit is merely a symptom, "Toxic Democracy." While some can't stop themselves from complimenting democracy even when it gives us the financial meltdown of the last decade, or the Iraqi War, or the continuing oppression of the Palestinians, or the unconscionable harm to immigrants, or its failure, despite expert warnings for decades, to prevent global heating, etc., they are vectors spreading the disease. We need to protect the public sphere from this disease.
When we study various governments, we can see that Toxic Democracy is not an exclusive domain of the Republican or Conservative Party, but that all parties, to one degree or another, have contracted this disease. It is not merely harming themselves only, but harming people throughout the world. We should use correct force against practitioners of Toxic Democracy that divides us rather than solving the crises menacing humanity.
We also need to understand that the purveyors and proponents of Toxic Democracy might not realize how sick they are, as they spread and exacerbate its harms to all humanity. To prevent their continued harms, whether out of their blithe ignorance, or malicious intentions, we must remove them from any positions of power, by correct force if necessary, and prevent the Toxic Democracy Syndrome from further harming humanity.
6
Democracy is, arguably, the best system of governance. But, as it turns out, is not infallible. Idiots, crooks and liars will get elected by idiots who believe them and crooks and liars in cahoots with the likeminded candidates.
When elected, the idiots will do as idiots do, the crooks will do their shenanigans, and the liars will continue to lie.
Brexit and the Trump "Administration" are prime examples of this argument. When the voters get complacent or lazy, the crazies and crooks take over. This is where we are. Brexit will happen with no deal. Good luck with that.
And America will sink further into Trump's cesspool of racism, cronyism, greed, incompetence and plain stupid ideas. The rules that allowed him to win the election with 3,000,000 less votes than his opponent, flawed as she was, must be changed. Because stupid is dangerous.
10
The U.K. has Brexit.
The US has Trump.
You are right: you can't fix stupid.
9
Perhaps we are stupid here in Norway, as Mr. Tom Friedman implies. But life is good. And spring is on the way!
2
What's wrong with a Marxist? Marx, a man ahead of his times, understood globalization, its inevitability, its benefits to the working class, BUT more importantly its risks (an economic system in perpetual crisis).
3
Tom--
Consider--if you will--that what were seeing is a global phenomenon - unstoppable, powered by economic forces long in the making and millions of years of ingrained (and predictable) human social behavior. An era of strongmen--built upon a fear of Others and the belief that OldStyle nationalism is the best wall of all--is the outward expression of the very fear that ushered in Adolph, Benito, and supplied the Emperor with teenage kamikaze pilots. So kamikazes now abound--in England, the U.S., and throughout First World nations--and are part of a cycle that must play itself out. Sanity and common sense will come eventually, but only after the Deluge.
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Thank you for defending the values I grew up with and cherish.
Unfortunately this isn’t an epic failure of leadership just as in America with the Trump presidency it’s an epic failure of democracy.
2
Funny, I think they are several British people working in “this building”. They are called Members if Parliament.
This is the best sentiment-driven and insights-supported article I've read on Brexit.
The reactionary mind works pretty much the same everywhere. Some imagined (unreal, fictitious) golden age becomes the guiding light leading the reactionaries back to the world that supposedly once was. That “guiding light” is a fantasy, a dream—well, in fact it’s a nightmare to anyone awake (woke?) to the world.
In Britain, Cameron and his pals brought this into existence, as far as I can tell, just as Trump and his followers have been attempting to bring it into existence on this side of the Atlantic. Even May strikes me as trying to be a pragmatist, although a new referendum is clearly in order—as Gandhi once said (something like) ‘I have to go. I need to find out where my people are going—I’m their leader.’
Best thing to do when faced with a nightmare? Get the heck out of bed, pour yourself a cup of tea and head to a polling booth—oh, and stay away from Fox News.
The U.K.’s not crazy. It just needs to wake up. Fox, and anything resembling “news” the Murdochs touch, will put it to sleep—and resurrect that nightmare.
Same in the U.S.—we’re not crazy. We just need to get woke.
4
Mr. Friedman left out one important fact- the British people voted for Brexit.
1
No, he did not leave that fact out. He noted that Brexit passed because it was wrapped in lies and half truths, sold as “easy to implement” and essentially risk free. We in America were similarly duped by a fraud artist.
2
When Donald Trump was asked about Brexit in August of '16, just months before the election, he had not heard of it. Really! And when it was explained to him, he took about 2 seconds to say he was all for it. He may be as Tom says, fine with a world with a weakened EU, but what he was most "fine with" was strike back at immigrants and people of color. He's a white nationalist first. Whatever happens to the EU and Great Britain in economic terms are above his intellect if not his pay level. He certainly didn't plan for it. Which is how he governs in his own backyard. More pity on us.
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Welcome Back, Mr. Friedman!
Where have you been, this is your best post in weeks, which should be dropped from London's skies and delivered to every mailbox (snail, twitter and email) in the UK.
The Brexiteers got away with telling less than half-truths to their neighbors who then either stayed home or voted on a false representation of the truth.
1
What started out as an exercise to leave the EU has turned into an exercise to oust Theresa May!
There's a glimmer of hope: Corbyn and May are now planning to put their heads together to come up with the right wood, finish and fittings for Great Britain's coffin.
Well played, Little England.
Dear Mr Friedman,
I had the highest opinion of you and your column until I read this line: "The E.U. should have protected the U.K. from that surge [of immigrants]; that was German and French foolishness.".
Apologies, but the EU was always about bringing people together, using free market among other tools. This was always the base premise. A E.U. built solely as a free market, with no freedom of movement would never have existed in the first place.
The E.U. was always the fruit of German, French, BeNeLux and Italian foolishness: Namely that you could unite as one after decades of crippling wars, if only you started lifting the barriers of ignorance and mistrust. This is what the E.U. is about.
Keeping foreigners outside in their pen while you benefit from their work and riches was what the British Empire was about. If that's what you think Britain expected from the E.U., they're much better out of the E.U. than inside.
Please tell me that you did not really mean it.
2
Once upon a time, in the middle of London, a neatly-dressed older couple – my parents’ age – stopped me in the street and asked for directions. They listened silently as I explained where to go, and then, right when I was finished, He said: “Oh. Irish.” And then they both turned and silently walked quickly away.
My cheeks instantly burned a scarlet, hot red, with that single word having the same impact as though he’d said: “Oh. TERRORIST.”
Of course Brexit is a complex matter, and the reasons why people wanted it, yearn for it, bray for it even today are as complex and individual as those cheering it on. However, there’s no point in pretending that overt racism and proud xenophobia isn’t a substantial driver of a lot of the Brexit vote.
For example, while we Irish are in many ways the closest foreigners that you could possibly find who’re the most like our British neighbours (vast, yawning yet subtle differences aside), when even we are just regarded as inferior samples of The Other, what on earth would make such people ever regard membership of the EU as a good thing, and something to welcome?
They don’t even want the Irish who're so, so similar to them in Britain, let alone anyone else who’s just another Johnny Foreigner, or another skin tone. What way do you think that smartly-dressed, coldly racist couple I met one cold night voted when Brexit came along? How many millions of other Keep-the-bloody-foreigners-out votes were cast back in 2016? Thank you, Brexit...
5
@Joe in Dublin, I was concerned, reading through the article and comments, that there was no mention of the problem that Brexit creates for the Irish on both sides of a newly sensitive international border. If your analysis of the origins of Brexit is right, we might expect to see a return to hostilities in Belfast and environs--regression to etho-centric politics between people who are not different in any way that should make a difference.
2
I must respectfully disagree with Mr. Friedman: it isn't about stupid. Liberty is often difficult to achieve. With luck, the Brits will achieve a hard Brexit and go on to a much better future.
1
Unfortunately the article contains the same immigrant blaming error the author criticises further down. The only way the EU could have prevented E8 (former Eastern block countries joined in 2004) migrants “swamping” the UK if they’d forced E8 accession countries to issue exit visas for their citizens, which they don't have power to do. In fact, the proof that every EU country is a sovereign nation state lies within the very fact that each can determine they immigration policy. That is why Germany and France both put in place existing mechanisms to curb E8 migration. It was up to the United Kingdom and the then Labour government, or the succesive Tory administration to implement the same mechanisms to halt the influx of immigrants from the former Eastern block thatvwas available for Germany and France. Now the migration trend from the UK is outward since the Referendum. 300,000, mainly E8 citizens have left the UK since 2016 because of rising hate crimes and xenophobia. Only 75,000 EU citizens have arrived, which is within the Tory “tens of thousands” promise. Non-EU migration has always vastly outstripped EU migration anyway. I find the glaring factual error actually quite shocking in this reputable information source. Please correct it.
1
it is very ironic that by leaving the European Union is exactly how the UK will loose her sovereignty.
I have always thought that it was odd and a little mad of the Brits to leave the European Union and give up on all the institutions of Capitalism that they invented.
The biggest one in my mind is banking. How on earth do the Brits think that London will remain a center of International Banking when they leave the Union, and Germany, and France and every other country in Europe tries to take all their banking business away?
I hope that we are wrong and that none of this madness comes to pass and that the UK get over her fever dreams soon.
And so, Tom, your essay focuses just on the confused situation Britain and the economics of Brexit.
Let us contemplate the big picture in the EU?
It is not all sweetness and light.
Are there no right wing fanatics in much of the EU working to rip the EU to shreds?
Macron and the yellow vests burning Paris.
Germany and the political right with political riots fighting immigrants.
And, then the German economy is in a state of distress.
Deutsche Bank, Trump's largest lender, has had to pay huge fines in the for laundering illicit funds from Russia.
And there is poor, literally, Italy with its new radical government.
Is it any wonder that, despite the EU, Italy is allowing a Chinese Belt and Road seaport to be constructed in Trieste?
