Apart from the king of beers, their microbrewery culture is great! As is the wine in places like Napa and Sonoma!
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How about this.
People have experienced a collapse in their general well-being over the last thirty years (an index that would include financial well-being and poverty, but also include more esoteric measures like happiness, contentment, job satisfaction, connection to nature and other human beings, availability of public services, trust in politics etc). The reasons for this collapse coincide with our slavish devotion to neo-liberal economic model that has systematically destroyed the fabric of our societies and channelled obscene wealth into the hands of fewer and fewer people, and embarked on an ideological drive to turn every aspect of public amenity to a profit led private endeavour.
At the same time, governments and media, fully invested in the neo-liberal project, have worked tirelessly to push the blame for this collapse onto the most vulnerable - a tactic as old as the hills. So fears around immigration have been exaggerated and overblown. The burden of supporting the poor has been overstated. This was most stark after the financial crash, as the Government responded to a shock caused entirely by the wealthy, by pushing the blame and the burden of repayment onto the shoulders of those least able to pay.
The EU through this has been the bogeyman du jour. Remote and confusing to most people, it has been an easy scapegoat for successive governments. Itâs a convenient excuse for domestic policy failures and can be easily blamed for things like burdensome regulation (despite most of it being overwhelmingly positive to quality of life), immigration, and the dislocation of government from the people they represent (normally expressed as âsovereigntyâ - the idea that we arenât allowed to govern ourselves because the EU wonât permit it has always been bollocks of the most pernicious kind) .
One of the current Prime Ministers early jobs was working as EU correspondent for Telegraph, where he would, by his own admission, make up and exaggerate tales from the Brussels corridors of power, and marvel at his these tall tales would be printed without any checks as true accounts. This continual drip, drip of utter bullshit about the EU has been going on for thirty years.
(Of course the EU hasnât helped itself - it is secretive, bureaucratic and complacent, and is hardly without neo-liberal influence)
So, there is hardly any surprise the public voted for Brexit. Most people are broken and worn down by successive shocks, and are struggling under the weight of continual misinformation and propaganda. They have lost trust in politics and traditional governance. They have been conditioned into a state of soft racism and xenophobia by the continual othering and demonising of immigrants and people who donât look like them. Most people have been failed by the education system and lack the ability to apply critical thinking and analysis to what they read. Most people have neither the time or energy to immerse themselves in the issues.
So, I donât blame the public for voting for Brexit. I know I can sometime be a bit caustic and sarcastic, but genuinely I think that people are victims in this. As you say, fucked by the elites. Never been more true than Brexit
The big failure of the remain campaign was going out to people who have been smashed this way and that for decades, and saying âdonât vote to leave because it will be worseâ. The justifiable response was âworse than this? Fuck offâŚâ
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So do you blame the likes of me then? 
Most âelitesâ voted Remain.
Great response Mascot, and thank you, I know people have differing opinions etc and thatâs great, sadly many want the same thing and your post highlights many of the reasons why some vote one way and others another way.
To me the whole system is broken because we have become as a society indulged in our way of life, and have become accustomed to easy living as opposed to hardships that some have endured, and itâs easy to say everyone has it easy nowadays ( many cases itâs true) but Iâm glad my son never experienced the hardships that many families witnessed during the 80âs âŚand I would want to have enough hope that he wouldnât , but sadly my disillusionment with politics is beyond repair because itâs the same old cycle almost by the same parties, different people but still the same old shit.
And they are the ones who make these situations worse each and every time because they know they wonât suffer with their arrogance and itâll be families be punished even further .
What the answer is ? Tbh I no longer have any hope that we as a country have politicians that can supply them.
Again though great post and thanks for the reply
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Their wine is excellent, itâs the beer thatâs universally awful that I canât stick.
Except Coors Original 
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There have been 75 years of peace, security and increasing prosperity in Europe since the second world war. A time in which there has been a greater level of freedom than at any other period in history.
This didnât appear from heaven. Itâs the result of hard work by citizens and public servants of all types.
Itâs easy to see the glass as half empty, or even, in your case, completely empty, but it could be so much worse, as we are seeing right now.
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I donât think thatâs true.
The word âeliteâ was terribly misused, intentionally, in the referendum. I particularly resented being described as part of the liberal âeliteâ by these men, photographed here in a fucking gold lift.
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Yeah well ignore Yugoslavia because it fits the narrative to do so, plus peace in Europe still has nothing to do with a European superstate
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I didnât say it did.
And even if you include Yugoslavia, itâs still an historic period of stability.
Youâve ignored my first question 
Generally though, the richer you were, the more educated, the higher social âclassâ, the younger you were, those in professional jobs, the more likely you were to vote remain.
Those from a traditional âworking classâ background, older, self-employed etc, the more likely you were to vote leave.
I donât think thatâs particularly debatable.
Look, I have to come to terms with the fact that some leave voters were racist cunts (although there were obviously racist cunts who voted remain too, particularly those who gave it any thought - Iâm not saying anyone here!) so you need to live with the fact that your vote to remain was joined by the majority of millionaire upper class elitist bastards!
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The arguments back and forward about whether an alternative universe where the EU didnât exist had more or less bloodshed within Europe is pointless.
The facts are that the EU was put in place specifically to end the wars within Europe by integrating and encouraging the cultural differences between us all instead of building walls (argue what you want about whether it morphed into something different over the years. Iâm not bothered). There hasnât military conflict between states within the EU.
So I would say it has worked pretty well so far. Far from perfect. But still a shining example of how this world can operate and cooperate.
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Iâm not sure you understand, we islanders are different - better evenâŚ
It has clearly been a combination of factors, NATO, the cold war, US interests, the EU, luck etc, but the fact is, that historically, itâs unprecedented to have a period of such stability, freedom and prosperity.
Why not be grateful to have lived in such a time rather than moaning as if you have been living under Genghis Khan?
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Yep, multi-factorial. More states adopting democracy too, probably the biggest single factor.
UKâs Johnson is âmost active anti-Russian leaderâ - Kremlin
The Kremlin has said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is the most active anti-Russian leader, but that Londonâs approach would lead to a dead end.
âAs for Mr Johnson, we see him as the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian,â RIA news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
âIt will lead to a foreign policy dead end.â
Evidently some money from the UK is still getting through to MoscowâŚeh?
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What? My buttocks are clenched tighter than I can ever remember. Quite tiring doing 10k steps with clenched buttocks
Better get used to it for when the bog roll runs out
Best Brexit analogy Iâve seen is
âI have a nice house but I donât like the colour if the living roomâ
Brexit Britain solution? âBurn the house downâ
Has Rees-Mogg found anything worthwhile yet?
Having just been to Italy I think itâs a huge shame to have cut ourselves off as we have done. At its very basic level it makes little sense to have done that. To me anyway.
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So youâve just been (as have I) to a country weâre cut off from?
