RadixJournal - June 24, 2016


After Brexit


Episode Stats

Length

2 minutes

Words per Minute

125.4293

Word Count

280

Sentence Count

15

Hate Speech Sentences

2


Summary

After the Brexit vote, I question whether the EU has a future at all. The refugee crisis, which peaked last summer, was a tremendous opportunity for the EU. It could have become Fortress Europa. Brussels could have defined what Europe really is, defined us and them, and gained a great deal of popular legitimacy in the process. In other words, the EU's moment could have been its moment. Instead, it might go down as the beginning of its end.


Transcript

00:00:01.000 Politics, as they say, is the art of the possible.
00:00:05.980 Brexit fills me with hope to the extent that now more things are possible politically in the United Kingdom and beyond.
00:00:15.540 This is also what fills me with hope about the Trump movement.
00:00:19.780 That said, Britons did not solve their fundamental problem on Thursday, which is racial displacement,
00:00:26.600 and not the arcane economic regulations issued from Brussels.
00:00:32.140 Internal immigration within the European Union, the so-called Polish plumber, is arguably a real instance of cultural enrichment.
00:00:42.600 On the other hand, the immigration from Britain's former colonies, which Britain has been allowing for decades,
00:00:49.240 and which is completely unrelated to the EU, remains an existential threat and self-inflicted wound.
00:00:56.960 My hope is that after Brexit, as more things are possible politically,
00:01:03.380 Britain faces its true cultural, political, and racial dilemma.
00:01:09.600 Of late, I've taken the unpopular position, at least on the alt-right,
00:01:15.340 that Euroscepticism and EU bashing have their limits,
00:01:19.560 and that we should be open to the possibilities of Europeanism.
00:01:23.420 After last night, which no doubt launched similar referenda in other countries,
00:01:29.400 I question whether the EU has a future at all.
00:01:33.300 The refugee crisis, which peaked last summer but is ongoing,
00:01:37.760 was a tremendous opportunity for the EU.
00:01:41.860 It could have become Fortress Europa.
00:01:45.200 Brussels could have defined what Europe really is,
00:01:48.720 defined us and them,
00:01:50.860 and gained a great deal of popular legitimacy in the process.
00:01:55.740 In other words, Brussels could have followed the lead of Viktor Orban,
00:02:00.800 as opposed to going along with the altristically insane Angela Merkel.
00:02:06.560 Last summer could have been the EU's moment.
00:02:09.300 Instead, it might go down as the beginning of its end.