By Leah Feder
Brits, Europeans and the world at large have experienced a rude awakening over the past 24 hours. The people of the United Kingdom have, against most predictions, voted to leave the European Union — inviting an onslaught of as-yet unknown consequences.
Lots of factors conspired to bring the country to this unexpected place: xenophobia, falling wages, a crumbling National Health System, fear of terrorism. Many causes lie at the origin of these fears and grievances, including decades of neoliberal policies, climate instability and a growing wave of right-wing nationalism that has taken hold both across Europe and here in the United States.
That the predictions about this vote were so off-base can be attributed to a country that is starkly divided along geographic and generational lines. Those in control of the media narrative, the intellectual and political elites — these are not the people who came out to vote “leave” yesterday. In fact, it would seem as if the two camps can barely understand one another’s existence — let alone hear what each other has to say. Continue reading Brexit & the Working Class
