So long, EU. (Subtext: So what?)

What a week here in the U.K.! As you may have seen in the news, the Great British public held an historic referendum to decide whether to leave or remain in the European Union, which as best as I can ascertain, would be the equivalent of Charleston’s decision to leave or remain in South Carolina. The average British man-on-the-street doesn’t seem to know exactly what the European Union is, or what leaving will actually entail, but a majority of the people voted to leave, and so leave they shall.

From what I’ve been able to gather, the campaign – Leave vs. Remain – split along the same fault lines as our ideological Red State/Blue State debate. Lots of rhetoric on both sides that went something like, “Y’mama sucks!” and “Oh, yeah? Blow me!” Except with an English public-school accent, which of course makes it all sound extremely classy and cultured.

The issues seemed to be centered around emotionally charged issues like immigration, jobs and loss of independence to lawmakers abroad. An undercurrent was “terrorism,” which is always guaranteed to heat up any discourse regardless of which side you’re leaning toward. I think it might have been sort of like throwing around a heated topic like taxation without representation 250 years ago in Philadelphia or Boston. That led to a big “Leave” vote, too.   

And now there’s a similar reaction: Yikes! NOW WHAT??!  A lot of people are nervous, even though they’re still not sure what the European Union is, or what it does (or doesn’t do), and how the U.K. is going to cope on its own. One immediate outcome has to do with the exchange rate, which has a positive impact on my pocketbook already. When I left home ten days ago, it cost me $1.56 to buy one British pound. On Friday, the day after the referendum, it cost me only $1.36 for a pound. I’ll give the terrorists that one.

Just like our Red State/Blue State divide, the kingdom was split in its decision. Most of England – with the exception of London and its suburbs – voted to Leave. However, Scotland voted solidly to Remain, as did much of Wales and Northern Ireland. The Scots wasted no time to renew the issue of independence for itself, and are threatening a new vote as soon as they can get it on a ballot. Who knows what the Irish or Welsh will do, but there are nationalistic rumblings all over the news here. In a year or two, the unthinkable may occur: the United Kingdom may split and be united no more.

Buckingham Palace, as would be expected, has been quiet since the vote, but one can imagine that Her Majesty is not amused.

Meanwhile, Prime Minster David Cameron – who called for the referendum in the first place -- has resigned, as have a passel of his Cabinet ministers. I don’t understand why the PM just didn’t leave well enough alone. If he liked the EU so much, why raise the question of leaving in the first place? But British politics are never simple, it seems.

Not to be outdone, leaders on the other side of the political aisle have also resigned in droves this weekend. Why, I cannot fathom, since they won. So it leaves one to wonder who’s in charge. I hope the terrorists haven’t noticed.

And in an even stranger bit of drama, the media’s talking heads are surmising that the frontrunner to replace Cameron as Prime Minster is one Boris Johnson, an egotistical, roly-poly oddity with wild, unruly bleached-blond hair that looks like he just stuck his finger in an electrical socket and who does not own a comb. Sound like anybody familiar? I’m not making this up.