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courtesy of Pixabay CC0 Public Domain
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A year ago most people reading the title of this post would
probably have thought it was a veiled reference to the misnomered United States
Civil War. Civil War is a misnomer because there were not two rival factions
fighting for control of the same nation. One faction was fighting to maintain
the sovereignty of the individual states to govern themselves according to the
US Constitution, and the other faction was fighting to prevent the first faction
from gaining independence because nearly all the revenue needed to run the
federal government at that time was collected on tariffs collected against
equipment imported by the first faction or agricultural goods produced by the
first faction.
At no time did the first faction seek control of the states in
the second faction, nor did the first faction seek control of the union of
states as a whole. Therefore, technically, it wasn’t a civil war (a civil war by
definition is a war between two different factions within the same nation
fighting for control of that nation).
Oh, and declaring they were also going to
free the slaves held by the first faction worked much better at gaining
recruits to fight in the war than declaring they were making war on the states
of the first faction to protect the federal revenue.
Given all that, the title of this post actually has nothing to
do with the 1861-1865 War Between the States fought here in North America. The
question is a hypothetical one that came to mind once the results of the United
Kingdom referendum on staying in the European Union or leaving the European
Union were known. The United Kingdom, as most know by now, voted 52% to 48% to
leave the European Union.
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| courtesy of Pixabay CC0 Public Domain |
Certainly, the remaining nations in European Union have no plans
to take up arms and invade the United Kingdom in the manner Lincoln raised a
Great Army of the Republic and invaded Virginia. Hopefully, the days when first
world nations solved disputes among themselves by clashes of arms are long
behind us. Note: Russia has not left those days behind, but then, they are not
really a first world nation; they are a third world nation with a first world
military.
But there are other means the remaining nations in the European
Union have of punishing Britain for its secession. France could stop exporting
cheese and wine to Britain. Italy could cut off pasta and olive oil. Germany,
and this would be awful for the Brits, could stop sending them decent beer and
ale. The Netherlands could embargo tulip sales. No more sardines and herring
from the Nordic countries. The Republic of Ireland could cut off the UK’s
supply of Guinness.
These nations could also stop buying British, uh, there must be
something the Brits make that other countries want…
Well, I’m sure someone will think of something.
The point is, would it be right for these other nations to take
such drastic action against Britain in retaliation for its secession from their
club of nations; of which it was a loosely affiliated member at best.
And now there are whispers of other nations thinking of making
their own exit from the once vaunted European Union. Could the United Kingdom
be the EU’s South Carolina, just the first of many? And who will be the
European Union’s Lincoln to keep preserve the Union at all costs?
Oh what a great year this would be to be a Social Studies
teacher. But how can a Math teacher work these momentous events into his
lessons? Let me see.
Word Problem: If one nation votes to leave a Union by a 52% to
48% margin and 36 million people voted, how many Prime Ministers wind up
resigning as a result?
Yes, I think I could make this work.
As always, I remain,
The Exhausted Educator
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