@LilMissRe
But it's the poorest that will suffer the most- The rich always leave unscathed? So it makes no sense at all. The EU is not about rich people hopping over with there rich friends because they can afford it. Leaving disproportionately impacts the poorer people so if being pissed off was the reason they voted out- they've shot themselves in the foot.
Take Ebbw Vale for example- I used to work there last year and remember how angry they were- the area is so deprived and neglected. They kept trying to convince me that their problems were caused by the EU- instead of admitting that it was Westminster that was the real evil. Wales will suffer the most, and they'd be wrong to actually think Westminster will compensate for lost EU funding and think of them.
Another thought-If I was an an EU employer, would I want to hire a UK worker with the hassle that comes with moving around? Nerp. I'd probably hire anyone else but if I wanted to save money and paperwork. So effectively leave voters looking for work abroad in the EU have put themselves at a disadvantage.
This idea that it makes no sense as a protest againt theelite because the poor will suffer most is common, but I think it really misses out what people are doing when they vote in this kind of way. This goes for all kinds of similar scenarios, not just Brexit.
While people may be upset about being left behind politically and economically, they don't necessarily expect that a vote against that system will immediately benefit them - they may even think it will cause difficulty.
What they are looking to do is discredit or question or express opposition to the legitimacy of the system that they see as being a problem. Because if it's a system problem, that's the only thing that will do the job. This applies in this case to many working class voters and also older people who supported the European project back when it started but now have serious concerns about where it is now or where they see it going.
A significant contributed has been that there has been no real way for many of those who feel that way to have any sort of political representation. Traditionally it has been leftist parties that are concerned with workers rights and things like movement of labour as a tactic of the capitalist class. But where would you vote now, or for the past 30 years, to get even a look in for that POV? Who talks about movement of capital and labour?
Someone here on MN said something that really struck me too - that going door to door as a LP campaigner in the North, there was a real sense that many people weren't looking for any real concrete improvement - it was more like they were tenants in a crappy property who had decided to lock their negligent landlord in with them until they agreed to make improvements.
Until people understand the psychology of people's actions, and there has been a reckoning on the left about abandoning their roots, there is gong to be no way forward.