British People Had No Idea What European Union Was Before Voting On Brexit

Karl Karlson10 years ago

The United Kingdom officially left the European Union late Thursday night in a move that left onlookers stunned. The event has been described as “a slow-motion car-crash” by journalists but, somehow, it wasn’t slow-motion enough for voters to do a little research on the EU prior to casting their ballots.

From the Washington Post:

Awakening to a stock market plunge and a precipitous decline in the value of the pound that Britain hasn’t seen in more than 30 years, voters now face a series of economic shocks that analysts say will only worsen before they improve. The consequences of the leave vote will be felt worldwide, even here in the United States, and some British voters say they now regret casting a ballot in favor of Brexit…

“Even though I voted to leave, this morning I woke up and I just — the reality did actually hit me,” one woman told the news channel ITV News. “If I’d had the opportunity to vote again, it would be to stay.”

That confusion over what Brexit might mean for the country’s economy appears to have been reflected across the United Kingdom on Thursday. Google reported sharp upticks in searches not only related to the ballot measure but also about basic questions concerning the implications of the vote. At about 1 a.m. Eastern time, about eight hours after the polls closed, Google reported that searches for “what happens if we leave the EU” had more than tripled.

Doing your research after you vote is an interesting tactic. It allows you to blindly ask your friends who claim to know politics how they plan to vote, and then parroting them to your acquaintances. Eventually, the international game of telephone reaches a fever pitch, meaning nobody has to decide for themselves, ever. That’s definitely the foundation of democracy: a complete lack of independent thinking. The best part, however, is that searches also skyrocketed for “What is the EU?” You can’t make this up.

Luckily for the clueless Colonel Nicholson crowd (watch The Bridge on the River Kwai for this reference, thank me later), if a measure such as Brexit is high turnout and incredibly close there can be a second referendum. That’s good news for these wishy-washy Brits and better news for the folks at Google who can’t wait to find out what tripe these nutjobs will be searching for next.

No matter how ghastly or great you think the decision was, at least we can all come together to laugh at some limey Brits and their poor understanding of democracy..

[via Washington Post]

Image via Shutterstock