What does the BREXIT vote in the United Kingdom have to do with us?

June 26, 2016

June 24, 2016 To the Editor: What does the BREXIT vote in the United Kingdom have to do with us? Everything! So, Great Britain has voted to leave the European Union. This is a big deal. First, Scotland nearly voted to leave the UK just months ago. Secondly, Northern Ireland may chose to leave the UK as well and unify with the country of Ireland. This may well happen since Scotland and Northern Ireland both voted overwhelmingly to remain in the European Union. What we are witnessing may be the disintegration of both the European Union and the United Kingdom. France and The Netherlands may soon follow as nationalist elements may seek a separatist vote. If you haven't heard of (PIGS), Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain, these were the EU members who required massive bailouts to remain afloat at the expense of England, Germany, and France...predominantly. Add on to this the dilemma of massive refugee migration from north Africa and southwest Asia. What we are witnessing is a flavor of the same cauldron that led to the beginning of the First World War. I can imagine all of this pleases Russian President Vladimir Putin quite well. Fresh from his conquests of the Crimea and parts of the Ukraine, I'm quite certain he is pleased with western European quibbling. We had better keep our eyes open, because I don't put it beyond him to seize back more territory lost upon the dissolution of the former Warsaw Pact nations aligned with the Soviet Union. Global economic markets have tumbled upon the news of Brexit. We are in a weakened position secondary to the economic collapse of 2007. This time around, there are no funds available for a massive bailout program of national proportions. What you may not know is that the majority of the U.S. debt of $19+ Trillion is held by Great Britain. It has been popular by our own nationalists to claim that China holds it. Yes, they hold a huge portion of it; but, Great Britain is the #1 financier of our national debt. Of course, China is an easy target because we are jealous of their success and they don't "look" American. Are you getting nervous yet? Don't forget that our neighbors to the north, Canada, are a commonwealth nation of the UK. If the British Pound takes a hit, the Canadian Dollar will follow. That makes our goods and services more expensive to them resulting in less Canadian dollars being spent here in northern border states. While the Brexit vote was taking place, Donald Trump was hawking his new golf resort in Scotland on the face of a sinking British pound. He hopes to capitalize on the UK's economic misfortune, the same way he capitalized on U.S. real estate during the Great Recession. I hope the average American will wake up and realize that the very person they may consider voting for is willing to buy their estate at twenty cents on the dollar the day after they are served their foreclosure notification. Look, as a nation we've been through a lot over the last decade. I just hope that we do not succumb to a culmination of fears. When it comes to trust, that is best reserved for the Lord. Right now, I'm hearing a whole lot of rhetoric from those running for public office about "traditional values," "religion," and "faith," but am seeing very little evidence of that from them. The whole world seems to be in a terrible mood, but it is up to the "individual" to turn that around. Fear is the elixir of cowards and I, for one, refuse to live my life in paralysis. \\ Gerald Higgs Bonners Ferry