… well that was interesting…
Now that the UK has voted to take itself down the path that leads to There Is No UK (three cheers for Scottish independence), Americans who dare to be curious in our anti-intellectual culture might wonder what sort of impact Brexit will have on the United States. The impact not just on their cushy 401ks, but how might it influence this “thing” happening in our own country that has been calling itself a presidential election.
Protest Voters Are Idiots
Welcome to the opinion of this post.
I have been shaming protest voters for at least 8 years: protest voters are complete idiots. Why? Because they’re angry, and angry people make bad decisions. Of the few thousand times in my like that I’ve been angry, it’s perfectly safe the say the only smart decision I ever made was to not make any decisions when in that mindset.
There need not be another point, but it never hurts to rub in a point when The Mob is clearly refusing to listen to reason. Voting for change is good. Change is great. I love change. Change is good for the brain. But being an American idiot is… being an idiot.
The End Result Protest Vote Revolutions
Be it Bernie, Trump, or Brexit – those who see a “revolution” by means of something as simple as a protest vote are sorely and sourly missing the point of how society eventually embraces Change. Progressive change happens progressively.
Hours after the predominately rural voters of in the UK decided to throw the economy into limbo, they began to realize they clearly did not understand the implications of ripping out one’s own blood vessels. Operations require logistics. Countries require trade agreements. Decisions require thought.
Like in America – and particularly Trump and Bernie voters – protest voting feels empowering, but by its very nature it is totally without order or foundation beyond the Act of Protest. Protesting is the “thing” in and of itself that makes protest voters feel like they’re “making a difference”. However, once “Act of Protest” is realized… It quite literally no longer exists. The smoke clears and it’s gone. The Mob realizes they possess none of the boring necessities that are required to run a country (let alone a neighborhood watch).
Yes, the Political Elite and The Establishment are a pain in our arse, and absolutely act on their own behalf more than for The People. But like the three branches of the US government, The Establishment is there because operations matter. Doing, not just protesting, matters. Someone has to do the boring work of making countries work.
Teenagers protest. Adults govern.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m as much of an idealist as the next privileged white guy with a respectable education and supportive family that’s been able to collect wealth via property ownership for three generations now… but I also know I have to sell my services to pay my bills, and I sure as hell know that a divorce is ALWAYS a messy thing. I don’t care how amicable a couple claims – divorces are messy. There are bank accounts. Passports. Name changes. And all those damn knick knacks!
The end result of protest vote revolutions? We say it in the UK. They woke up on June 24th, 2016, and quietly whispered with their horrendous morning-after-celebration-breath, “…oh shit.”
How Brexit Will Change U.S. Election Results
It’s up to Bernie voters, honestly. The “Bernie or Bust” crew who are too self-indulgent to realize that their protest vote will most likely throw the global economy further down the path the UK leave voters started. Bernie-or-Busters need to realize that they are part of a larger society, and as such, they have to be responsible adults, and work for change in a way that won’t burn down our own house.
What about Trump voters. Personally, I think they’re lost. This bunch has been angry and ill-informed for soooo long, that no amount of reason will bring them back. I’m flirting with the idea of moving to Texas and supporting the Texas secession movement so they can all move there and burn their own house down without destroying mine.
I see the same thing happening in my little nook of suburbia-claiming-to-be-progressive on a smaller scale. In my county Bernie beat Hillary… but all the local democrats who defend and fight for the same policies Bernie advocates LOST. Why? Because protest voters are idiots. They’re angry and blind to what matters: policy and its implications. When one votes angry, one wakes up the next morning with nothing more than, “… oh shit” to greet the morning.
What If You Still Want To Protest Vote?
Grow up. Real revolutions take work.
