I would say it's a fair assertion to claim that the young wanted to stay in, but this analysis at the end here of "the young and the smart" is quite weak and misses the global trend that is taking place across almost all western countries.
Certainly I used it as a quick cheap shot, because of lack of time to dive into this complex situation. However there is big dose of truth in it.
First I want to say that I've seen your posts here Lebrok, it's obvious to me you are an intelligent individual. So there is no need on your part to pretend intelligence or "smarts" is the equivalent of not receiving a higher education. I point this out because it completely misses the point of a very important trend taking place, one which is much more highly correlated with income, the factor you failed to comment on. Western Countries are facing an identity crisis whithin their own populations, the split of which is being created by the two very different lifestyles created by those who have wealth and those without it in an increasingly globalized world.
I thought it was implied that smart equals educated and this equals higher income. It also implies a statistical person as we won't bother discussion individual cases of some smart but without higher degrees, or inherited wealth rich people.
The upper class establishment of western countries favor the status quo which produces their authority, wealth and lifestyle. They are reared in a much more globalized environment compared to a person of the working class. They grow up in large multi cultural cities without much interaction with the native population other than other people of the upper class.(who may or may not be foreign themselves) When they go on vacation they do not go to the countryside but to foreign countries. These same foreign countries are the places where their families wealth is created. He finds the other elites of Madrid, Berlin, Paris, New York, Los Angeles more familiar to him than his countrymen living in the suburbs around the city he was born.
There is not even a smallest guarantee that separated GB will improve lives of working class.
The working class perspective is much different. Take immigration for example. When an immigrant moves into the country, he moves into the traditional neighborhood of the working class man. The working class man now sees the area he grew up in become a foreign place. He has to compete with this new immigrant for a job and access to healthcare. He has to deal with the crime the immigrants commit in his community which no longer resembles that of his childhood. He has to watch his own culture of the place he called home change before his eyes. Meanwhile the upper class man never experiences any of these factors, they live in a globalized world sheltered from the repercussions the working man has to live with. The upper class man never developed the same sense of home, culture and nationality as the working class man. His culture is that of his class, his home is where he can obtain more wealth and therefore his nationality is global
I don't think this has anything to do with classes. For last few decades you could be a working class and travel a lot, use internet to see the world and meet people online, watch international TV, etc. In my life I went through all the classes, except the upper class, and I never felt alienated or isolated from the world. It is more about attitude and understanding than economic status.
Age statistics confirm this too. Look at statistics of voting, young versus old generation. Young people feel more like citizens of EU. They grew up in more open and inclusive world, the old generation didn't.
The elitist education of the upper class leads them to believe they know best for everyone, including the working class of their own country which they know almost nothing about other than that these people "are living in the past". The truth is both groups are living in the same present and that this present has created two very different worlds for people with money and those who work to obtain it. Western countries are now split between the wealthy establishment enforcing a globalist outlook which drives their profit and a resentful working class reacting to the elites in their country ignoring their existence. The only reason we are seeing a shift toward the right wing tendencies is because the elites are now made up of the left, albeit a capitalistic left. The deeper fissure that has created this move toward the right is actually a populist/elitist divide and it's important to understand this.
That's how some people (socio economists) are trying to explain the situation, but i'm not convinced it is true, or effect of "dissatisfaction of working class" is very minimal in total political spectrum to produce substantial effect. More below.
The issue of Trump in America and Brexit in the UK is a nativist working class reaction to neglect from a globaly minded elite who have ignored the needs of the native working class so much they have radicalized them to an extent. What's interesting to me is the media and the elite do not even see this divide. They have become so obsessed with their elite status and "highly educated" opinion they believe it's sufficient to call everyone who disagrees with them "dumb, racist and ignorant" and that the simple minds of the majority of the population are being coerced by "sensationalism and demagoguery". I mean, why else would they not just do everything the elites wish them to?
The return to conservatism and isolationism comes from few factors. First one, it exists in all of us and it gets unleashed due to external circumstances, like being threatened or dissatisfied. In recent years we have rise of IS and quite few terrorists attacks in the West, followed by overwhelming waves of immigrants/strangers. There has been also a prolonged economic crisis which created many dissatisfied groups in population. It is natural to blame the others for own misfortune. There are always the Mexicans, Syrians, the rich, politicians, Chinese, Jews, ruling elite, media, social libertarians, masons, capitalists, bankers, etc
It doesn't matter if the scared and the dissatisfied are right or wrong, they always react in same isolationist and conservative way.
I don't mean conservative as a political term, but as a natural state of human psyche, which makes you prefer to stay with the things and people you know and grew up with. And away from the new, the strange and what you don't understand. Typical "protect your tribe" instinct, and very strong in many people.
Of course I am writing in a biased fashion in favor of the populist outlook. But can anyone blame me when the elites have so thoroughly neglected the opinions of the average citizen in favor for what they stubbornly believe is best for everyone else when in reality they are only self serving?
Average citizen has better life than ever. It is fatter than ever, drives a better car than ever, has bigger fridge than ever, bigger and prettier home than ever, cheaper vacations than ever, cheaper cloths than ever, bigger TV than ever, and walks around with cellphone/computer/gps/maps/internet/email/TV/music/HD video camera/notes/wallet, etc. Technology which would cost 2 million dollars 30 years ago, and some didn't exist. Middle class kids don't rush to work anymore, but linger around houses as long as they can. Life is good for middle class.