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Britain gets hurt leaving the EU simply by trade distance. They really never had a choice about being in the EU. Replacing more trade with America was never possible. The distances are too far. And I don’t mean actual physical trade. Like a merchant banker in the UK would never be financing a factory at the same ability in North Carolina as he would in Southern France.
Geography binds them to Europe. And while certain things on a lot fronts need standardized to reduce all sorts of trade frictions there’s also a desire to not have to take on all European cultural demands.
And part of Brexxit was not just cultural but a realization EU had bad policy. Monetary was far too tight leading to bad growth and then Syria happened because we fucked up Syria and a bunch of poor brown people invaded Europe that no one really wanted.
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