Bad history; bad analysis.



"British public opinion first began to turn in favor of EU membership after the failed Suez invasion of 1956, which taught the country that, bereft of empire, it could no longer execute an effective foreign policy on its own."



Really? Leaving aside Britain was not on its own at Suez -- it was working in alliance with France (which last I checked was in Europe) and Israel, the European Union did not exist in 1956. The Treaty of Rome which created the European Economic Community only dates from 1957 (ratified 1958). Britain also set up a potential alternative to this, EFTA, in 1960 (to which Britain should have stuck).



This is the sort of mistake even Wikipedia professors don't make. I'd be careful about whom you accuse of not thinking, were I you.



Brexit isn't about trade, it never has been because the EU is not about trade, it's about political union. If you don't understand that, please get out of the debate.



Like it or not, the British people have never supported this goal at any time (in 1975 we were told we were voting on membership in a "common market"). There is simply no democratic mandate for membership in a political union with foreign nations.



We don't need to politically unify with Europe to trade with it, we don't need to politically unify with Europe to cooperate with it. That is what Brexit is about.



But if you Americans are so keen on the idea of ending national sovereignty and merging formerly independent nation states into supranational ones why don't you lead by example and form a union with Latin America?



But, as you live in California, you probably recognize that's already happening.



I hope your grasp of Spanish is better than your grasp of history.