The EU doesn't protect workers' rights - it has destroyed them

[Meldread]

7. You are too busy engaging in the imaginary battle in your mind...

...rather than the war that is actually being fought.

I am not going to stand here and defend the neoliberal agenda of the EU, nor am I going to defend its flawed apparatuses. I am not arguing in favor of any of those things. I believe deep reform is necessary.

What I am arguing is that the EU provides the necessary stability that holds Europe together. It is under that umbrella that human rights have flourished and the cause of the Left has been advanced--more so than anywhere else in the world.

The Brexit will not benefit progressive, left-wing forces across the continent. It was led by right-wing reactionary forces in the UK, and this is only going to boost that reactionary arc developing across Europe -- from the presidential campaign of the National Front’s Marine Le Pen in France to the rise of the AfD in Germany to the electoral successes of the Austrian Freedom Party. If the EU collapses in this climate, that is who is going to take power. Not left wing forces.

The economically disadvantaged, migrants, and the Left are the ones who will suffer as a result of Brexit and a potential collapse of the EU.

You have empowered the Tory hard right--pushing the UK further to the right than even Cameron. It is likely the next Prime Minister will be Boris Johnson, and considering the fact that Brexit took place as a result of strong anti-immigrant sentiment, Johnson is likely to introduce draconian anti-migrant measures in response to the xenophobic feelings of the new hard right coalition that takes power.

In addition to this, a Johnson-led government is almost certain to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, which the Tories have been chomping at the bit to get rid of for quite some time.

Then comes the far right radical neoliberal economic reform. As Paul Mason recently put it:

Johnson and the Tory right are seeking a mandate via the referendum for a return to full-blown Thatcherism: less employment regulation, lower wages, fewer constraints on business. If Britain votes Brexit, then Johnson and Gove stand ready to seize control of the Tory party and turn Britain into a neoliberal fantasy island.

In the end, the Left achieves nothing and becomes more marginalized than ever in UK politics. Things grow worse if Scotland decides to leave the UK for the EU.

It's time to face reality and stop fighting a battle that only exists in your imagination. The choice was not between the collapse of a neoliberal European Union, and the rise of a progressive Left UK that is freed from the shackles of their masters in Brussels. It was a choice between the neoliberal European Union and the ultra-neoliberal hard right reactionary forces in Britain and across all of Europe. That is the reality. Now the ultra-neoliberal hard right reactionary forces in Britain and across all of Europe have been gifted a giant victory. Congratulations. Enjoy your celebration.