BREXIT Scares Me For November, But Not For the Reasons You Probably Think

Like many in the world, I was shocked when I woke up Friday morning to see that the UK voted in a referendum to leave the EU. It's not my country, but I thought British citizens would find they gained more from being in the organization than they gained from being apart from it. My shock at the vote, however, turned into sadness as I watched people online (mostly Americans) clamber over one another to paint the "Leave" voters as terrible human beings, as racist and xenophobic bigots who are clearly uneducated. In the world of the internet, "Leave" voters only cast their vote because they were duped, while "Remain" voters used thinking and logic.

And that scares me for November and the US presidential election. So many people seem to think that if you vote against what they perceive as the right way, you're an awful person who 1) shouldn't be allowed to vote and 2) is not worthy of discussion. The thing is, smart people can disagree, and politics is disagreeing and finding ways to come together. As a truly undecided voter (I really DON'T know who I'm voting for in November), I already find the articles and comments on my Facebook and Twitter feed calling all Trump voters dumb and un-American disturbing, because I may ultimately vote for Trump in November. I'm not uneducated; rather, I am looking at my options and weighing the different choices against what's in my best interest and, in my view, in the best interest of the US in the long-term. And here's a shocker to all my liberal friends: I'm not convinced Clinton is the best option.

Do I disagree with many of the things Trump says? Yes, but then again, I disagree with many of the things Clinton says. The only person who truly represents all my views is me. Since I'm not running, however, I have to weigh whether the things I like about Clinton outweigh the things I dislike about Clinton, and whether the positives of Trump are stronger than the positives of Clinton. I'm doing my research, and just because my research and feelings disagree with yours doesn't make me a bad person. Or a bigot. Or a xenophobe. Or a racist. Instead, it means that I have different priorities than you do and I believe in a different way of getting to what we all (usually) agree is an ultimate goal: a prosperous, safe country.

So internet, please do me a favor. Stop portraying "Leave" voters as ridiculous people who don't care about the future of the UK, because most of those people do care about the country's future and voted in a way they thought was best to achieve their vision of the UK's future. And I know this won't happen, but in the US, let's try to not vilify Trump voters as simple, backwoods folk who, if only they learned more, would change their mind. Reasonable people can disagree. Just because someone doesn't vote the way you vote (or would have voted) doesn't make that person evil. The BREXIT referendum scared me most because of how many in the "Remain" camp responded: with an elitist attitude and intolerable of dissent. And sadly, this does not bode well for a close election in November.

So on a lighter note, John Oliver had a BREXIT song that was very funny (he was firmly in the "Remain" camp). WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE