You do realise that this is not an argument? Because you are confusing the
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights with the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
As for "civilized", there are feelings, and then there are facts. Case in point,
race and religious hate crimes rose 41% after EU vote. Which does not make you guys more civilised than anyone else, but more like exactly the same, or currently slightly worse.
And while a majority of UK citizens voted Leave, that majority is rather small. And quite a few things about it are strange, or funny, depending on your level of sarcasm. Take the rumour that "European Union Orders British Press NOT to Report when Terrorists are Muslims". This
is provably false. The thing that irks me about the Leave campaign is that its level of "truthiness" (Bill Maher, or Stephen Colbert?) was ridiculously low. Not quite Donald Trump low, but abysmal by any standards applied to civilised countries, to use that word again. The Leave campaign was selling lies, big league, and your Australian propaganda god served as an amplifier in ways not known before.
And it was too simple for these liars to get away with their lies. The BBC's "fair" reporting created many false equivalences, and please don't get me started on the refugees vs EU migrants topic. We are dealing with the same problem in Germany, and you can reliably count on the radical right (the guys who high five with an outstretched arm) to mix them up for political gain.
And yes, some EU laws and regulations are mind boggling.
Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2257/94 makes a lot of sense if you are in that trade, but for everyone else, it looks ridiculous. The EU is both complex, and complicated. Far more so than an average citizen will ever understand. Which was all nice and dandy before Mrs Thatcher started to make fun of it for profit. Yes, you got your money back. But you also opened the door for anti-trade, inward-looking, ethno-nationalist movements. Among the first people to congratulate Mr Trump on his election were Nigel Farage, Geert Wilders, Marine Le Pen, and Frauke Petry. And, of course, their sponsor, Mr Putin. Does that not make you at least a little concerned?
And it should. Because areas like west Wales and the valleys get hundreds of millions of pounds in EU aid, far more than any other part of the UK. You guys made a juice net profit from being in the EU. Well, you are actually still making it, until Mrs May finally triggers article 50, something a majority of Europeans is eagerly waiting for.
So, well, feelings vs facts, right? This may feel good. Anti-establishment insurgencies always feel good in the beginning, when you haven't realised what's going to happen next. But happen it will, and believe me, Wales and other structurally broken parts of the UK will bear the brunt of the economic decline that will come with leaving the EU. Which, for me, is a shame. I loved living in the UK. Scotland and Wales are among the most fascinating landscapes in Europe, with some of the funniest, nicest people (arguably, their cooking skills don't quite hold up, but I digress). But I was born in the middle of the Cold War, and for me, European integration was a major achievement, and a bendy banana was a small price to pay for that. The EU has been the main factor in helping to preserve peace on the continent, and right now, things don't look too rosy for its future. And I hate that, with the heat of a nova.