Jun 27, 2016 4 min read

Keyboards have been clattering furiously around the world since last Thursday’s stunning decision by British voters to withdraw from the European Union, with fevered analyses of what it means for Britain’s economy, our economy and the overall health of the European Union and whether it can endure.

But the full and devastating impact of Britain’s pulling up the drawbridge was summed up by political journalist Nicholas Barrett, a Briton living in Florence, Italy. Commenting on the website of the Financial Times newspaper, he pointed out young people who were able to live and work in the 27 other countries in the European Union were going to have that privilege yanked away.

“We will never know the full extent of the lost opportunities, friendships, marriages and experiences we will be denied,” Barrett wrote. “Freedom of movement was taken away by our parents, uncles, and grandparents in a parting blow to a generation that was already drowning in the debts of our predecessors.”

The vote in a nonbinding referendum to leave the European Union can be seen as a kind of tantrum by the usually cautious British – the 52 percent who voted to “Brexit” seemingly wanted to thumb their nose at political elites and bankers who welcomed the integration of nationalities and the intertwining of economies, and the free movement of people. They wanted a return to a long-departed Britain that clung tightly to its traditions and kept its continental neighbors at an arm’s length. But ill-considered tantrums can be followed by no small amount of regret, and the British are enduring that right now. As of Monday, the pound sterling fell to its lowest level in more than 30 years, forecasters said a recession is on Britain’s doorstep and its politics have been thrown into turmoil that is unprecedented in recent times. Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the referendum in order to quell restive Euroskeptics in his own Conservative Party, is resigning, and the leader of the opposition Labor Party, Jeremy Corbyn, is being ushered toward the gangplank by his rank and file, who argue he was a half-hearted, lackluster campaigner in the push to keep Britain in the European Union.

There is also the distinct possibility Scotland, which overwhelmingly supported staying in the European Union, will thumb its nose at London and again seek independence. Northern Ireland also supported staying in the European Union, so pressure toward Irish reunification could start building again after two decades of peace on the Emerald Isle.

Choose your metaphor – British voters opened Pandora’s box, took a cricket bat to a hornet’s nest, or opened one almighty can of worms.

As a result, it appears the British public is starting to experience some palpable buyer’s remorse. Some of the promises made to induce voters to support leaving the European Union, such as more money being poured into Britain’s National Health Service, are now being walked back. One voter who supported Britain getting out of the European Union told The Washington Post, “I was swayed by the rhetoric, but if I had thought this through, I would have voted to stay in. I would certainly do so now.”

Knowing who or what you’re voting for, and understanding the consequences, is a wise idea, particularly as we approach the presidential election in November. In the meantime, on these shores we will have to endure diminished retirement accounts, market volatility and maybe a dip in our economic outlook as a result of Britain’s decision.

The British will have to endure much worse. And they will have no one to blame but themselves.