Oh, and what has happened since the rape of Greece by the predatory lenders in Germany?
And then there the proto authoritarians in Poland and Hungary.
There is so much more.
The British are not rioting in the streets.
The discussion in the Parliament, while vigorous, still reflects a civil decorum the US president could benefit from emulating.
1
the Brits have written a new novel style called a farce-tragedy.
1
UK citizens who want to return to "sovereignty" share a lot with the MAGA crowd on this side of the Atlantic. Fear of change is natural, but there comes a point where the rational part of your brain needs to win.
3
So has the USA. So has China, Russia, India, Thailand, Brazil, Malaysia, Turkey, Hungary, etc. etc. etc.
There are too many people in the world. It has become ungovernable. The "wings" on the bell curve are exploding with crazy people who are now dominating our society.
1
If being part of the E.U. is so great,why doesn't the U.S. seek to join? In our age of telecommunications, container shipping, and air travel (preferably by Airbus!), why is geography a barrier?
1
I think when it comes right down to it the Leavers want 'Quaint Britain' back. Rural hamlets. Sweet. Very British. That is what they want and if it takes a major untangling of its industry, they are...well, good. Less attractive to immigration.
They also want to get back to Commonwealth alliances - which I find quite intriguing as a person with a foothold in Australia.
I guess we kept that Union Jack on our flag - or as the Brits say affectionately at cricket matches ' Get your stars off our flag' - for some reason.
80
@EC I don't know why everyone smoke-screens Brexit with economics and tip-toes using terms like "tradition" and "culture". This was presented to the average Brit as a referendum on immigration, race and ethnicity. Make the United Kingdom White Again. Let's stop pretending otherwise.
32
@EC
What is wrong with “Quaint Britain?” Everyone wanted to migrate there..
5
Funny that America is populated with so many people who chose us over Britain, including vast numbers of the British people.
5
This was never going to end well. The Brexiters had this idea that the EU needed the UK more than the UK needed the EU and they were VERY mistaken, It didn't help that the whole Brexit idea was based on falsehoods.
3
Geez - a nationalist Conservative party bent on poor decisions and a Labour Party going Marxist. Now where have I heard that before?
The overriding principle here is right - there is no cure for stupid. I just wish you wouldn't dignify the xenophobia of people who feel "swamped by EU immigrants." We coddle and bend over backward to sympathize with white nationalists in the US, don't make the same mistake here also.
By the way, I've never heard a Brexiteer claim that there are too many French people here. White immigrants tend to get a pass. This is not something to be proud of.
1
As I read through these comments, a car has double-parked outside my window blasting Pakistani music, only marginally better sounding (but no less loud) than foul gangsta rap. It's the kind of sonic pounding that interferes with one's heartbeat and any activity one is attempting. Reading? Forget it.
I can understand people who are sick to death of being over-run by a kind of primitive otherness which, instead of adapting to a new country or, for that matter, a new neighborhood, dominates and changes it. The Brooklyn I grew up in is becoming foreign. Not always discomforting -- but right now, yes.
In the case of England, leaving the EU will see the leaving also of bright, energetic tech types and business people. If the Brits don't like their economy now, just wait. As for recent Muslim immigrants mired in council houses and old Middle Eastern ways -- well, the horses are out of the barn. Let's hope they adapt to Western ways and that the Brits will help them do so. And let's hope that England's neo-Nazis, like ours, go back to the mud that birthed them. They are in part behind Brexit -- they, and Vladimir Putin, who would like a crippled Europe.
3
The Dormouse has been put into the tea pot and Alice has left in disgust.
Everything Tom says about the folly of Brexit applies to Trumpism.
Yet in this piece, he mentions Trump as if he has a coherent policy philosophy, as if there is some thought behind anything he says or does.
Trumpism is actually more ignorant and stupid than Brexitism - if that is possible. And Trump has no ideas, no knowledge, and no plan.
Strange that an article on the folly of Brexit fails to acknowledge the rank stupidity, ignorance, and corruption at the head of the US - a situation that presents far more peril for the world than the UK's exit from Europe.
6
Now if May would listen to Trump and shut down the borders with Europe and shut down those pesky wind farms off his golf course in Scotland since they cause cancer and destroy his view. May like the rest of the world must realize it is all about Trump what he thinks about everything unread and ill informed about every subject his gut will guide the world to nirvana with 9 billion folks sporting MAGA hats.
I hope the next vote is for reparations for how my ancestors were starved out of Ireland. In this culture of victimhood combined with English insanity it just might work. Come on Brittania, do the right thing.
1
'The problem with holding out for a perfect Brexit plan is that you can’t fix stupid.'
And don't they also say that good is better than perfect?
“You can’t fix stupid” - I fully agree. But may I correct one important misconception about the question of EU immigration? You write “The E.U. should have protected the U.K. from that surge; that was German and French foolishness.” What????
Every E.U. country had the possibility to limit immigration from the new Easter European member states, to properly manage local labor markets. Germany, for example, did. The UK , though, did not do anything to control the flow of polish immigration. This is solely due to bad management of this issue by the UK.
And btw, what do you think our dear friends across the channel would have said, had Germany or France tried to “protect” the UK from their own folly? Well, listen to the English nationalist who blabber about sovereignty without thinking, and who make the bulk of the BREXITeers - and you get an idea.
No, you can’t fix stupid- certainly not uninformed stupidity when it is mixed with (English) nationalism and a yearning for past “greatness”. My prediction: if a hard Brexit happens it will be the end of the UK. Scotland will leave the Union, as will N. Ireland sooner rather than later. So much for greatness, England. Enjoy your blissful isolation and economic misery. And well done, Mr. Farage and Mr. Johnson.
4
Uh... what about the potential for renewed sectarian violence in Ireland and the British break form the Easter peace agreement?
Fantastic ! Mr Friedman gives a straightforward, truthful analysis of the whole Brexit debacle... the British political class sold a stupid dream of days gone by to the masses, who fell for it hook line and sinker....now they are in a fix entirely of their own making!...Goodbye British empire and goodluck
This says it all, "... but you can't fix stupid."
UK despite its economy was punching above it's weight. They are bent on self-immolation, let them.
I want to see Brexiteers realize their error in their life time.
There has to be punishment for 'stupid'.
And when you had Eton-floozzies (Cameron, B Johnson, etc) leading the charge, a sycophant like Farage lying all over the country, all them-diehard-patriotic-hoggies swallowing the lies, all bait, tackle and rod... what else was expected?
Crying over spilt milk won't change the fact that such a referendum without people fully understanding what 'Brexit' really meant, was utter folly.
1
"On Top Of That", Sunday, March 31, 2019
Somewhere In The Middle.
"X" Marks The Spot:
Moscow To Johannesburg,
Johannesburg To White House,
White House To Buenos Aires,
Buenos Aires To Moscow.
Thomas L. Friedman, Just purchased your 1989 book "From Beirut to Jerusalem" this past week.
1
Oh, someone, please, please, read Mr. Friedman's article to Donald Trump (since he either won't, or can't) read it himself.
1
"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." Maybe a quote by Winston Churchill, maybe not. Anyway quite factual. That goes for most countries. In my humble opinion, wink wink, the general voter is just to stupid to vote. Sadly there is no other good solution to democracy. We are all doomed.
1
Would that it were so simple.
It’s about E.U., Europe and the “West”, not just, maybe not even the U.K......France, Germany, Italy and remaining (ridiculously passive label) 24.
Plus
Intensifying city and rural divide, service & non service employment, belt and road initiative, divisive cyber propaganda and maybe most of all the stalking ghosts from 2008.
All while baby boomers and the west slept, and continues to........
After all confidence of financial markets may be secondary to peoples’ confidence in future
well said.
In the UK, they voted to leave Brexit -- austerity, immigration and privatization had overwhelmed enough rural Brits to vote in protest against their actual best interests. Here in the US, tax cutting, wage inequality, privatization, immigration and depopulation have overwhelmed enough rural Americans to vote in protest against their actual best interests. Red States rely on federal tax dollars flowing from Blue States -- but decry the "welfare mentality" of the Blue States and bitterly resent the economic power they hold. Stupid there - stupid here.
5
Fake News – ie lies
Russian Money
Right wing American money
Facebook data used to target voters
Right wing billionaire owners of British newspapers
What could possibly go wrong?
1
Brexiters are the UK's Trumpists...
You’re too generous or too polite, Mr. Friedman, to state the obvious. You named all those names of of those CEOs of the biggest companies in the world to day. What you failed to state is that the Brexiters, or at least the ones that cotes for it, didn’t want their companies to be led by folks such as the CEOs you named. It’s as simple as that and just as stupid as that.
To be fair: it's not "a country that's determined to commit economic suicide". It's a political class.
At its root, of course, was Leave and its breaking of electoral law. But the rollout had a horror of its own. May's idiotic trumpeting: 'Brexit means Brexit', 'will of the people'. The triumphal gurning of Farage. The ominshambles of May's 'crack' Brexit team headed by David Davies, who did nothing. The useless posturing, obfuscating, time-wasting of the Tories. The rise of the ERG and the likes of Rees-Mogg and the risible Mark Francois - fanatics who want no deal.
None of this would have happened if Cameron had had the guts to quell his own party's extremists; if May and her lot hadn't been jobsworths; if Corbyn had led an opposition. Their collective spinelessness and selfishness threw the country under the bus.
Millions of us have been saying all this from the beginning. Millions of us remember Britain when it was the 'sick man of Europe', a grit-strewn little place; and saw what it had become - the world's fifth-largest economy, more cosmopolitan, more vibrant - as an EU member.
Now, we are forced to watch how May and Corbyn have effectively emboldened the racist supporters of alt-rightist Tommy Robinson. The Tories wanted to woo UKIP supporters. They have, with a vengeance - and Corbyn has allowed it. No one in the political class is facing up to the illegality of Leave, or the full consequences of their own self-serving idiocies.
