Were the Brits Just Stupider Than Us?

Cue the “USA…USA…USA” chant.

With Brexit on the tip of everyone’s tongue, the question on everyone’s mind is just that: were the Brits just stupider than us? Did they even know what they were voting for? What the hell did they think was going to happen if they decided to leave the European Union? So many questions, so many answers.

It would appear that many of the citizens who voted to exit the EU didn’t actually know what their vote meant, and didn’t think it would actually count, either. Take a look at this guy. Google Trends’ official Twitter account noted huge spikes in searches like “what happens if we leave the EU”…hours after polls closed. There was a massive 2,450% spike in this brilliant search: “Are we in or out of the EU”. Meaning that either someone’s got some ‘splainin to do, or people are going to want a do-over on the referendum. Some searches were broader; like “What is the EU?”, and (un)intelligent voters armed themselves with this key knowledge AFTER voting to leave the EU.

For now, Britain is still a part of the European Union, but that hasn’t stopped the world from going into a little (or a lot) of a panic thinking about what the repercussions of this “decision” will be. Stocks and bank shares plummeted on Wall Street on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial average falling 611.21 points, the S&P losing 3.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropping 202.06 points, or 4.12%. The Sterling Pound also lost value for the first time in 31 years, its biggest drop in history.

This is just the beginning. And while the referendum is not legally binding, it will probably hold and Great Britain will be facing years of economic instability, cultural uncertainty, and negotiations regarding immigration, trade laws and many other issues. What is the other most-searched query from Britain in the aftermath of the Brexit? “Getting an Irish passport”. Sound familiar, Yanks? Be afraid, be very afraid.