The 20th Century was totalitarianism, war and consolidation. The theme of this century will hopefully be liberty, peace and disaggregation, and Brexit is just for openers. The genie is out of the bottle, and could spread quickly across Europe and around the world. With the internet, it can happen in the blink of an eye.
The EU is breaking up, but that doesn’t have to mean conflict among the sovereign nations of Europe, or the world. Brexit is an opportunity for Britain to establish closer trade ties with North America and the Commonwealth. There was talk of Britain joining NAFTA in the 90’s, but the EU prevented it. There’s no reason in the world why fully free and fair trade can’t take place between North America and Britain, as well as any other country that leaves the EU. Norway would be the next logical candidate.
Donald Trump is the American version of Brexit, and accounts for his immovable popularity. His message resonates in the same way the British Leavers did. Aside from the globalist elites, disaggregation has great populist appeal. For most Americans, controlling immigration, a nationalist trade policy, and avoidance of foreign entanglements all make perfect sense.
Brexit was an assertion of national sovereignty by the English people. They want to write their own laws, and follow their own customs. In the U.S., the Article V movement is a reassertion of the sovereignty of the States. They created the federal government, and reserved to themselves, with Article V, the right to assert their authority over it. The Balanced Budget Amendment is only six states short of the 34 needed to trigger an Amendment Convention to draft the language and submit it for ratification. Once a successful Amendment Convention is held, the American people will realize they have a tool, in Article V, of bringing the runaway federal government under control.
The Framers would be all in on disaggregation. I think they would be shocked that the States have allowed the federal government to usurp so many of their legitimate functions. The principal goal of our Constitutional system is to prevent the concentration of power, in any person or institution. Power is shared, and subject to constraints. The ultimate constraint is the States’ ability to use Article V.
I’ve always believed the Tea Party’s successes were only possible because of the internet. It’s a wonderful tool, allowing like minded people to organize against the powers that be. My hunch is that Brexit was a British Tea Party phenomenon. All the king’s horses couldn’t stop it, and it could prevail only because the internet gave the Leavers a means of communication and organization. And, of course, the internet is a world wide phenomenon, allowing the connected parts of the world to quickly react to events no matter where they occur. Anti-globalism can get global, fast.
You could say that the internet is inherently disaggregationist. It is the most democratic form of communication in history. There are thousands of blogs like the Reagan Project, and each one has some kind of readership. Drudge came close to getting Bill Clinton impeached when it revealed the Lewinsky story. The Power Line blog took down Dan Rather. The media may look at themselves as guardians of public virtue. If they are, the guardians now have guards.
reaganproject.com 