Scary? Yes.
3
Living in Australia I have a lot of expat British friends. Not one - not even the most rabid Anglophile - thinks Brexit is anything other than insane.
1
If this toady generation of Americans had been in charge in 1776 America would still be a colony of Great Britain today.
"Can't fix stupid." Well, I guess those on this side of the Atlantic would know.
1
I find the tendency of American media to portray every European difficulty, mishap, or crisis, in terms of madness and stupidity, completely ludicrous. Have you met your own country yet?
Friedman has an entire paragraph where he states "I get that." No he does not get it. Live in an EU state for 5 years as a middle lower class, or lower, and then tell us what you get!
With all due respect you do not “get it” when it comes to what it is like to live in a rural area. I live in one and the reality is many people do indeed look down on us. The fact that you say you “ get it” belies your condescending attitude.
It’s not a failure of leadership. Half the country is just stupid. They listen to their “conservative” radio and cable tv personalities and now here we are.
The detail in this blog will clarify some of the assertions in this article.
https://brexitcentral.com/pointlessness-eu-customs-union-exposed/
"I say bring back the monarchy. Where have you gone, Queen Elizabeth II, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you."
Yes!
I recently came across this:
https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/40113/what-exactly-is-ineptocracy
which discusses how Greeks classified regimes according to the nature of the ruling class. The UK right now is easily classified as a ochlocracy in need of monarchic intervention. I'm generally against anything that suggests "monarchy" but there are so many places where a "reset" mechanism would be useful: Trump's America, Venezuela, the UK.
Your highness: Dissolve the parliament already!
1
This is the second dumbest thing Great Britain has done in its long history. The first of course being not giving the American colonies full representation in Parliament.
1
Free advice for UK: Brexit was like dropping a hammer on your left foot to get over the annoyance of an itch on your lower back. In other words, a monumental and self-destructive act of stupidity!
And the world does not have patience to watch your circus anymore; it is already tired watching the Trump circus.
Go for another referendum on Brexit
Excellent piece mr Friedman but did you really have to refer to labor as having gone Marxist? Corbyn is a problem bec his years and instincts as an out and out lefty of 1980s vintage , stupidly, have prevented him from making labor the full throated voice of remain. (No need for red baiting here. That’s for right wing thugs... the kind of mindless idiots who shout socialism the minute any govt program is proposed. ). But don’t smear the parliamentary labor party. Labor's agenda beyond Brexit is the only way of possibly purging the curse of a decade of austerity imposed by the tories.
1
Is it possible for the Queen to intervene and end the madness?
a very very scary world...the UK has foolish leaders, we have an amoral stupid leader,..countless others are just plain despotic, some are theocratic rulers,,,,so many dis functional people at the helm.....
and some with nuclear arms....
and the public is confused or apathetic, or is informed or powerless....
It adds up to a catastrophe waiting to happen.
Max Fisher's Tear it Down Article in todays NYTimes speaks to this. And I think that it is foolish not to appreciate it. It is the same sentiment that pushed back on Amazon's proposal for NYC and why it garnered so much resistance.
The billionaires the influencers, I do not see them as being worth the price. Display and consumption are sucking the life out of us. Selling poor quality solely by marketing without any real improvement over existing products.
We are being sold lies and we are sick of it.
Tear It Down is a hybrid of rational and emotional. It makes perfect sense to appeal to the irrational. We can do better than Trumpism or Brexism but it has taken its emergence to see how wrong we can be.
If the Brits are stupid, then the E.U. leadership needs to be smart and stop the extensions. The number of times Parliament has voted on essentially the same Brexit bills and defeated them is mind-boggling. Apparently there is a prevailing belief that if you didn't like it the ninth time, you might like it the tenth. When you repeatedly vote on the same measure and expect a different outcome, that isn't stupid. It is insane.
Who wants that kind of a partner in the E.U.? Let the Brits go back and debate the merits of fox hunting.
LONDON — Politico reported the other day that the French European affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau, had named her cat “Brexit.” Loiseau told the Journal du Dimanche that she chose the name because “he wakes me up every morning meowing to death because he wants to go out, and then when I open the door he stays in the middle, undecided, and then gives me evil looks when I put him out.”
http://www.siyasat.pk/dunya-news-live.php
2
Friedman, that's the funniest title I ever seen you write, so spot on as usual.
"a Conservative Party bloc that is now radical in its obsession with leaving Europe and a Labour Party that has gone Marxist." Umm, I am confident that the Labour Party is no more Marxist than it was when Friedman was a student in the 1970's. Perhaps he is just more comfortable with New Labour and it's support for the Iraq War? Tony Blair, Bill and Hillary Clinton, do they speak to you Tom?
The Russian hacking in the UK created this chaos. I asked a UK friend why she voted for Brexit and I was stunned when she told me that President Obama didn’t want Americans to know about the problem the UK was having with Muslim immigrants. She shared a video with me, as if I had not seen the same on American TV. She was so utterly convinced of this lie, that she celebrated with friends after the Brexit vote, and posted “England Forever!” Yes Brexit is stupid, but it’s not that the Brexiteers are stupid. They are hoodwinked by Russia’s disinformation campaign, just as many Americans are.
"What world am I living in? What are the biggest trends in this world? And how do I educate my citizens about this world and align my policies so more of my people can get the best out of these trends and cushion the worst?"
If you're Donald Trump, you're living in the world in your head, you're threatening to "close the border," "build a wall," you claim to love "the poorly educated," you don't want folks to go to college (Rick Santorum: "Obama wants everybody to go to college ! What a snob!"), you deny climate change and other science, your people are white WASP men and you think the biggest trends in the world are isolationism and sending people back down into the coal mines.
Britain is stupid but it's not the only stupid country....
An open forum is needed to be broadcast continuously on
the subject of international interdependence;
The DOHA debate system led by Tim Sebastian would be a
good type of Oxford Debate Forum for the pros and cons on
the dilemmas that Tom Friedman has taken issue with in
this OP ED article...
Leadership to guide the UK and EU members in this new
interconnected global economies...sovereignty need not be
sacrificed ….; the cries and shouts in streets....are only
a form of mass hysteria..;
A forum for debate; a world forum...for debate....for the old
theme....a new world order (sounds old fashioned...but it isn't
Awake and Aware...should be the mantra now...and who is
capable of being Awake and Aware and realistically able to
run a government which can sustain interconnection
economically with other nations....whose leaders can agree
that the road map for the future depends on world leaders who agree on international problems...such as climate change to name the most imminent international threat.
The DOHA debate should be center stage now....and we need
the academics to promote this; we need to get out of the
tabloid morass of Brexit; Trumpism: before we succumb to
the TABLOID bunk the news media is throwing down our
throats and gullets every single miserable minute on the
internet and tv....grow up media....please !!!
The Labour Party is Marxist?? I think some of your comments are a bit inflammatory and need to be fact checked, much like the politicians you criticise.
There many "Global" but no Global Population. One of the biggest problems the world has to sooner or later face. They consume irresponsibly, and pollute more than cows, cars, and electricity generation. I am sorry that ZPG of the 80s wasn't more successful.
The last politician I recall trying to have a reality based conversation with his constituents was President Carter. It was poorly received.
4
Blaming Parliament, and especially the Tories, for the Brexit mess is like blaming Republicans in Congress for sticking with a noxious and dangerous fool in the White House. They are both following their constituents. You can call that a failure of leadership, but really, how many people should we expect to cross their voters, when it would almost certainly mean losing their plum job? The blame in both cases more appropriately lies with the people.
211
@Greg Weis Of course, but what of the role of leadership? The American revolution wasn’t initially widely supported by the general population. It was “radical” authors and established leaders who took the lead.
29
@Greg Weis
Back in the 60’s the Moody Blues put out an album entitled ‘Days of Future Past.’
How apt. A majority of British voters in 2016 decided that England’s future needed to resemble the past. But people elect leaders for a reason. They are supposed to know better than the people who elected them - otherwise there would be mob rule. Now that the pain is there for all to see, a leader has to step forward and call the whole thing off. Even if it means sacrificing his or her career.
41
They aren’t merely following them, they are abetting them and encouraging them. They are sinking to the level of the worst among them.
45
I wonder how our Founding Fathers would view Brexit.
The USA and UK share almost identical core values.
The EU....largely an American Construct......designed in the aftermath of WW2, in order to reconstruct Europe in America's Image.......a federal state with centralized planning moderated by a certain amount of local sovereignity.
From my own viewpoint...this evolving system started with the Common Market and NATO and has grown over the decades into a Frankenstein Monster that defies its master(uh...the USA?)
Once envisioned as a truly self-governing organization, the EU now reigns supreme over the populace, assuming that there really is a Divine Right of Bankers to rule the Realm with no restraints. Many of those European Bankers are, in fact, descendants of the Aristocracy...complete with castles and private armies(accounting firms) that plunder the land.
Poor ole USA>...once the master....still deluding itself that it can bring the Monster to heel. After all....it was OUR creation! We know whats best for the world!! Dont we?
41
@Wherever Hugo In 1783, the merchants of the newly independent United States thought that trade would pretty much go on as before independence. At the time North America had trade deficits being supported by protected trade routes to the Caribbean, private credit, and invisible subsidies in the forms of imperial expenditures (the Seven Years War, British troops stationed in Boston). What followed was credit contraction and the closing of British ports to Americans—though American goods could enter British ports in British ships. The result—monetary panic and depression. Americans did not get a British commercial treaty until 1795, one which was vigorously challenged. I think Ben Franklin would have laughed his head off.
9
@Wherever Hugo The EU is not an American construct at all. It's the brainchild of a German living in Alsace, a territory that changed hands something like 5 times in 50 years. Sure it's in line with American liberal and neoliberalism but it wasn't our idea.
