Scottish Independance. Great Idea or No Go?

[Olivaero]

Socially, it sounds semi-nice to me. (Promised gay marriage sooner, We have free university and such.)

Economically, I'm not sure, so i assume the worst.

So overall I'm meh to the thing.

Sooner than this year?

[Souseiseki]

Socially, it sounds semi-nice to me. (Promised gay marriage sooner, We have free university and such.)

Economically, I'm not sure, so i assume the worst.

So overall I'm meh to the thing.

Sooner than this year?

england & wales != scotland

just because someone reading this will trip up

[Carsonalia]

No for the purely selfish reason that I can see it stirring up more problems in NI

[Polar Islandstates]

No for the purely selfish reason that I can see it stirring up more problems in NI

Irvine Welsh wrote a decent opinion piece on Scottish Independence, actually, putting forwards an argument that with an independent Scotland making three separate nations in the archipelago, Ireland might feel less like a growth tacked onto the side of the UK, and more like a constituent part of a shared archipelago of nations, hence reducing tensions in NI.

EDIT: Found the link.

http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2013/01/10 ... ish-unity/
If we rid ourselves of the political imperialist baggage of the UK state, new possibilities emerge. For example, it would become feasible for Ireland, as an established sovereign nation, to see itself as part of a shared geographical and cultural entity. This, in turn, brings potential opportunities for the continued development of the peace process in Northern Ireland. The idea of the political independence of England and Scotland leading to conflict, hatred and distrust is the mindset of opportunistic status-quo fearmongers and gloomy nationalist fantasists stuck in a Bannockburn-Culloden timewarp, and deeply insulting to the people of both countries. Swedes, Norwegians and Danes remain on amicable terms; they trade, co-operate and visit each other socially any time they like. They don’t need a pompous, blustering state called Scandinavia, informing them from Stockholm how wonderful they all are, but (kind of) only really meaning Sweden.

[Carsonalia]

No for the purely selfish reason that I can see it stirring up more problems in NI

Irvine Welsh wrote a decent opinion piece on Scottish Independence, actually, putting forwards an argument that with an independent Scotland making three separate nations in the archipelago, Ireland might feel less like a growth tacked onto the side of the UK, and more like a constituent part of a shared archipelago of nations, hence reducing tensions in NI.

Got a link to this because the short version you're providing sounds very much like "Mainlander doesn't quite get NI" that is the mainstay of media reporting on here.

EDIT : He gives fuck all reasoning as to why it would foster the peace process. He just states it'll happen with no follow up. Give me a fucking break. The Shinners will be all over it like the smug twats they are further picking away at any Britishness left in the province.

[Polar Islandstates]

See above. It doesn't actually go into as much detail as I remembered, which is a shame. But it piqued my interest, anyway.

[Olivaero]

Sooner than this year?

england & wales != scotland

just because someone reading this will trip up

I was taking issue with this because the Scottish legislature has the power to make Gay marriage legal now. It's simply waiting on Westminster of it's own accord.

[Tunasai]

Maybe after I watch Braveheart but right now I'm not feeling it

[Polar Islandstates]

EDIT : He gives fuck all reasoning as to why it would foster the peace process. He just states it'll happen with no follow up. Give me a fucking break. The Shinners will be all over it like the smug twats they are further picking away at any Britishness left in the province.

It was an idea tacked onto a larger piece, agreed. A tangent worth investigating by someone who knows what they're talking about, I think.

[Souseiseki]

Maybe after I watch Braveheart but right now I'm not feeling it

3 pages in, we did pretty well guys

[Polar Islandstates]

Maybe after I watch Braveheart but right now I'm not feeling it

Mentioned Braveheart in Independence Discussion (McGodwin's Law): -100pts

[Cameroi]

i think people expect too much from the idea of sovereignty. i don't see a problem with it. i don't see anything wrong with it. but i don't see it as being worth the risk of violence over it either.
i just don't see who gets to name a place, as having very much to do with the freedom or quality of life of the people living there.
i guess i may be a little bit ignorant of how people think things work.
but i can observe many discrepancies between how people claim to think things work and how they actually appear to to me.

so i see nothing wrong with the idea. i'm just a bit unclear as to what people expect from it.

[Souseiseki]

i think people expect too much from the idea of sovereignty. i don't see a problem with it. i don't see anything wrong with it. but i don't see it as being worth the risk of violence over it either.

where is the risk of violence, exactly?

i just don't see who gets to name a place, as having very much to do with the freedom or quality of life of the people living there.

the constitution, including:

the Crown
the Union with England, Northern Ireland and Wales
the UK Parliament
the existence of the (criminal) High Court of Justiciary
the existence of the (civil) Court of Session

registration and funding of political parties

international relations, including:

international development
the regulation of international trade

the Home Civil Service
defence
treason

Head A - Financial and Economic Matters

fiscal, economic and monetary policy
currency
financial services
financial markets
money laundering

Head B - Home Affairs

drug abuse
data protection and access to information
elections
firearms
film classification
immigration and nationality
scientific procedures on live animals
national security and counter-terrorism
betting, gaming and lotteries
emergency powers
extradition
lieutenancies

