Wow. Not exactly dipping a toe into the pool on this one, eh? Might as well jump right in, cannonball style.
Here is what really bothers me with the "anti-immigrant" arguments that I see made: these same kinds of arguments were made against MY ancestors, the Irish and the Italians. Both groups of immigramts were met with the same kind of hostility that I see today. The Irish were lazy drunks that were coming to sponge off the "regular Americans" and were going to somehow pollute "American Culture". The Italians were shady criminals that clustered together in tight-knit communities that refused to speak English and assimilate into the "American Culture". There were entire sections of American cities where you couldn't hear anything but Italian spoken...for a generation. But their kids learned English and now, a few generations later, few of us know more than a few Italian phrases.
Regardless, it was mostly nonsense and I suspect that it's mostly nonsense today. Each wave of immigrants came to this country to do the jobs that Protestant Americans just wouldn't do. In the case of my Irish and Italian ancestors, that was mining and smelting ore. For the Chinese that came to the West it was to build the railroads and do people's laundry. And now Latin Americans that work in the slaughterhouses and orchards and keep the lawns of wealthy Californians and Texans. They aren't taking anyone's job - they are doing the jobs that nobody else will do. The same dynamic seems to be in play in the UK, especially with respect to the Polish immigrants. Yeah, there are some criminals and addicts among them...just like there were criminals and drunks among the Italians and Irish. But they are the exception, not the rule. Just like it was with my ancestors. And probably yours. Anti-immigrant talk gets my red up, fast.
I guess I'm not even sure what "American Culture" is. I was taught that this was the great melting pot - a grand tapestry of cultures, each with it's own bright thread woven into it. I know this isn't what Matt is saying but I do get the impression that when a lot of people rail against multiculturalism, what they are really railing against is every other thread in that tapestry BUT their caucasian, Judeo-Christian thread. I just can't get behind that. I don't see America as some kind of weird, white, pseudo-theocracy. Christian, Muslim, Jew, Native American, Hindu, Pastafarian - I honestly do not care. As long as you are peaceful and industrious and love your neighbor, have at it, man. The dude abides. Extoll whatever cultural values you want - just don't try and use the power of government to force ANYONE else to adopt those values, or live by them. So yeah, I'm secular.
As far as the EU goes, I think they had the right idea - it's just been the execution that was horrible. As I understand it, the EU was originally designed to be a European free-trade zone. That, I like. What it turned into is a nightmare of bureaucracy. Free trade is easy - a free trade agreement could be two sentences. "You, in this country, if you want to import someting from that country, do it. You, in this country, if you want to export something to that country, do it." That's free trade. When you get 10,000+ pages of rules and regulations that businesses have to adhere to in order to import or export goods, that's no longer free trade. Much like our 'free trade agreements' in the US, the regulations are written to favor those organizations that can influence the government and disadvantage those organizations that cannot. I would have voted for Brexit if I lived in the UK, even knowing that doing so may well spell the end of the United Kingdom. 'Cause the barn door is open now and everything is on the table - Scottish independence will almost certainly get another vote. Irish unification will get a lot of attention (how do you secure THAT border, with Ireland remaining in the EU and Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK?). Heck, Welsh independence may re-emerge as an (unlikely) topic. But everyone deserves the right to vote for or against the people that make the rules - and that's simply not something the people of Europe have with the EU.
The one potential downside I do see is the security agreements. I kind of hate our military involvement in Europe but as my Army Colonel cousin says, our involvement with NATO and maintaining our bases over there is cheaper by far than another land war in Europe. Hopefully they don't throw the baby (security) out with the bath water (trade bureaucracy). Hopefully we don't so the same with a Trump presidency. He's got some seriously frightening isolationist ideas with regards to our military.
One thing is for sure - everyone in England should be thanking their lucky stars for Gordon Brown. If he hadn't fought to keep the British Pound and had given into pressure to adopt the Euro, this untangling would be darn near impossible. Can you imagine trying to create a major new national currency in this day and age? Shudder.