29
@Wherever Hugo
Let's see:
Before this "Frankenstein monster," three devastating wars in Western Europe in 70 years: the Franco-Prussian War, the first world war, and the second world war. 25 million dead in Europe, alone.
After this Frankenstein monster, no wars in Western Europe. No one dead. Citizens of Western European countries report the highest happiness rates in the world.
I'm gonna go with: yeah, whoever "we" is, we DO know what's best for the world.
60
Tom,
Your corporatism get very tiresome. Gushing about high-IQ and risk taking and starting new companies. Whether you realize it or not, you've drunk the Ayn Rand cool-aid in a big and embarrassing way. Defining the occupants of C-Suite positions as the "best talent" is a tautology. Additionally, It's absurd to make some generalization about immigration based on these executives of Indian extraction, who are obviously extreme outliers. The reasons for their success is obviously over-determined. (Interesting factoid: the incidence of sociopathy is about 2-3% in the general population, but occurs in about 21% of CEOs).
Finally, fact check yourself: Aneel Bhusri, born in Pittsford, NY, is not an immigrant.
@Eben, that's pretty funny. "Gushing about high-IQ and risk taking and starting new companies." This used to be a feature of America, not a terrifying dystopia.
Why, it's almost as if the American can-do entrepreneurial spirit is a Randian nightmare!
Yes, it takes a strong-willed person to climb any business ladder. By the time you are a CEO, you are used to removing obstacles. If power makes you a sociopath, you were one anyway. The meek don't rise in a capitalistic world, silly.
You state: "executives of Indian extraction, who are obviously extreme outliers", which amuses me, but why are they outliers? Do you expect all immigrants to mow your lawn or clean your house, but never rise to a position of influence?
What a mess! And the worst part of it for me is that the Brexit vote was based on misinformation and lies. Brexit and Trump had forces behind them with the aim to sow chaos and disruption and that it has. Russia must be laughing as the turmoil in both countries is upending democracy, a joyous outcome for Russia.
2
Friedman wants us to consider his judgements about what is "stupid" and "wisdom" . He draws his judgments from the notion that every one in the UK accepts the wisdom of the post war liberal world order fairy tale. Unfortunately, a large portion of the UK doesn't believe this global liberal world order fairy tale at all. They place their faith in the traditional fairy tales taught to them about the glories of the British empire and the unique qualities of their national character that built the world they want and value.
Friedman concludes that it is a failure of leadership. I suggest the problem is the stupidity in using fairy tales to explain and understand the world. The simple fairy tales have morphed from being recognized as fairy tales... to being propaganda to.... "being the truth". Both sides have evidence that refutes "the truth" forced down their throat IMO, It is just stupid to think "leadership" OR that "getting the resentment of Brits ...." is a useful conclusion..
in short.... its the followers and their fairytales aka "the truth" that are the problem.
Wisdom would take on the teaching critical thinking about the liberal world order, British empire, and the "unique national character" So, pray for a miracle this time, blow up the mythology with relentless critical thinking and rise to the challenge of rebuilding the UK. (Repeat for the American fairy tale and mythology following Trump)
1
Mr. Friedman has nailed it.
""... a Labour Party that has gone Marxist."
And here we have the false equivalence regarding a crisis that was entirely manufactured and completely owned by the Tories and their obsession with power at all costs. This ludicrous statement is just thrown in as accepted fact in the end of this piece. Absurd.
1
Where ever the poisonous cold hand of Murdoch gets a grip chaos and hatred won't be long in raising it's nasty head. He thrives on it.
1
Why should the USA have all the fun?
1
Thank you, Angle Land (you never hear Angle Land anymore) for assuring that the US is not the most politically and economically suicidal First World nation on Earth.
1
I've had it with the non-stop attack on my country's decision to leave the EU for the principal of restoring our lost democracy without ever deigning to offer a rebuttal. All I ever hear about on the pages of this American paper is the economic-focused fear-mongering and slurs on our people and nation. Our earlier generations didn't consider the economic costs of going over the top at the Somme or landing on the Normandy beaches- they sacrificed their very lives. 17.4 millions of Brits voted- the majority- to leave the EU. There must have been some compelling reasons to have done so which readers of the NY Times will never encounter. This blatantly biased, one-sided approach is condescending and counterproductive. It got the paper nowhere in its country's 2016 election- does it not learn?
1
It is obvious now that Britain has no patriots in Government . The Queen is a patriot, as proven by her stance during WWII. Its too bad she's a bit too old. I'm taking bets Britain will try to rejoin the EU in a couple of years. Then the rest of us Europeans will have to inject large amounts of aid money to fix their economy, health system, infrastructure, education, police, et all, which will be somewhere near Greece. Meanwhile, in France , we will stop receiving British retirees with insufficient pensions sponging off our social largess. Oh, and by the way, a lot of them are Pro-Brexit. The author is correct, you can't fix stupid.
1
Well, Tom, we can relate, can't we? We have a lot of stupid going on here in the good ol'USA. We have a man who loves dictators but shuns allies in our White House. He is a man who today touted a brand new GOP healthcare plan--except that it doesn't exist! He wants to close the border to our 3rd largest trading partner. He doesn't want to give aid to Puerto Rico despite it being an American protectorate and despite thousands of citizens dying in a natural disaster there. He lies continually, about everything from the size of the crowd at his inaugural to paying off porn stars. He calls people names, ridicules American heroes and tweets out crazy stuff at four in the morning. He claims that he and Kim Jung Un "fell in love," and many people in his administration as well as many who worked on his campaign have pleaded guilty to various crimes. So to our friends in the U K--we feel your pain, because stupid lives here too!
Says the country who elected Trump.
If there ever were a time for the Queen to earn her keep, it's now. She has the authority and should use it to save her kingdom from kingdom come. Queen save the UK!
1
Brexit is a hoax. MAGA is a hoax. If there was ever a need for more education, we have it now.
Brexit isn't just stupid. The referendum was won by selfish, essentially criminal people successfully manipulating the fears of ignorant voters through right wing media in order to make Britain the capital of the world's oligarchy. "Take Back Control!" was always about making this country into an offshore tax haven where wealthy kleptokrats from all over the world could park their money and buy Britain's best real estate. For most people, Brexit will be an unmitigated disaster, but for a few it will represent an incredible bonanza. If this reminds you of what happened in the US with Trump's election, it should. Essentially, the same swindle has been perpetuated on both sides of the Atlantic.
I watched the parade of Betrix supporters march along road, waving flags and emotional with their cause. There were not many, maybe a hundred and they were old. (I'm seventy, by the way.) Then switch to the millions rallying in cities across the country. They crossed generations, but were mainly young. These old fogies, wanting to hand on to the past, are flushing their country down the toilet. Billions of assets have been moved out of the country, thousands of professionals that are members of the UK have left the country, corporations have left the country and have relocated, mainly in Brussels, etc. What do you do when a ship is sinking? Abandon it. Wake up Northern Ireland. The English have never been your friend and they will sell you out in a minute.
“They felt swamped by E.U. immigrants”. - maybe, but the basis of that feeling was a lie fed to them by right wing Tories. Net migration from outside the E.U. is greater, and there are 1.3 million Brits living in E.U. countries, which makes it the fourth or fifth largest source of migrants among E.U. nations. And all those non-Brits working in the House of Commons? Why did Brits not apply for those jobs? For the same reason the U.K. had to import Polish plumbers and other skilled workers. Brexit is stupid, but it was planned stupidity by extreme nationalists from the “little-Englander” upper class.
Sounds like home here!
What is astonishing to me is that an entire nation (or, OK, a little over half of one at one point in time) could have decided to break all of its ties with the EU, without ever once considering, even for a moment, the fact that arguably 1/4 of that very same nation (once a colony that it created) shares an island, a border, and an at best very fraught history with an EU country. That's an unfixable stupid on a global scale.
1
I don't think many "Marxists" are pushing for Brexit. Cheers!
2
Every so often the world goes crazy. Sometimes, it's two world wars, sometimes its stupidity like electing a disastrous personality like Trump or Brexit. It's as if the world's population needs to emerge from a kind of lethargy to do something that will jeopardize its very existence. Is there another explanation?
We are so independent that we have no longer pay taxes, right? All the daytreams end with the nation we are in when it comes to paying taxes. Then you can put your independence on your hat.
As stupid at Brexit it is, it behooves all of us to see it as fairly predictable: Gross economic inequality produces convulsions of the body politic. At least, it does unless the body politic is controlled by very politically oppressive means.
Friedman can bemoan Brexit as “stupid”—quite legitimately, I think—but I can’t help thinking that it would be more useful if he’d propose ways to eradicate gross economic inequality.
Labeling Britain’s Labor Party “Marxist,” even if the label fits, isn’t helpful. It’s dismissive, somewhat shrill, unilluminating, button-pushing, and divisive. We could all use s lot less name-calling.
1
The UK commits economic suicide while the US commits social and Constitutional suicide as hatred of other prevails and the rule of of law is ignored by partisan hacks who care more for their selfish power than the preservation of democratic government. Both can be traced to ineffective leaders and a populace who allows their prejudices, constantly reinforced by propaganda, to rule their desire for the past to magically reappear while ignoring the facts that clearly show that you cannot recreate the past without huge damage to the future. I wish the Brits well, but Friedman is right—you can’t fix stupid. We have a chance in 2020 to start fixing the stupid here. I hope voters get out of their mindless Trump worship and pay attention.
Thomas Friedman and elitists like him deep down can’t accept that a popular referendum can ever be a good thing. Friedman’s rationale is that the common voter must have been duped by the right.
But Friedman has never been displaced or seen his wages stagnate due to cheap labor. Friedman doesn’t understand that centralized decision making by the EU in Brussels marginalized voters in the UK and that sometimes people would rather be free than rich.
