Early Friday morning, news broke that British voters elected to exit the European Union (EU). The swift domino effect from this decision quickly roused international chatter, upset financial markets and brought about the resignation announcement of British Prime Minister, David Cameron. The impending ‘Brexit’ will end a 36-year alliance between the United Kingdom and the 27 other partners of the EU.

The EU, historically assembled to ensure peace and shared resources amongst European countries after the devastating blemish of World War II, eventually grew to include the UK.

Photo: geoknow.net
Photo: GeoKnow

Friday’s vote to exit the union was primarily motivated by the perception that the EU had too much influence over the UK’s tax policies, financial regulation and migration levels. Despite the urging of international leaders and Prime Minister, David Cameron’s referendum to improve the terms of the relationship, voters have clearly lost confidence in the alliance.

The historic exit has cause a firestorm all over social media, with people making comparisons between “Brexit” and the rise of Donald Trump’s candidacy. Many are saying that xenophobia and the attempt to stop more immigrants from coming in the country is tat the root of Brexit. Some proponents of the exit say immigration is out of control, an interesting parallel to some of the rhetoric that is going on in U.S. politics right now.

Young voters turned out to vote against leaving the EU, but were overpowered by large numbers of older voters. In turn, stocks have nose-dived and this Brexit is already having a huge impact on the global economy.

Of course, Twitter had to react.

In the coming hours and days, it looks like we’ll see how Brexit will continue to have a ripple effect worldwide.

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