Transcription
Chia YouTube and welcome back to my channel.
Now, if you're new here, I'm a Brit and this July will mark 24 years that I've lived in this beautiful country, Italy. Look at the weather. That's another thing that they tell you to do better, the weather. But it's nothing to do with them. It's just a hand that God dealt them.
Now, today I'm going to talk about something quite controversial, but something that's affected me because on the 23rd of June this year, it will be 10 years since the dreaded b- word Brexit. I can still remember the day. I was in the beautiful island of Sardinia with my family. And to be honest with you, I wasn't even watching the news. I just thought, yeah, another referendum where we know the result. And then uh the result came through and we were like, whoa, it's a bit extreme.
So today I wanted to talk to you about Brexit from not only from a UK point of view because I've seen both points of views. I travel regularly to the UK now after, you know, after 24 years I've been here. I go back and forth between the two countries and uh obviously the European perspective, the Italian perspective.
Now, when it was announced, I would say that the majority of Italians uh were a little bit uh they didn't have much of a of an opinion because it didn't, you know, didn't really affect them. But later on I discovered that they were yeah there was there was they thought it was a bit crazy because at the end of the day you know why would you break ties with your European partners. Uh you know why would you do such a thing? Why would you why would you and and and to be honest we in my family as well I think in most Brit British families uh there was divisions within the family people who were saying uh people who were for it and people who were against it really really divided the country in a huge way and uh I think after a while only after a while I mean obviously the process uh took very long because now we're 10 years in and uh no one really knows what's going on uh but I think after a while here in Europe especially in Italy people sort sort of started to question the actual foundations of the vote. They realized that it was coming from a frustration uh frustration of the way things were were being run in Europe, a frustration of the people who govern us in Europe. I don't want to mention any names, but uh there started to become a little bit of resentment in Italy. And that's when I thought maybe the story is starting to get interesting because afterwards you see it all over Europe. Um I mean in France we had the uh you know the protests uh in the Netherlands. We've seen it all over Europe also in Italy as well. There's a I'm speaking from people on the ground. Yeah, I live with proper normal Italians and uh there there is some sort of frustration that's starting to boil or um become dominant within the general way of thinking in uh in the in the in the general public here in Italy.
So people started realizing that maybe the vote did come from something. I mean if you look at the woes uh that there are now in the world you know inflation the general cost of living crisis um yeah [sighs] the the rise of a popular politics there definitely is something there the more and more time goes on I think that it's a warning sign for Europe to wake up and smell the coffee. And uh I mean, don't get me wrong, you know, uh Brexit wasn't a easy thing. You know, trade is a lot more difficult now. The movement uh the movement of people is a lot more difficult. There's a lot of things that are a lot more difficult. And uh I'm not saying it was a it was a great idea, but I think we have to realize that Britain is still working. uh people still go to people still get up in the morning go to work they have a job people are still going there to live albeit it's more difficult so I think my uh opinion is that there's always in fact the the the western world the whole western world is seeing an exod exodus of its own people like we've never seen before every country is having people leaving and going to other places they're probably going to other western countries as well so we're swapping Italians are leaving Italy. Brits are leaving Britain. Uh Poles are leaving Poland. Everyone Americans are leaving America because we're all unhappy or we're all frustrated with the way the system is. I'm speaking from what I hear on the ground here. Yeah.
So Brexit didn't happen in a vacuum. You know, it just didn't come up come up for nothing. It is generally uh a consequence of people's frustrations. And I definitely think there's a warning sign for Europe. Um the whole world is changing. I mean, internet and the eye, the fact that you're watching this video now, the fact that we've got so much access to social media, I think plays a big role in it as well because the grass is always greener on the other side and people see uh you know, people are constantly looking at things, oh, it's better there. Uh what we have here is crap. Uh over there, it's better. So, internet has got a big role to play in it. But I definitely do think that uh so of politicians and bureaucrats, the people who govern us because the world is changing drastically and people realize that they don't want systems and processes that work just for the politicians of this world that they want them to work for themselves, for the people. So Europe can't really afford to ignore this. And I do think uh that politicians need to listen to people and they need to [sighs] implement policies that are closer to the new reality. It's not about Brexit. It's not about leaving Europe. It's about listening and adapting and creating better frameworks for people to live in the new world because the world has changed a lot drastically in the last 25 years since I left the UK, since I've lived here. So, it's not about cutting ties with your neighbor, about thinking that where you are is probably the worst place in the world. It's about adapting and changing and that starts from the highest from the highest level.
Anyway, YouTube, I'm curious to hear what you want to think or what you think. Uh, do you think Brexit is was a warning sign for Europe? Have you experienced Brexit from a European viewpoint and from a British viewpoint? Do you think it was just a British mistake, just a vote, a referendum that went wrong? I'd love to hear from you. Let me know in the comments what you think. Anyway, listen. Thanks for watching. Uh, please, if you like this video, give it a thumbs up. If you didn't like it, give it a thumbs down. Please consider subscri subscribing. Uh, I'm a Britain. I've been in it Italy for almost 25 years. YouTube thinks you might like this video here. Joan