Friedman just knows that those who don’t see the world the way he does must be “stupid.”
2
“The U.K. is gonna be at the back of the queue.”
Q: Russia meddling in a foreign election?
A: Nope; just another American President meddling.
How many people in the UK voted based on O’s meddling?
My wife (UK expat) and I living in Italy are two of the several million examples of collateral damage this stupidity is causing. If there's a no-deal exit, our current immigration status essentially goes *poof* in a year with the current directives from the Italian gov't.
Think of this as in the US where one country's citizens all losing their green cards, and having to re-apply for visas ( * not* green cards) to remain in their homes and jobs. Utter idiocy, and a complete disregard of the citizenry.
Good piece, Tom, though please note it is essentially England, not the UK, which has gone mad.
1
Superb. Thank you. “Ship of Fools” sums it up perfectly. Very painful to witness this.
I'm English, living in France. The article is spot on about the stupidity. Shame about the centre-right/Brexiter tropes - 'swamped by immigration', 'faceless bureaucrats', 'Marxist Labour'. The latter is pretty much proposing a social-democratic/Scandininvian programme. Hardly revolutionary.
You had me at:
"Politico reported the other day that the French European affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau, had named her cat “Brexit.” Loiseau told the Journal du Dimanche that she chose the name because “he wakes me up every morning meowing to death because he wants to go out, and then when I open the door he stays in the middle, undecided, and then gives me evil looks when I put him out.'"
The Brits had no choice but to vote for Brexit. The EU regulations were controlling their everyday life beyond the absurd, including limiting the wattage of electric hair dryers. Friedman again continues to insult the common man by saying you can't fix stupid. Meanwhile the EU economy is stuck in reverse with negative real interest rates. Socialist countries are doomed to fail because their people want to be free.
@Jon Galt One wonders when was the last time that You were in Europe, pray tell?
I'm sure that, as an EU citizen, I'd *love* to hear how I'm/we're being oppressed by absurd EU laws here in Ireland, or how our fellow EU citizens, our British neighbours, are being similarly kept under the cosh of the brutalist EU.
As Ireland is also essentially a Socialist-Democratic country - we even have an old Socialist as our hugely popular President, re-elected revently for a second seven-year term - I'm sure there's an extra layer to how your answer will be regarded.
So.
Last time you were in Europe, what parts, and name just five - just Five - ways in which British people are being controlled by EU legislation.
Off you go.
2
Quite good article spoiled by ignorance over politics . The Labour Party " gone Marxist " ? Nah mate, its just gone back to proper Social Democratic, just like any middle-of-the road-Scandinavian Party might be kind of way, like it was before, and like it was meant to be, a party founded by socialists for socialists. Easy mistake to make , I suppose, if you get your news from the British papers all owned by mega-rich anti-british, anti-democratic foreigners, chancers & tax dodgers.
Or if you listen to Pres Trump, with his deep fears of " Norwegian Communism " or was it " Scandinavian Socialism " this week ?
But, no, I'm sure that I can be sure that The NY Times isn't in Trump's greasy pocket, can't I ?
One of the main promoters of this wave of stupidity is painstakingly documented on the front page (of the digital editon): the Murdochs have done this to the democratic world. Thanks a lot.
Mr. Friedman, this is one of your best, and one that US politicians - and voters - would do well to study and heed in the months ahead.
2
Neither France nor Germany bear responsibility for migrants who are obsessed with going to Britain. And among these three states, Britain has the fewest refugees. And Germany has to learn that it is not a solution to let everyone into the country who feels they are a refugee. The solution to migration is technology deployed in conflict zones, in developing economies, much like an industrialization project, to increase living standards in other countries, not to simply move populations and let other populations pay the bill for several generations. But the UK should go, truly, for its racist Bexiteers for whom there is no place in the EU. And international companies will finally have to move to EU countries who in turn must learn to lower the corporate tax rate to 20% or less. The UK has the position it has had thanks to the EU. The EU will be much better off without the UK or a Brexit deal. EU politicians must finally free up trade barriers internally, by lowering corporate tax and regulations.
Many thanks for this excellent article that analyzes the ridiculous turn England has taken, England the mercantile nation who once used the seas to expand an empire now closes inward toward entrophy. The point about the leaders of the big international companies being led by those from many countries spot on. It goes straight against Trump's nationalistic ideas and underlines Cameron May et al and their most serious blunder into this Brexit mess.
2
What makes this particularly disorienting is that those hard-line Brexiters who demand 'sovereignty' and so laud the 'union', are hell bent on putting into place a No Deal Brexit that is sure to tip the Scottish Independence cause over into 'Leave' and very likely to open the wounds between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
But it's worth mentioning that many of those same hard-liners own consultancies, registered outside the UK, that can guide businesses through the web of incipient No Deal tariffs.
Into the vacuum that would be created by Brexit, China sees economic opportunity and dominance. In the economic crisis aftermath Russia will sow its anti European propaganda. And the US continues its retreat into nationalism and xenophobia. It's back to the future, circa 1930s.
5
No one said politicians could always arrive at a Nash equilibrium.
Thank you, Thomas Friedman, for an excellent and insightful article.
5
What Trump and Brexit have in common is they have given voice to a previously silent minority of rightwing angry, ill-informed voters, not all white, but mostly. Career agitators have taken this platform to whip their followers into a frenzy with promises of control and a nostalgic fantasy.
Every Brexit rally is full of the same type of people yelling "Leave means leave," without any understanding of the consequence. What they actually mean is "I finally won something, so let me have my prize." But Brexit is so amorphous, everyone's interpretation of what that prize looks like is wildly different.
A case in point: a couple of weeks ago a pro-Brexit owner of a bridal shop in the UK had a letter published in The Times (as in the UK Times, not the NY) in which she announced that even if the UK remained in the EU, she would no longer be buying from them, she would turn her back on anything from the EU. However, her shop was the exclusive stockist for a range of wedding dresses made in Spain.
And that, in a nutshell, sums up the stupidity of the kind of person who supports Brexit. "Give me what I voted for!" they yell, thinking it will only affect other people. Angry and stupid. That's the section of the UK who are still supporting this ridiculous debacle.
11
the UK has gone mad and, it seems, it has united with the usa in doing so.
as for this.
.....Seriously, the United Kingdom, the world’s fifth-largest economy — a country whose elites created modern parliamentary democracy, modern banking and finance, the Industrial Revolution and the whole concept of globalization —
you'd better give your fellow americans a history lesson because i'm sure most believe the USA was responsible for all of the above.
as well as winning ww1&2 all by itself.
3
How did this happen? I think the simple answer is hubris.
1
Tom Friedman, you should have a chat with John Fisher-Burns, and listen to his comments on Brexit in general, and his tirade against the EU in particular.
A Pulitzer prize winner for international reporting, Burns previously worked for the NYT and appears often on BBC's "Dateline London." When it comes to Brexit, his views remind me of those of Brexiteers' who are immersed in nationalism.
He criticised this doom-and-gloom approach to Brexit. And he urged journalists to take time to look into the positions taken by Brussels during the talks, which I approve of.
Junker is ‘sat on a volcano’! EU lambasted as ‘fairground hucksters’ in Brexit talks http://shr.gs/WVrEcoe
Here are some of his comments:
"To say you have to pay and agree your divorce bill before we get to talking about future relationships is unrealistic.
"The British public will not approve a massive bill, without knowing if there is a positive offer on the other side.
"To have a French bureaucrat standing at a lectern and saying he wants to educate the British public, frankly that verges on the insulting.
"Juncker is going to find out that he is sitting on a volcano. He can't just set out this difficult and non-negotiable position."
1
Forgive me if I take exception to just one minor point. You state that the Brits felt overwhelmed by a surge of immigrants. Foolish Germans and French should have better protected them. When Poland joined the EU (against the will of France, mainly supported by Kohl and Blair), the Germans feared that the influx of large numbers of Polish citizens seeking jobs might sour the mood of the natives, so they initially introduced restrictions. Heavily criticised by the British who scored an easy point against the old Nazis by dropping any restrictions. So the Poles felt far more welcome in Britain, and in a rush their number reached nearly a million. Since 2006 their presence began to cause open resentment. The 2015 refugee crisis didn't affect Britain, since it's not a member of the Schengen agreement. There is a surge of immigrants from non-EU-countries which is not under EU-jurisdiction. One of the big Brexit-campaign lies was the rumour, that the Germans were close to offering Turkey full membership, threatening an influx of more than a million Muslims. Actually, no one had favoured Turkish membership as much as the British, hoping it might make any deeper political union of the EU impossible. Former British PM Gordon Brwon has pointed out that most rational aims of controlling immigration can be achieved within the EU-framework as a number of examples, how the French, Germans and others are doing it, shows. You may be right: the Tories may really have gone mad.
6
The most disturbing part of the whole Brexit debacle is the fact that the left has quite blatantly sabotaged the whole process - pretty much out of pure baby-rage tantrum because they lost the vote and haven't stopped whining about it for nearly 3 years now - and nobody has even talked about this; instead they are choosing to somehow try and blame the leave camp as if it's somehow their fault that every realistic and feasible plan they've put forward has been shot down by temper-tantrum-fuelled whingers who would rather see the country fall to ruin than be proven wrong in that leaving the EU was in fact the best idea after all.
It just goes to show you how childish and blatantly unsuitable for governing a country the left truly is.
"a country whose elites... created the whole concept of globalization"
What does that mean?
2
It is easy to forget, amidst the sound and the fury of Brexit now, that the original point of the exercise was to have the referendum vote be to Stay, not to Leave. PM David Cameron had already used the referendum mechanism twice to get annoying little issues like Scottish independence off the table for years to come. The 3rd time was to be the charm. Cameron and most of his Conservative colleagues knew that it was a bad idea poorly worded as presented in the referendum. That was deliberate. There was simply no way a majority would vote for such a large change in such undefined terms.
