A Brief History
On Thursday, June 23, 2016, the voters in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) voted to leave the European Union, throwing the economies of the UK, Europe, Asia, and the United States into a tail spin. Voters were warned of grave consequences (travel inconvenience and economic) if they voted to leave, but the movement calling itself “Brexit” (Britain-Exit) successfully won the referendum to ditch Britain’s part in the EU.
Digging Deeper
US stocks fell sharply with the news, over 600 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Other markets around the world suffered more or less, while the British Pound fell to more than 30 year lows. Of course, the Euro Dollar fell as well, as did oil. The American dollar was the “winner,” but almost nobody expects any particular long term benefit for any of the major markets. The depth of the economic crisis is hard to predict, with economists in disagreement as to what the fall out will actually be.
Why would the British people take such a risky choice? Largely because of immigration which has been a cornerstone of the EU, with open borders between member countries. Additionally, the EU has (bafflingly) taken it upon itself to feel obligated to accept unlimited numbers of Muslim refugees from the unrest in the Middle East. With this influx of Muslim immigrants comes competition for scarce jobs, a strain on the social welfare net, and a bunch of people that do not speak the European languages, worship as the majority does, and looks different to boot. Native Europeans, especially British in this case, see their standard of living assaulted by this wave of refugees and they are having no more of it!
British, Germans, and other Europeans are asking why their countries must take in all these charity cases instead of a more “natural” solution of sending the refugees to similar ethnic and religious countries (Arab, Muslim), such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Because those Islamic Arab countries are mostly Sunni Muslim and the refugees are mostly Shiite Muslim, and the Sunni countries fear unrest among the Shiites that could upset the status quo, or terrorist violence against the refugees by Sunni extremists (such as ISIS), so they are happy to have Europeans shoulder the problem.
Not unlike Europe, the United States has a large segment of the population unwilling to accept Muslim refugees, led by Presidential Candidate Donald Trump.
Now that Britain has opted out of the EU, the world watches as other European countries waver in their own commitment to the Union, especially the rich ones such as Germany that foot the bill for much of the economic misadventures of the weaker economies.
Question for students (and subscribers): Could this week’s developments be the beginning of the end of the EU and the Euro? Are Muslim immigrants, or fear of Muslim immigration really to blame? Should Britain reconsider, or should other EU members bow out? See the links below for more information and let us know what you think in the comments section below our article: “EU leaders warn migrant crisis could DESTROY Europe and call for ’emergency refugee brake’“, “Now even Merkel admits European refugee crisis is ‘out of control’: Thousands take to the streets of Germany shouting ‘take your Muslims with you’ after mob sex attacks“, and “The Muslim Migrant Invasion and the Collapse of Europe“.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Adida, Claire L., David D. Laitin, et al. Why Muslim Integration Fails in Christian-Heritage Societies. Harvard University Press, 2016.
Al Maqdisi, E. and Sam Solomon. Modern Day Trojan Horse: Al-Hijra, the Islamic Doctrine of Immigration, Accepting Freedom or Imposing Islam? Advancing Native Missions, 2009.
Bawer, Bruce. While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within. Anchor, 2007.
Leiken, Robert. Europe’s Angry Muslims: The Revolt of The Second Generation. Oxford University Press, 2011.