In just a few months the world, or at least the Western world, has turned 180 degrees. And it has not been caused by any particular war or cataclysm, but rather by the result of two votes. That is the way it is, whether we like the decisions taken or not, Democracy has changed the world. Indeed, who else would be best placed to change the course of the world's most influential countries? Both votes have set the stage for what will be a turnaround as dizzying as it is unmistakable: More America and less Europe.
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The first vote was held on 23 June, in which 17,410,742 The British decided to leave the EU, thus breaking all the schemes that up to that moment the Eurobureaucrats still defended tooth and nail, i.e. the Troika and the single currency. Even though it proved to be economically and politically unviable, the slogan of the European leaders was, until that very moment, more Europe, more Union and less sovereignty for the member states. Let's say that Brexit - against the realisation of which the defenders of an impossible EU are still fighting - opened the eyes of many leaders and also the ban on officially saying and planning such things as these o these, without being branded as pariahs or losing their positions. Because regardless of the timing and the traumas of Brexit, the break-up of the EU into at least two sub-unions of states is not only an officially recognised prospect, it is the only viable one. You can read more in «Europe's USA is taking shape«.
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The second vote took place across the pond the day before yesterday. The reality of the ballot box was, once again, stubborn. Y 59,692,974 of people have voted for Donald Trump despite fierce opposition from virtually the rest of the world. The president-elect is still a melon to be opened, as his racism, homophobia, sexism and other Hitlerian leanings during the campaign may well be moderated to mere vehemence and political heterodoxy during his term in office. The reason is simple: from the very moment he was elected he no longer needs to ask for anyone's vote. And this will lead him to show the real Trump president, which time will tell if he is worse or better than the Trump candidate shown in the campaign. His uncertain policies have even Republicans themselves on edge. And his personal relationships with other presidents such as Enrique Peña, Merkel, May, Putin or Xi Jinping have the whole world on edge. But his nationalist, protectionist and authoritarian idiosyncrasies go in the unmistakable direction of the «More America» or «Make America Great Again» concept. And that is a radical departure from the openness/modernism/globalism of the Obama era.
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Notice that in both the Brexit referendum and Trump's presidential election the result of the ballot box was against the odds. Curious, isn't it? Perhaps it is not that the polls are so shoddy or that the respondents are lying, but that they are pre-cooked by the establishment: Politicians and Euro-bureaucrats here; and politicians and Democrats (and even part of the Republicans) there. Faced with the risk of groundbreaking results that would annihilate the current (bad, yes, but familiar) course of the developed world, the mobilisation of the media to prevent Trump and Brexit has been enormous. It is clear that this establishment intended at all costs generating opinion among the population and not generate information for the population. But they have failed. And today the world is different on both sides of the Atlantic.
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A priori, a more inward-looking USA and a more Europe split in two, The two sides do not have to be loser scenarios, nor do they have to be winners. In any case, one winner is indisputable: Democracy. Only time will tell whether those 17 million Britons and 59 million Americans will have led us to a better or worse world. Because their sovereign decision will affect us all, and very much so. That's the thing about influential economies in a globalised world.