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UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

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Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#51
I'm a bit tired of reading doomsday messages by now. I am an European living and working in the UK and even though this affects me I have no reason to believe that things will go downwards now. If there's anything I've learned so far then that every analysis I've read couldn't have been more wrong.

It almost seems like the more the UK economy doesn't collapse the more people shout even louder how bad the Brexit is. Maybe I am just too indifferent or chilled, but I think the best is to just sit back and watch what will happen.

Also I seriously don't think of the Brexit that the UK leaves Europe. I think the UK and the EU will strive for the closest relationship possible. The only thing that I see changing is that the UK withdraws from a formal contract with the EU with the hope to negotiate a better deal. I don't think this is racist. Not every contract makes the same sense for every country in the world.

--- EDIT:

Wow lots of responses to this comment. Thank you all. There's a lot of good discussion and some suggest that I am more relaxed perhaps because I am maybe financially secure, but that is not true. When I was a child I watched on television the Fukushima disaster in Japan and I was totally freaked out. I was afraid for many reasons and then as I watched longer I was totally amazed how relaxed the people in Japan dealt with the situation. There was a crisis, but nowhere near what I thought would have happened in the western world. Nobody was running or fleeing the country, nobody stopped going to work, etc. People worked together to fix the problem as good as they could and everyone lifted their weight. All news in Europe were talking about how cool-headed the Japanese dealt with this situation and it was something which I never forgot in my life. I then realised that only because everyone stayed calm and cool headed they were able to deal with this problem the way they did. It was not perfect, but boy it was much better than what I thought would happen.

So this is my childhood experience which has marked me for life and made me realise that mass hysteria is never good. No matter what the situation is.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#52

I'm a big believer in not having assumptions and testing things with actual experiments. This is one experiment I'd rather not be participating in, though. It's difficult to see very much positive about this move; certainly there will be some benefits, but I expect greatly outweighed by the negatives (which will include higher prices, lower employment and probably lower standards for UK workers - the EU has consisten…

The EU is a novelty in human history. The desire for independence, for better or worse, is human nature.

Right, this is why there have never been empires, kings, large nations or organized groups that have subsumed smaller groups around them, the United States, Great Britain itself, or any organization of peoples greater than just one lone man standing in a field bellowing 'ME!' at the emptiness.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#53

Great news. Of the four happiest countries in the world, three are European countries outside the EU. Autonomy is crucial to happiness.

Most of the world is outside of the EU. I don't think this correlation can stand.

GP referred to European countries outside the EU though; not 'the world ... outside of the EU'.

The EU forms 510/743 millions of people in Europe, so GP's point is more valid than you claim.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EU Citizen here, living in the UK or "wherever I may roam". I have my Ltd in the UK. I am sticking to the UK for the time being, and will keep a close eye at: 1) Tax scheme/calculations for dividends. 2) Ability to transfer money in & out and at what cost (in the extreme case of Capital Controls or limiting transfers abroad). 3) Exchange Rate of GBP against EUR, USD, and a couple more so I make sure that my payments…

Do let us know if the GBP ever tumbles against the EUR or USD.

The EUR hasn't exactly been rock solid against USD in recent years.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#56
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are British HN'ers taking any mitigating steps due to this whole situation? Campaigning for the Liberal Democrats.

If only there was a snowball's chance in hell of this achieving something. (disclosure: party member)

indeed, but NOT campaigning is guaranteeing party death (disclosure: party member). The lib dems are pretty useless right now, but they may have a big swing next election and they need keeping alive until then. Generally, they're the only sane party. Mostly because it's easy to have ideals when you're not in power.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#57

I'm a big believer in not having assumptions and testing things with actual experiments. This is one experiment I'd rather not be participating in, though. It's difficult to see very much positive about this move; certainly there will be some benefits, but I expect greatly outweighed by the negatives (which will include higher prices, lower employment and probably lower standards for UK workers - the EU has consisten…

The EU is a novelty in human history. The desire for independence, for better or worse, is human nature.

I wonder if the "desire for independence" is simply born out of the usual ingroup/outgroup dynamics - convince people they're being ruled by an outgroup, and suddenly they want to be independent.

The problem with this being that group borders are petty flexible and easily manipulated.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#58

Great news. Of the four happiest countries in the world, three are European countries outside the EU. Autonomy is crucial to happiness.

How dare you challenge the common narrative!

Points out someone being downvoted for challenging the consensus...

Gets downvoted for challenging the consensus.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not British but I live in the UK - I have based my entire life here, family, house, job, car, everything - and a year ago, I would have never considered leaving, this is my home. But right now, I'm weighting my options. I'm a huge believer in the European Union, so why would I want to live in a country that's not in it? And increasingly, I think the answer is - I wouldn't. So although I haven't started packing ye…

Getting a visa isn't so onerous is it? Compared with the hassle of upping your roots and moving your family?

From speaking to other EU nationals who've made their home in the UK it's more feeling like they're no longer welcome than the legal burden which is making them think about leaving.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#60

I'm a big believer in not having assumptions and testing things with actual experiments. This is one experiment I'd rather not be participating in, though. It's difficult to see very much positive about this move; certainly there will be some benefits, but I expect greatly outweighed by the negatives (which will include higher prices, lower employment and probably lower standards for UK workers - the EU has consisten…

The EU is a novelty in human history. The desire for independence, for better or worse, is human nature.

Independence from what? Should England be an Independent state? London? The City of London?
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