(Brexit was originally posted on Justin Stapley’s 2016 blog NeverTyranny)
As of late, there has been much discussion about the Brexit vote and what it means for the Presidential Election here in the United States. Many claim that it is a victory for Nationalism, Protectionism, and a sign of growing Isolationist tendencies across the world, and also that it is indicative of a wave which Donald Trump can ride to victory in the November elections.
Proponents to this claim point to anti-migration fervor and ‘Britain First’ messages connected to the Brexit vote as starkly similar to the message that Donald Trump brings to Americans, and claim that voters are likely to vote along similar themes and surprise the pundits who are down-playing Trump’s chances.
But, not only is drawing comparisons between the voter revolt that led to the Brexit vote and the Nationalist movement that has ushered Donald Trump’s candidacy a gross over-simplification, but it willingly ignores the fundamental differences in what happened with Brexit and what’s happening with Trump.
Brexit had little to do with Nationalism and Protectionism, and far more to do with Sovereignty and Capitalism. In fact, Brexit will make it easier for Britain to participate unburdened in a Global Economy. The sovereignty of economic choice was a major factor in the Brexit issue. It is now much more likely for Britain to make a trade agreement with the United States now that Britain is unfettered from the European Union. It is now much more likely for Britain to remain a Global Economic force unfettered from the failing Euro.
If there is anything to take from the Brexit issue, it’s that Donald Trump’s ego knows no international boundaries. The bizarre victory lap he took after the Brexit vote will perhaps be remembered as the biggest oddity of his pre-convention candidacy. It not only demonstrated his gross misunderstanding of international affairs, but provides the biggest evidence for his ever growing narcissism.
The only thing more scary than the vehemence of this new Nationalist movement embodied in Donald Trump is the infancy with which it understands the ideological history of what they claim to believe. Donald Trump has tapped into many things that Americans are correctly frustrated about, and because Trump gives voice to these frustrations, many of his supporters do not realize that the solutions of Nationalism and Strong-man politics offer solutions which are extremely different than the traditional solutions of American values and ideals.
Our problems will be solved by the proper application of Capitalist values in a nation that moves to regain it’s Sovereignty, just as the Brexit has opened the door for the proper solutions in Britain. Trump’s movement may seem to aim the arrow in the right direction, but his rhetoric and proposals still misses the mark entirely.