Today Scotland votes on whether they want to stay part of Great Britain or go it alone as an independent country. Many there have long wanted their independence, and this seems as civilized a way as any to get it. If they vote "yes" they will probably claim much of the North Sea oil, which will fund their operations quite nicely. Until it some day runs out.
But it's a much bigger vote than just that. In many parts of Europe....the world even....there are many regions watching and taking notes. After all the 20th Century European wars many of them are of one heritage/custom/language, yet are officially part of another country.
If Scotland can pull it off, will Catalonia (think Barcelona) give it a try? Will Belgium finally just give up and implode, the Flemish and Walloons going their separate ways (to Holland and France)? Will Poland grow and Ukraine shrink? The possibilities are almost endless.
For a few of us it will be interesting to watch. For the rest of you, you can go back to your Twitting now.
S
Very interesting thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI have high hopes that Texas get's the notion too.
ReplyDeleteIf the vote goes for independence, what about the Scots who are traveling abroad on a UK passport? Will they suddenly be stranded, will the one's in the US be sent to Guantanamo?
Lots of unanswered questions. What about Scotland's share of the national debt? Where would England move their nuclear submarine base to? Would Mel Gibson become King? (Is he even Scottish?)
DeleteI'm curious about the money Scotland will use. They say they want to stick with the British pound, but Britain says they won't permit it. And what happens to the bank of Scotland, which is British? Will they move their headquarters to London? And British nukes in Scotland? So many interesting questions.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, any future splitting and/or reuniting will go as smoothly as Czechoslowakia splitting into The Czech Republic and Slovakia and East and West Germany becoming Germany!
ReplyDeleteI am relatively pleased with the result of the Scottish referendum. And you left out Wales, which also was eyeing this election.
ReplyDeleteAs a longtime libertarian, I was sorry to see that the Scots didn't vote for independence. Nothing against England, certainly, but I'm almost always for home rule.
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