Empires

Empires come and Empires go.  I've witnessed the disintegration of one such during my life.  At one time, the sun never set on the English Empire, but with the loss of India, the 'Jewell in the Crown' as Queen Victoria called it, the Empire was diminished.  Now, since the United Kingdom's Brexit (shorthand for Britain and exit) vote to leave the European Union, its highly likely that Scotland will vote for a second Independent referendum, and Northern Ireland will be able to vote on reunification. 

The European Union is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries.  It was started after WII on the premise that trading countries would avoid going to war with each other,  It has grown to such an extent that it has its own parliament setting rules for environment, transport and consumer rights, including such things as mobile phone charges.  No one knows how the vote will affect treaties and trade deals.  These agreements are so tangled; merging and re-merging in a way that leaving the EU will affect the rise and fall of global currencies. 

When the dust settles, there may be a smaller England, but we have to remember history repeats itself.  Empires fall and new ones appear on the scene.  When I visited Italy, I had a moment of 'history enlightenment' when I walked among the fallen marble columns where the Roman Forum used to be.  I had never cared much for history, thinking it dull and boring, but after seeing the Roman Forum, history has been my favorite reading material.  

We may not like the results of the UK vote and the changes it will bring, but there's no denying that we'll be watching history in the making.