As much as the Brexit vote in the UK concerns me that the British people may have made the wrong decision, the vote itself speaks to the power of the people to make difficult decisions that even the majority of their national leaders disagree with. Considering that the Parliamentary majority voted to remain in the EU, and the people voted in their majority to leave, this vote shows the resounding power of the people.
It no doubt signaled the power of the people to determine their legacy once united in purpose. Since the vote, Prime Minister David Cameron has indicated his intention to resign, and the new leader now has a challenging task ahead. This task does not only concern the strategy for exit and for life after EU, there are now internal matters to be considered.
In 2014 a referendum was held to decide on the possibility of Scottish Independence, resulting in a decision to remain within the United Kingdom. Now, since the EU Referendum, there is talk of holding a second vote as "Scotland has delivered a strong, unequivocal vote to remain in the EU..." according to the First Minister of Scotland.
In similar fashion, Sinn Fein, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland has also called for a vote on its Independence from the United Kingdom. This one is a lot more complicated and impactful, as this will possibly be a vote to consider a united Ireland.
Declan Kearney, National Chairman of Fein's party, indicated that "English voters are dragging Northern Ireland out of the EU. This British Government has forfeited any mandate to represent the economic or political interests of people in Northern Ireland.
"We now have a situation where Brexit has become a further cost of partition..."
Also creating waves, we see the almost immediate decline of the Great Britain pound against the dollar, falling eight per cent in what the Washington Post calls "the pound's worst day on record."
A movement in Austria has already been campaigning to hold a similar referendum to consider their own future in the Union. Even more so, in one sentence, a journalist at rt.com shows the seriousness of the situation.
"Polls recently conducted in Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Hungary also showed that these countries could follow Britain if it succeeds in leaving the EU."
In one simple vote, the British people have impacted a number of issues in their country and across the European Union. Most world leaders spend their entire lives trying to unite their people to make such an impact. Many more will do so in the future.
In the midst of my own concerns about the now ground-breaking Brexit vote, I can take refuge in the knowledge that a united people have power beyond that which we often acknowledge. This result should be significant to every activist and campaigner the world over.
The people have tremendous power. The main question is... whither our capacity to make the right decisions with that power, and just what are those right decisions?
Maurice Burke