Now that the United Kingdom has voted to withdraw from the European Union, there has never been a better time for the U.K. to join America as its 51st state, freelance journalist David Wheeler suggested this week.
“Let’s understand this moment for what it really is: an opportunity for the United Kingdom to become the 51st state of America,” he said in an tongue-in-cheek op-ed published by CNN. “The EU’s loss is our gain. Call it the ‘Brentrance.'”
“Isn’t it time we joined forces again?” he added.
The so-called “Brexit” vote last week, which saw “leave” win in a shocking turn of events, gave voice to U.K. residents’ worries over immigration and lost jobs, as well as their apparent distaste for being partly governed by a world body headquartered in Brussels.
The vote wasn’t unanimous across the U.K., though, as England and Wales voted to withdraw from the E.U., while Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay.
The two dissenters aside, there are four strong reasons for why the U.K. should sign on as the 51st state, Wheeled explained.
First, there’s trade. Why was the U.K. an EU member in the first place? It wanted easy access to a huge trading bloc — the biggest in the world. However, U.S. GDP is only slightly below the EU’s economic output. We’re No. 2! In fact, by some estimates, California by itself is the world’s eighth-largest economy.
Second, there’s regulation. The Brits were sick and tired of being told how curvy bananas could be and whether eggs could be sold by the dozen. But by becoming the 51st state, the Brits would get no-fuss trading with all other U.S. states, without the pesky regulations. We’re so lax about regulation, we let kids eat mac and cheese with Yellow Dye No. 5 and No. 6 — both banned in Europe!
Third, there’s travel. Sure, as EU members, Brits have been able to get into the fast lane at European airports, making it practically effortless to see the Parthenon in Greece or the Colosseum in Rome. But do they know there’s a full-scale replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee? And did they forget about the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which has been called “the greatest stadium in the world” by the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum website?
Wheeler broke for a brief aside to discuss travel between American and U.K. airports, which he says would be so much easier for U.K. residents if they held U.S. passports.
He concluded by presenting his fourth reason for why America and the U.K. should be joined politically and monetarily.
“[T]here’s the overwhelming embrace Americans would give the Brits. We love everything the Brits do, everything the Brits make, and everything the Brits say (or at least the way they say it). I have friends on all sides of the political spectrum, and there’s one thing they all agree on: The U.K. is awesome,” he wrote.
“From Shakespeare to Sherlock, from the Royal Albert Hall to the royal family. And speaking of the ‘royals,’ Queen Elizabeth II and company could simply merge with America’s royal family — the Kardashians. They have about the same power over the government, and they’re just as much fun to photograph,” he added.