Head C – Trade and Industry

business associations
insolvency
competition
intellectual property
import and export control
sea fishing outside the Scottish zone
customer protection
product standards, safety and liability
weights and measures
telecommunications
postal services
research councils

Head D – Energy

electricity
oil and gas
coal
nuclear energy
energy efficiency

Head E - Transport

road transport
rail transport
marine transport
air transport

Head F – Social Security

social security schemes
child support
pensions

Head G – Regulation of the Professions

architect
health professions
auditor

Head H – Employment

employment and industrial relations
health and safety

Head J – Health and Medicines

abortion
xenotransplantation
embryology, surrogacy and human genetics
medicines, medical supplies and poisons
welfare foods

Head K – Media and Culture

broadcasting
public lending right

Head L – Miscellaneous

judicial salaries
equal opportunities
control of weapons of mass destruction
Ordnance Survey
time
outer space

[Rio Cana]

Unfortunately, Scotland would lose a lot of influence on the world stage as it gains decision-making power locally. It is also very hard to predict how well an indepedent Scottish economy would do.

The Scots good worldwide image should make up for any loss of influence. Worldwide, you never hear anyone say anything bad about the Scots.

[Romneyerica]

I thought it already was kind of independent. I watched Braveheart a long time ago, I think it was a good movie I can't really remember. I say why not, I may be saying that because I don't care for Britain, but say it I did.

[Lantianguo]

Free Scotland. A test of anarchism has yet to be tried in a developed nation in the modern world, and being a nation that size out of the influence or tyranny of authoritarian entities like the EU and UK, and the inevitability of economic collapse rendering its leadership illegitimate, makes for a brilliant sample. When the dependency nets implode or become insolvent, I can't see Edinburgh being able to tame revolutionaries in Glasgow. So long as England stays out of it, Scotland will birth the new paradigm shift in libertarian thought, both left and right.

[Salven]

Free Scotland. A test of anarchism has yet to be tried in a developed nation in the modern world, and being a nation that size out of the influence or tyranny of authoritarian entities like the EU and UK, and the inevitability of economic collapse rendering its leadership illegitimate, makes for a brilliant sample. When the dependency nets implode or become insolvent, I can't see Edinburgh being able to tame revolutionaries in Glasgow. So long as England stays out of it, Scotland will birth the new paradigm shift in libertarian thought, both left and right.

Alas, Scotland is not inhabited by anarchists. Nor is the UK authoritarian.

And I'd (hope?) think Scotland would stay under the Crown, as well, and at the very least in the Commonwealth.

[Mefpan]

With all the talk about the UK leaving the EU or not, my answer would depend entirely on whether Scotland would remain with the EU or not. If it would stay, let it split. If it would go, let it stay where it is.

[Polar Islandstates]

Free Scotland. A test of anarchism has yet to be tried in a developed nation in the modern world, and being a nation that size out of the influence or tyranny of authoritarian entities like the EU and UK, and the inevitability of economic collapse rendering its leadership illegitimate, makes for a brilliant sample. When the dependency nets implode or become insolvent, I can't see Edinburgh being able to tame revolutionaries in Glasgow. So long as England stays out of it, Scotland will birth the new paradigm shift in libertarian thought, both left and right.

Alas, Scotland is not inhabited by anarchists. Nor is the UK authoritarian.

And I'd (hope?) think Scotland would stay under the Crown, as well, and at the very least in the Commonwealth.

Scotland and England had a shared crown long before the had a shared parliament. So far as I'm aware, this debate and this referendum refers only to the union of parliaments and the 1707 treaty of union. Even if Scotland went full Republic in the future, it could remain in the Commonwealth. See: Malta.

[North Stradia]

I support all peaceful independence movements.

[Lantianguo]

Free Scotland. A test of anarchism has yet to be tried in a developed nation in the modern world, and being a nation that size out of the influence or tyranny of authoritarian entities like the EU and UK, and the inevitability of economic collapse rendering its leadership illegitimate, makes for a brilliant sample. When the dependency nets implode or become insolvent, I can't see Edinburgh being able to tame revolutionaries in Glasgow. So long as England stays out of it, Scotland will birth the new paradigm shift in libertarian thought, both left and right.

Alas, Scotland is not inhabited by anarchists.

Anarchism does not necessitate anarchists. The Free City of Kowloon was not occupied by anarchists, yet it remained an anarchy for decades.

Nor is the UK authoritarian.

Then why are they trying for independence? Because the UK oppresses its member states with tyranny and larceny. Scotland has limited representation; its cultural values and heritage are not recognised, to the point of repression, by the government. Its democracy is a joke governed by appeasing 5% of counties whilst the remaining 95% are disenfranchised, as is the norm in non-Scandinavian Western Democracies of this day and age.

[South Asia Minor]

I fully support an independent Scotland for better or for worse. Probably because I'm Fenian scum and I'm nauseated by the concept of British imperialism.

[Salamanderston]

On one hand, a free Scotland would be both comical and badass.

On the other hand, it's a political blunder.

Then again, no one really likes the British, so why the hell not.

[Varijnland]

Alex Salmond is an idiot.

This

[Varijnland]

On one hand, a free Scotland would be both comical and badass.

On the other hand, it's a political blunder.

Then again, no one really likes the British, so why the hell not.

You gonna prove that bud?