The main reason the EU was ever put in place was to avoid war. You can check it for yourself and your research will tell you about free trade, free movement etc, but why are all these things so important? They are important because countries which are trading together, whose economies are linked somehow, and are dependent on each other for livelihood, will be less likely to engage in conflict. Google uses the word “conflict” but this is a euphemism for the word “war.” Let us not forget that the EU is made of countries which for decades have engaged in numerous power struggles, capturing both land and people to secure their own wealth and wield power over each other, and over the entire world. David Cameron, soon to be Former Prime Minister, said it himself. The EU has helped to keep a group of nations in check, “that for years had been at each others throats”. Cameron made reference to the years 1914, and 1940, all of which are years that coincided with death and bloodshed. I don’t particularly like this guy, but these are not words to be ignored.

Britain has succeeded in leaving, it would be remiss of us, not to think that others will too. That single thread that has been holding them back for years may eventually be gnawed clean. Are we not afraid yet? Are we not all positively terrified that we (or our children ) will possibly live through the third world war? The hatred they have for one another is so deep that even today’s generation of “young liberal thinkers” are being stifled by the older generation, who just will not let go of archaic thinking. You know the other day I went to buy corn beef, yes, corn beef (I’ll bring it back around I promise) and a French person scoffed at me. When I inquired what that was about, I was told that there is a saying from the days of the second world war. The French would rather starve than eat corn beef. I still did not get the connection, to my grocery shopping so I probed more. He told me, the French troops would rather starve. They would rather feed corn beef to the British. So clearly corn beef represented the food of inferior people…..Inferior people who by the way, all occupied on the same continent. Honestly to God, I did not know what to do with myself in the supermarket. I was thinking that I just really liked corn beef, man, surely it is not so serious? Oh, but it is. It is to them. The only thing that old fashioned European thinkers hate more than other Europeans, is other people-who are different. That’s where we, the rest of the world come in. I listened to an interview and this man said “It is all about immigration. It’s to stop the muslims,…the movement from Africa, Syria or anywhere else.” Xenophobia, cloaked as “patriotism” has never left. From the stories we know about world war two and the days of slavery, we know just how dangerous xenophobia really is. Left unchecked, it could plunge us into terrors. It brings out the ugly side of humanity. Its impact is directly responsible for institutional racism, attacks on other religions, the treatment of other human beings as second class (or subpar) citizens. Does any of this sound familiar to what we are also seeing in other countries that are not even a part of the EU? Do any other countries or leaders, I dare say, one Mr. Donald Trump, also come to mind? You see, it is not just in Britain and it’s not just about BREXIT. Everything we see happening is leading to something bigger. Xenophobia is re-establishing itself in the places that have the means to try and control others. Yesterday it was BREXIT, in the weeks/ months to come what other motions will be see turning the wheel that can take us to the next world war?

Going back to Trump, who many will agree is the living reincarnate of Adolph Hitler, is in support of BREXIT. Trump was quoted as saying: “I think this is a good thing.” First of all let us pause right there. Anything Donald Trump claims is a good thing, is MOST DEFINITELY NOT A GOOD THING. Everything he thinks, lends itself to the textbook definition of racism, sexism and all the possible “isms”. In fact one day our dictionaries will be rewritten to match these word to the word “Trump.” This likely reality is enough to make me sleep fitfully at nights. Trump went on to say: “They are taking back their country.” This is precisely the message he has been spreading to all American voters that will listen. Taking back their country will make them great again. Which really means, lets return it to the days of the past, the days of discrimination, contempt and conflict. Conflict which we now know to be the mild way of saying: war.” Some are still genuinely surprised that Trump has gotten so far, just like they are that Britain chose to leave the EU. Herein, we truly see how people think. Leaders cannot lead if the people do not believe in their message. Something is fundamentally broken in the world. Perhaps my view is overly simplistic. Probably I am just a conspiracy woman….but probably I am not. In which case, we better brace ourselves. The gears are turning. War, like winter, is coming.

-Author: Shantae Stewart (http://recessesofmymind.weebly.com)