Leading up to the big moment, there had been a lot of heated rhetoric and high stress anticipation. Would the United Kingdom actually vote to leave the European Union? When the news broke this morning, everyone reacted and did so strongly. After it was official that the vote was 51.9% in favor of leaving, Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation. Scotland’s government is scared, panicking about the idea of another attempt to leave and Germany is expressing regret this happening.
The big government empire in Europe has failed.
Back here in the United States, it’s interesting to watch. Everyone, like with anything else, has an opinion as to whether “Brexit” should happen. The real show that happened was down on Wall Street though, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tanking. At it’s lowest point of the morning, it was down over five hundred points. Investors are panicking and the markets are still lagging.
Senator Bernie Sanders, the Independent United States Senator from Vermont, couldn’t even touch Wall Street like that. He couldn’t even dream of scaring anyone on Wall Street and his entire stated life goal was to take down all of the evil people with lots of money.
The other side of the story is how the United Kingdom ignited panic in the hearts of Wall Street, as well as investors and central banks across the entire planet.
Senator Sanders wanted to take down Wall Street, steal from the rich to give to the poor, and empower those otherwise less wealthy, but do so through big government. His answer to everything was the use of force and enlarging the size of government.
The United Kingdom voted for freedom, by shedding the weight and chains of the European Union and deciding they’re better off empowering themselves through decentralization. As a result, they now have better control over their own destiny.
Stock markets globally are feeling the sting. As the pound has plummeted the most since 1985, former head of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet described this decision as an “earthquake.” This is reflected by the banks in Europe taking a hit and global markets in free fall.
The backlash from the market is not surprising. Freedom is unpredictable and decentralization means everyday people have more of it. The larger government is, the less control people have and the more control that those with greater money and influence have. Brexit is a threat to control. The markets reflect this with their response in the aftermath, and President Barack Obama reflected this recently with his open threat to the United Kingdom. Why would President Barack Obama threaten another country attempting to influence it’s own vote, instead of just encouraging democracy?
Let this be a lesson to Senator Sanders and his movement, as well as every other aspiring socialist: you’re not going to strike fear in the hearts of big bankers, billionaires, and central planners by asking for big government. Centralization helps central planners control you easier.
The greater powers in the world are scared right now, because of decentralization. While the United Kingdom is just one country, it could be the first domino that falls. Will other countries buck at the big government control and stand on their own? Are we seeing the beginning of the end of the European Union?
Saker Nusseibeh, chief executive at Hermès Investment Management summed it up best: “Our fear is that this may trigger political uncertainty within Europe.”