Oopsie!
One Prime Minister later this comedy of errors continues. It appears to be an unworkable set of decisions because it was choices never intended to be made. It was simply one of those silly, noisy ideas that get a lot of attention from time to time in politics when some noisy advocates start getting a lot of TV time or whatever. Looking back, one might ask who was more stupid, the advocates of Brexit at the time, or Prime Minister Cameron?
3
This situation and commentary sounds strikingly familiar.
Oh, yes...I remember!
It's exactly what is happening here in the US as well.
Perhaps there's a deeper cause?
Call it capitalism angst.
Mr Friedman claims to “get” all of the legitimate grievances of the British middle class. My foot! All he displays is his elitist, know-it-all, globalist approach that has brought on this crisis that Brexit, when finished, will fix.
1
The great shame of contemporary Briton is that the clods that used to be sent out to run the colonies are now staying home and filling Parliament.
The fundamental belief of Brexit side is that one can arrange a better deal by antagonizing and departing the EU than working for better terms inside the union. If they acted a bit more like Quebec, whine, snivel, decry their utterly horrific plight, they may have finagled better concessions while on the inside.
Well, to paraphrase Bogey in “Casablanca”:
We’ll always have Langan’s.
1
As Thomas Friedman says "...you can't fix stupid".
And the EU -- which started as a simple coal and steel market (the ECSC) morphed into a bureaucratic behemoth. Unelected technocrats impose an ever increasing array of regulations, enriching mostly bankers while disdaining nations sovereignty.
The EU became stupid and it can't be fixed.
1
We are all familiar with your pro Globalization stance you were among the first to sing its praises and the inevitable rise of China, India and Israel as beacons of the future: you may be right but the ninety percent of the populace you toss to the curb or use for cannon fodder will not go quietly as demonstrated by Brexit and the election of Trump. Of course I remember very well your position on the invasion of Iraq as well , it would be a chip shot that brought peace and harmony to the Middle East, hows that worked out Tom? I would humbly suggest that your friends on Wall Street like Blankfein and Cohen, doing “ Gods Work”, that brought down the worlds economy along with the “ coalition of the willing” Cheney, Bush, Blair, Sarkozy and their supporters in Israel and Saudi Arabia delivered the final blow that brought about both Brexit and Trump; or are you going to deny that forcing Middle Class Brits from their homes to allow room for glass silos to house the worlds elite on one hand and on the other allowing millions of refugees fleeing the Middle East wars you encouraged to strain safety nets intended for and paid for by generations of British citizens had no bearing whatsoever on the anti elite, anti immigrant wave now washing across much of Europe. Not everyone can rise to the highest ranks of your globalized vision of the world, what do you propose for the rest, the status quo is broken.
1
The UK should apply for statehood.
1
Ok.
So, how is this Euro chaos going to impact This U.S. of A and all it's UK/Eu stockholders??
You could have saved the space that this column takes up, Mr. Friedman. At this point the British will no more consider the madness that is Brexit than Republicans will pay attention to the venality and stupidity that is Trump. Both groups have immunized themselves from reality by building air-castles of alternative facts in which they happily dwell, as their countries slowly deflate into the mud outside. Really, who are we to throw stones at the British.
2
Very good analyze, excellent article Thomas Friedman you found your voice again, you were brilliant about everything regarding Israel and Palestinian and after years of almost silence you are brilliant again and thank you for using the word stupid which I wanted so bad to use regarding the brexit and the UK government.
The Brexiter did not win on the Merritt they won because of so many lies by Putin who wants many democracy to collapse which is even more interesting for Britain were he has assassinated more than a couple of people. You should know that I wrote a letter to the Queen of England telling her in a respectful way to wake up and fight against Putin a dictator in the way she fought against Hitler and as you mentioned she has not done anything I am of French origin and in theory I should not like English people
because they cannot cook but I love them first and foremost because they suffer fighting against Hitler and welcoming French people who wanted to fight too. It is profoundly depressing to see
Putin win again as he has already won by electing President Donald Trump a cruel clown friend of Putin. again brilliant article
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" Democracy is a very bad form of government. But all of the others are so much worse"
Unlike the United Kingdom, America is not a parliamentary democracy with a royal history and no written constitution with a 1000 year seaborne island empire history. America never executed a leader.
America never had a "Glorious Revolution" nor a " Magna Carta". America had black slaves and brown Native pioneers to contend with and exploit.America had lots of land and natural resources. America had a violent revolution against the British Empire. And a violent civil war.
Yet in the divided limited different power constitutional republic of united states 63 million Americans including 58% of white people voted for a dotard heathen hedonist pagan reality TV star who played a businessman on TV after inheriting 295 streams of income from his daddy.
Neither the United Kingdom nor the United States can blame their current partisan political predicaments on divine royal sanction selection nor an armed uniformed military coup. The accountable culprits are the faces in their citizens mirrors.
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Trump’s foreign policy is Brexit light...and threatening to go full on in Iran and Venezuela. So, anyone in USA who wonders what is going on in England better look in the mirror.
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Okay, let's count 'em up: relatively well-to-do, smaller countries in the World that aren't part of the EU and still (shockingly! somehow! . . . if you live in Friedmanlandia) manage to get by just fine. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore. The UK will do okay no matter whether it crashes out of the EU or cuts some weasel deal to stay attached to the EU market. Re. migration, the UK has never been against allowing talented people from around the world come in to work and study. Their beef was with the unbending EU rules of absolutely unrestricted migration. These two are quite different things.
Just wonder, how is that the EU should have protected UK from the migrants “surge” and why the Germans and French are to blame for it in a first place? As far as I recall that it was Tony Blair who opened UK labour market for the countries joining the EU in 2004 from day one. It is foolishness to claim that was foolish.
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Do you (and many others), sir, actually think that Ms May is, in fact, so stupid as to not know that "you can’t fix stupid." She isn't, I'm sure.
She wisely favoured "Remain."
The PMship was dumped on her by the Tories themselves. The referendum (as most are) was a very bad idea. The lying by Brexiters was a fad prompted by the same forces that enabled Trump. That fad is passing.
Machiavelli would tell her that the only way to keep the UK in the EU is to (politically) destroy both overt and covert Brexiters -- i.e. David, Nigel, Boris, Jacob et al. and the emetic Mr Corbyn, as well as some leaders.
The tactics of Machiavelli's times would be illegal today (pace Lucretia Borgia). So ...
The only way to destroy them is to keep trying, again and again, to make them and their supporters swallow the entire unpalatable Brexit kipper in one big gulp.
Eventually, they'll admit they won't swallow it; or, worst case, they'll swallow it and find it's poisonous.
Once Ms May has squashed the leading Brexiters, she'll be able to call an election and, hopefully, build a new pro-European party -- perhaps called "Tory" or perhaps something else.
She's a very brave, strong lady, I think.
It's not scary, sir. It's (politically) exciting!
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Yet another of the countless problems which have roots to 9/11 geopolitical strategies gone wrong.
Someone at The NYTimes interview Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz about their ultra-patriotic strategy and how that’s going.
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One wonders who Mr Friedman has in mind as a "best leader".
Time will tell about the companies of the future, but the best earners of today seem to wake up and ask, "How can I pay manufacturing workers pennies an hour?", or perhaps "How can I monetize personal data that my company has obtained thru disingenuous means?" or the ever-popular, "How can my company use its enormous wealth to effectively capture government policy and bend it to our will?"
Yet Mr Friedman lays awake at night worrying about the twin evils of sovereignty and marxism. Perhaps he should read some of his own columns, circa 1998.
'What we’re seeing is a country that’s determined to commit economic suicide but can’t even agree on how to kill itself. It is an epic failure of political leadership.' You've nailed our dilemma exactly. There's isn't a way to fix stupid when the political class has not only lied and dissembled but also refuses to explain the huge compromises Brexit entails. The Leave campaign whipped up nationalism and xenaphobia to achieve a slim majority in the referendum. They also cheated. If the referendum had been binding, it would have been voided. Because it was advisory the political class has decided to plough ahead. Lions led by donkies! Britain is a mess.
Agree that Brexit is the obscene, toxic project of racists and xenophobes in a "kingdom" from which better was expected. That said, TLF is always committed to a "nation state" structure of world organization, with concomitant internal tensions complicating the trend to "inter-national" cooperation. More productive to be rethinking that with a view to the new geopolitical fact that the voting citizens of largely coastal, hi-tech, financial and trading centers like the Cal coast, NYC, the Beijing/Shanghai corridor, urban Japan, London/Oxbridge, Sydney, and the Northern EU have more in common with each other across lifestyle, values, and political preferences than they do with the rustbelt / agribelt backwaters of their own "nations". I think of a new supranational entity "Coastalia" as emerging to eventually obviate the fundamentalist nationalist backwaters that, like their fundamentalist religious counterparts, are putting up their last good fight.
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@J111111 Except the fundamentalist religious counterparts have been 'putting up their last good fight' for thousands of years, and will continue to do so for as long as the search for meaning remains mired in zero-sum logic.
I think what you're driving at is that new modes of production/thought are displacing the old. What's rusting in the Rust Belt are the big factories that displaced the farms they were built over (and the notion, right or wrong, that collective bargaining from a localized workforce is an effective counter to corporate power). The hubs of interconnectedness we're seeing on the coasts are just the start. Dystopian visions of multinational entities assuming control aren't as far off base as we'd like.
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@J111111 Here in the UK no-one lives further than 70 miles from the coast. Outside of London/Oxbridge it's hardly a backwater. The citizens of Coastalia sound pretty shallow.
