Ryan Newton
USSO 292
1/30/2020
Dr. Luke Reader
An Examination of Britain’s Involvement with EU and how its Problems Predated, Coincided
with, and will Post-Date Brexit
To say that Great Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in 2016 was a shock and
awe at first seems to be a very fair assessment of the situation in the United Kingdom. But if you
dig deeper and really take a closer look at the past relations with the EU and the UK, you can
really see the dissatisfaction that runs rampant throughout the years. Several factors that predated
and concurred with the 2016 referendum that could be connected to or be responsible for
“Brexit” could include the changing of currency, the immigration issues, increasing of EU
power, education, and a great political divide in the system.
Money is what some people would say to be the focal point of government. Currency is
one of the most important jobs of an organized body in a country. This holds people together and
can help the country and its economy flourish. Great Britain built itself a great currency system
throughout the years with a great economy and industry. When Britain joined the EU for a better
market for selling goods, this made sense for the people and business because it meant an
expanded market. Unfortunately, this elation started to turn to discontent when the European
Union moved towards a single currency source in the late 70’s to ease the trading between
nations and in the public markets across the continent. One could understand the reasoning of
this move and in the grand scheme of better business this would help the overall economy. The
other side of the coin of this argument that pushed many British people and lawmakers away was
that this to some extent took away some of the pride of being from the UK. For example, if this
were to happen in the United States, many people would be displeased due to there being a sense
of nationalism and being a “patriot” when using American-made money with American icons on
the notes and coins. This push from the EU to conform to this single currency surfaced again and
again throughout the late 1900’s and early 2000’s. There is this strong sense of togetherness that
comes from using a single currency throughout an entire nation and this is what damaged the
faith of the people of the United Kingdom when the European Union pushed for it. There is
almost without a doubt that the pushing issue of currency change could’ve played a huge role in
the mind of voters when the referendum in 2016 took place despite its problem being that of one
in the past.
Nationalism has been a very pushing issue in our world recently. Many debate back and
forth trying to find that perfect balance of loving one’s native country and fellow people while