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@J111111: I have a soft spot for the city of Toronto because my Uncle Jack, veteran of the "guerre de quatorze" spent final 25 years of his life there in hospital recovering from his wounds. Father visited him faithfully, and regret that I did not go with him.So, I shan't be too hard on you."Cependant,"all those long words mean nothing to the average bloke, "petit blanc" in GB and elsewhere, France another example, who is poor, feels downtrodden while the elites have opened the floodgates to immigrants, legal and otherwise, policies in which the Tommy Atkins of this world do not have a say. BREXIT WAS A NO VOTE AGAINST IMMIGRATION, pure and simple because those who pay the piper , who suffer from it, r poor whites, whose lot was brilliantly written about in a Times investigative series.When Heath and other pol.leaders decided that UK would accept 50.000 uitlanders monthly, there was only 1 man who protested, and that was ENOCH POWELL, whose "Rivers of Blood " speech foresaw ghastly consequences for UK of unbridled immigration.and who was subsequently run out of the Conservative Party.Friedman is no "petit blanc," nor r u I daresay, so u would never understand. In article in 1961 which appeared in Encounter, John Mander made the case for Little England far better than I could not! Suggest u read it!! Right wing parties in GB r a sign of weakness, not strength.Anyone who disagrees with the Left is treated as a dimwit, but we understand what's really going on!
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What is even more dispiriting is that these "nationalist" trends, which are going to cost us a pretty penny economically (and already are) are just a quasi-respectable front for racism and blood-and-soil fascism.
I am tired of speaking softly about this. The real leaders, Mr. Friedman, do not wake up looking at opportunity and new frontiers; they can return to that after they wake up and break into a sweat, because we are on the brink of a long-term fascist trend in America and Europe.
We need leaders who are not just trying to whistle us past this graveyard. The world was flat; now it is filling with autocrats laying down barbed wire and fomenting ethnic strife.
It is like the 20th century thrown into reverse.
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@pjc
Nationalism is not any kind of front for racism or fascism. It is a predictable response to rampant, out of control Globalism. In case you haven't noticed, people in Western Nations tend to only have children when and if they can afford to provide for them. Millions of people who delayed or did not start a family are now being asked to make room for millions more who had all the children they were capable of producing, even though they lacked opportunity to provide for them. I am one of them and I resent it greatly. I am NOT a racist and I am not a Fascist.
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Britain and US and let's face may countries have a large swath of their countrymen who feel they have lost in life economically and socially and who blame the elites and other for their loss. This large swath of people are not wrong. There have been huge changes in the economy and socially. They recognize that they have been marginalized and this is not going to change. So they are told we will go back in time, make America Great, exit EU back to old Britain, etc. Problem is there is no going back only forward. The elite rich still control, Trump is an elitist. Cutting taxes on the rich will not build infrastructure or make college less expensive or produce good paying jobs not already being created. Money does not flow to money, it flows to demand.
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The EU allowed extended time lease is better utilised for a second referendum than further complicating the Brexit impasse by insisting on the Brexit plan whuch is supported by none. Failing which Theresa May is sure to add to her political woes and she may lose both her job as well as the Brexit deal.
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Silly article. The "island" which GB wants to get out of is the EU, a particularly expensive and hopeless venture which has done little good and quite a lot of harm. GB currently cannot trade with the rest of the world on equal terms with non-EU countries because of tariffs imposed by the EU.
And sovereignty is quite rightly a major issue too. The ultimate aim of the EU is to create a country called Europe which will consist of states called Germany, France, Britain etc. Bye bye to your own legal system, monarchy, seat at the United Nations etc.
The fact that the process has gone off the rails is unfortunate, but that's no worse than Trump shutting down the US governmentbecause he couldn't get his wall money. But the fundamental decision is correct, get out.
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"And sovereignty is quite rightly a major issue too. The ultimate aim of the EU is to create a country called Europe which will consist of states called Germany, France, Britain etc. Bye bye to your own legal system, monarchy, seat at the United Nations etc."
And the problem with this is what exactly? Comparing Trump's shutting down a government in a vain attempt to coerce the building of a medieval wall isn't much of an argument.
Serving the interest of who?
The author writes "they felt swamped by E.U. immigrants..... There are reportedly some 300,000 French citizens living in London" but omits to mention that the people who most 'feel swamped' live in regions with few immigrants.
In London where there are lots of immigrants, most people are OK about immigration. The regions with highest proportion of immigrants mostly voted to remain in the EU. I doubt that many people in London are upset about having 300,000 French citizens working alongside them.
The reason is very simple. If you work with people from other countries, make friends with them go for a drink with them after work, get invited to their kids birthdays, or date them and marry them, you're not scared of them. But if you don't meet immigrants then you might imagine them as green bug-eyed monsters out to steal your jobs.
It's not immigration that's the problem, it's fear of immigration whipped up by political snake oil salesmen that's the problem.
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Pleased to hear you attack ignorance. You can't cure stupid. Unfortunately, the parallels to America are undeniable. I hear comments daily similar to the "there is not one person working in the building who is British." Friends, colleagues and relatives describe shopping trips, doctor visits and educational settings with the phrase "I didn't see one person who was an American," defining the term as a White individual without an accent or visible international appearance. England is not alone when it comes to political suicide. America, and other nations, are experiencing their own Brexits, and I fear that your "can't cure stupid" analysis applies here to an even greater extent.
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@Disillusioned
I am white (as defined by the melanin content of my skin) and have lived here for decades, but can't shed my accent. Yet I am WAY more devoted to the Constitution than most of our elected officials. In fact, it WAS the Constitution that wanted me to stay in America.
I am genuinely appalled realizing how little the Constitution actually means to naturally born Americans and how little they know about it.
Europe has a similar problem, Britain in particular. The loss of appreciation for what we as a people have achieved, complacency and the attitude that we deserve even better, but generally don't want to work for it.
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@Disillusioned. I, too, have been to Costco in NJ. It is an incredible confluence of cultures and nationalities, both in the aisles and behind the registers, seduced by a manifest destiny of low overheads and bulk pricing. Whether you choose to see that glass as half-empty or half-full is what colors your view.
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@Disillusioned I think I would find myself some new friends and colleagues. Relatives you can’t do anything about.
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Some other arguments I have heard: That we get to vote for our MEP but not for the leadership, that new EU legislation, the Lisbon treaty, would remove the right to veto giving a completely free hand to said leader(s), that Europe plans to make us European states with a single European army, filled by compulsory conscription. That this would mean the end to the British army altogether and probably the end of the monarchy. I have heard it argued that we would become (also that we are already treated as) the poor suburbs of Belgium and Germany. Also that the US international trade agreements being pushed by the last administration would have recognised Europe as a bloc, sped the centralisation and parked a nice big pseudo superpower buffer between the US and Russia. Obviously the people who believe these things are fully prepared to fall on hard times again rather than be, as they see it, knowing parties to either the third reich or world war three. Depends who you speak to. For my credentials I tell you this as a fairly recent member of the Liberal Democrat party, joined as the party of the middle path, democratically open to hear everybody, at that time. Stuck in the middle.
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@Cheryl
Well, Cheryl, you do not need to be stuck in the middle. You can take an active role in dispelling these inaccuracies. Having lived in the UK for some time, I have to say that your account sounds correct, but I have always been curious as to where this fear of Germany springs from. There is a general lack of confidence by the people in the UK taking a leadership role in the modern world. It can only protect itself by isolating itself and evoking the "spirit of the Blitz". This is getting weirder by the moment.
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I’m considering joining the Liberal Democrat’s or the new Independent Group. The traditional two parties are at war and no longer caring about the effect on our country.
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Opinions are fine, but please check the facts.
1) It is the UK under Tony Blair that decided to have no phasing in of free movement for citizens of the newly admitted Central and Eastern European countries. Without a transition phase, UK became the top destination. No German or French foolishness involved.
2) Free movement of EU citizens is what makes the EU a political union. It's not all economics, stupid. EU citizens have a right to live and work in another EU country - that is what makes them EU citizens.
3) The famous "faceless bureaucrats" imposing rules - not only is the cliche a bit tired, but the poor chaps, whatever they are guilty of, can't be the scapegoats here: laws are made by the Council of Ministers where Member States, including the UK, decide, and the European Parliament, duly elected and with UK parliamentarians well represented.
4) In the Brexit referendum, 48,1% of Brits voted to remain. The "globalised elite" therefore seems to be rather large on the British isles.
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I take issue with much of the pro corporateness of this op-ed.
".. the C.E.O. of Microsoft? Satya Nadella. the C.E.O. of Google? Sundar Pichai....the C.E.O. of Adobe? Shantanu Narayen."
None of those CEOs created Microsoft, Adobe, or Google. None of them, quiet frankly are innovating at all. They correct, remodel, refashion, and maintain the Titan's domain.
The quote by the economist/analyst at Deloitte: his language is too ambiguous to trust.
Working with programming languages, I spend most of my time having to "disambiguate" the English of programmers who do not write grammatically. This statement is horrendous:"..., business has “been organized around stocks of knowledge as the basis for value creation."
what is "stocks of knowledge" ?
what is "value creation" ?
what are "proprietary knowledge stocks" ?
and what does anyone mean by "efficiently extract the economic value" ?
What is "...deliver them to the market." ?
I have to say that I think that kind of baloney is what makes everyone put up barriers to so-called 5G progress.
California is NOT keen on 5G as a note, health-wise it presents real concerns.
And for the British, I get you. The Brits want to put a PAUSE on immigration, and breathe again, the civilization, the culture that was once "their" Britain.
But at some point I agree, not wholly with Mr. Friedman, who is really a corporatist that the world has to hit the return button.
But for now, their Brexits's feelings matter.
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I agree with Thomas L. Friedman. This process is crazy from its inception and it only grows worse each day. It is a real shame that the UK political elites are choosing to leave the EU instead of contributing to make it better and working to solve its shortcomings, especially in terms of immigration and the rise of inequality. And it is really sad to see how the UK politicians are incapable of listening to the people that elected them, stop to reflect on what has happened since the referendum and be humble and intelligent enough to make a 180 turn. We are all connected and only together we can make the world a better place. This is definitely not the way forward.
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You’ve well defined this issue. Thank you. Very insightful and pertinent to other situations. Good column
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Not scary. Well deserved. You can't help those who don't want to be helped or who can't admit they have a problem. I flew on a plane next to a British International businessman who voted to leave. He thinks what is going on now is horrible. I asked if he would vote to leave again. He said "Yes, it would be really a good thing for us if we get a good deal with the EU." The only word for that is "STUPID". People like this need to be taught a very difficult lesson. I'm sick of waiting. I want to watch pain and I want to eat popcorn.
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"I had a drink with a member of Parliament in the bar in the House of Commons on Tuesday, and as we sat down he whispered to me that “not a single person working in this whole building is British.”
I was in the House of Commons last night and saw a great many British people at work, from security guards to waitresses. Some of them were not white — but that doesn't make them not British. And many were white British. This comment from whoever you went drinking with is ridiculous.
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@Anne, maybe he meant “not British enough”. That’s how they say it here, not America enough, whatever that means!!
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"The very reason [Trump] is promoting the breakup of the E.U. is that he believes America can dominate the E.U.’s individual economies...."
C'mon, Tom. Trump recently said the word "orange" several times because apparently he can't say (or doesn't really know) the word "origin." Do you honestly believe he has the slightest idea what the EU is, let alone what its breakup would mean?
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@A. Human
Not a Trump fan here, but I do think he has the mental capacity to comprehend at least in broad terms what the EU is and what its breakup would mean (profit).
But even if you're right and he doesn't know, Putin does.
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Donald Trump encouraged the Brexit disaster; What more do the British need to know?
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@rich, two words: Steve Bannon
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Maybe i get this all wrong, and this article tries to to counter the usual blame why britain went from sober to blind rage. But i am sure, that many populists try to exaggerate side issue to bring down liberal visions. And we neither should ignore these side issues, nor should we let the populists get away with their choice of topics.
What is happening in britain (and the US) is a creeping take-over of a political meritocracy. A gilded circle of modern aristocrats, that are so incompetent, that they even fail on something like brexit (or repealing healthcare), issues you just have to break. They are good in stirring up the voters, while they fail in even just destructive deals.
We should not try to justify or defuse the inconveniences of an european union, there is always something to blame. We should not lash out against german and french foolishness, or faceless bureaucrats. We should lash out against white supremacist who bend the institutions for their personal enrichment. We should lash out against greed, against power grap.
Even if britain gets their sovereignty, get rid of all the migrants, it is still left alone with a political class that rather mimics the russian or turkish leadership than the days, when britain and america where great and the beacon of the free world.
You shouldn't try to fix stupid, we should just get rid of stupid. We do have smart people to replace the stupid ones, we should fight for that.
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She does not actually have a cat named Brexit. It was a joke.
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@Hugo van den Berg
Too bad. It was a good joke.
After a misleading and uninformative campaign, a very small margin of British voters expressed their wish to leave the EU in a non-binding vote which indicated the mood of those who chose to vote, and required the Parliament to debate and begin negotiations. The nationalistic campaign appealed to the gut reaction of a population unhappy with unemployment: uncontrolled immigration; rules being set by unelected bureaucrats in Europe; and a promise to make Britain Great again. At no time was there ever a serious attempt to educate the population on the downside of leaving the EU. A belief that because Brittan stood alone against Hitler and that they will muddle through is not sufficient. Most people in Britain today have no idea what living conditions were like prior to entering the EU and would be shocked to find out.
What should have happened is for Parliament to negotiate better terms, such as greater control over their own borders, easing of regulations on foods and standards, and above all, educating the people on both the advantages and disadvantages of leaving vs. remaining. Once people see the decline and of available goods and lack of variety, especially food, which they have become accustomed to over the last 40 years, they may come to resent the uneducated 4% who were persuaded to vote to leave, but it will be too late to do anything about it. Brexit should be cancelled right now until common sense returns.
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My Way
And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain...
Crashing out off EU,
and may God bless the Brits (and they will need that and more) as tough days ahead...
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-- "But this is not the reasonably competent British government I grew up with."
Good grief, apart from NZ (at the moment), show me one government that is perpetually competent. Talking of the UK gone mad, at least it didn't elect a crash and burn, chaotic buffoon who's allowed to govern a country via Twitter, and wants to destroy everyone's healthcare simply because he's a bigot and doesn't like that the ACA's nickname relates to that of a black man. That, in the 21st century, is true madness. And at least the UK are trying to debate (they are having parliamentary votes!), which is more than can be said about Congress right now.
Leave them alone, they'll have a cup of tea and figure it out; one way or another. And after all's said and done, the British squaddies will still be fighting alongside the same people in NATO. Which, again, is more than Trump would have the U.S. do, given the opportunity and his penchant for pathetically kowtowing to Putin.
Methinks your own house needs putting in order first.
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Humpty Dumpty is falling off the wall and it will take a long time to put him back together again.
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There you are, sitting in Trumplestan calling the kettle black? It's high time there was some movement and the Brits leave Europe alone/to its own devices. Are columnists so overpaid that they can't remember that there are people who have to pay rent in London? The Tories Marxist? a) No, b) if so a little bit it's entirely the Blairists' fault. In the future, Europe takes the African and Middle Eastern refugees, the US those of the "Mexican countries". I am curious to see how "England prevails!", this time. Good luck.
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The lede anecdote is not accurate: Loiseau said that if she had a cat, she'd name it Brexit. Also, the resentment that you 'get' was created and stoked relentlessly by the press, especially the Brussels 'reporting' of Boris Johnson for the Daily Telegraph.
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This is a story that makes no sense but there was a novel that reminds me titled the Mayor of Casterbridge. In it, early in the novel, a man sells his wife and child at a county fair and the novel goes to show our lead character remakes himself and eventually becomes the Mayor or Casterbridge and the cast off family finds him. The idea that a stupid poorly understood referendum has to be obeyed as a kind of oath is absurd just about as absurd selling your family. At least in the Hardy novel the main charater can make amends. I dont see any benefit to Britain's jumping into an abyss where the outcome is indeterminate. This leaves out discussion of the chananagins of Cambridge Analytica and the Russians. The British political system is stalled where the people in power May and Corbin are doing their level best to keep power and do anything to keep to appear to act as guiding minds. But this whole thing feels like a stuck BBC rerun.
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Can't you even talk about Brexit without - as always negative-mentioning Putin?
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Friedman fails to see the contradictions in his half-baked ideas. On the one hand he beats his drum for a globalized world with unfettered information flows. On the other, he urges countries to compete to attract "high I.Q." innovators, in a nationalistic, zero-sum game: a sure route to increasing global maldistribution of income and immiseration of loser countries. No solution to our global problems will arise out of such poorly thought-through, essentially colonialist and backward-looking prescriptions.
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You can boil down these massive problems by looking at the belief systems hidden within the the minds of those who act upon them. If you assume people want first "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" or food, shelter, clothing and safety, and create a way that makes it easy to obtain these things, mostly everything else works out.
If basic necessities get hard to obtain, you get unrest, selfishness, aggression and resentment. If the system of governance makes it easy for some people to have a great deal more than others the situation is ripe for generating anger and unrest. That hostility will be directed at both the "lower" and the "upper" echelon or immigrants and the ruling class. The lower group is easier to scapegoat and blame. The upper, not so much.
Brexit is not so different than what Trump wants for the USA. The man suffers from much "stupid"." He can't think about anything with either depth or breadth. An intelligent attitude would be to acknowledge that the USA, like the UK, cannot go it alone, for all the reasons Dr. Friedman mentions.
If the world could learn to live generously, kindly, and compassionately, with respect and dignity for all human beings regardless of who they are or what their origins might be, life would look very different. We are all currently without courageous and visionary leadership, however, so we probably won't get there before we kill the planet. That's all that matters.
There is no cure for stupid.
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We must be living in extraordinary political times, when even the British are jumping overboard.
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Another report from that foreign country, central London. Take a trip 90 miles due north. You will find the dyed in the wool Tories of every class living in the time of the Lord Protector (the 1950s are too recent to be of any value). And, what French workers? It is those eastern Europeans that are the problem. Just read some of the local newspapers, where crimes committed by people with names that cannot be pronounced in English are on the front page every week. Indeed, the latest headlines are such immigrants killing swans for food! I cannot imagine anything more calculated to rile up English passion!
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@Son of Bricstan
they have always been ruled by propaganda. The truth rarely allows for them to do what they want.
"High-IQ risk takers". Oh dear. I guarantee you many of the functionally useless Brexiteers Friedman quite rightly criticises have high IQs. And they are certainly risk takers. On the other hand many tech people who struck it very rich are not risk takers so much as con men ("trust me everyone will be transported around in our self-driving flying cars") or people who lucked into natural monopolies - pretty much none of them really risked that much. (A factory worker who starts a union drive, or a food service employee who quits and moves to the city to find a better job - they risk their livelihoods. A tech bro founding a start-up to deliver stuff on automated bicycles to your door risks ... having to take a highly-paid job at someone else's company. Who is the risk taker?)
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Another chapter to add to "The March of Folly" by Barbara W. Tuchman, a book we have still failed to learn from.
The GOP Nixon/Reagan/Bush family/Trump years must also be added, as we continue to cripple ourselves......as we approach the 75th anniversary D-day....
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I disagree that Trump has a nationalist business view, or has even given the slightest thought to an economic world view. DT cannot lead. DT cannot govern. He has no plan, agenda, or coherent goals. DT is quite insane.
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