Scottish Independence Referendum

[Kiwi]

Canada went through something similar years back (Quebec wanting to separate), but I don't remember much about it because I was young, and I really didn't understand politics.

I've only very vaguely been following the news about Scotland and the vote. I'm really horrible with geography and get confused enough about the whole England / Great Britain / United Kingdom / Europe clustering.

[tikibirds]

Yeah.... California keeps trying to leave.

Alaska too. Alot of the people who were alive when it was still a territory say they wish Alaska never became a state. Although there aren't nearly as many people living there as there are in other parts of the world.
When I lived there, alot of young and older people are fed up with government interference, many people there live a susbtiance lifestyle or totally off the grid. Personally, I drew the line at having an outhouse and no indoor plumbing. 

[Sprintex]

Scotland are staying in the UK


Paul

Post Merge: September 19, 2014, 12:03:16 AM

I am going to hope it doesn't cause an argument but its a political thing after all so its a bit of a dangerous conversation - if you are passionate about it...you are very passionate and that leads to a lot of intense discussion.

That's the bit I don't get, why there should be arguments about subjects like this. Everyone is entitled to their opinion on any subject, and if there IS no right or wrong then there's no point arguing really? 

I note you said you voted yes - fair play to you for having the guts to vote for radical change even though I wouldn't have done so, must have been a VERY hard decision for a lot of Scots either way


Paul

[Whippycorn]

I am gutted 

I really hoped Scotland would be brave enough to break away from the increasingly right wing politics of the UK and lead the way towards an alternative future. I feel like people have let their fears and doubts decide for them...without hope, I worry we will never see changes we need.

May Your Choices Reflect Your Hopes, Not Your Fears - Nelson Mandela

[werepuppy]

I'll be honest, despite being Scottish and actually living in Scotland... I didn't have much of an opinion on this referendum. I did the research, I listened to the arguments that both sides put out, and I found them both lacking. Yes, I admit to being a little worried by either outcome, but now that is' all over, well, I don't really feel anything either way.

What I do feel is a little bit of disappointment when I log on to facebook and see how angry people are, and how much hate is being thrown around regarding how the vote went. Never mind that it's not the only shot at independence we've had, never mind that we had one of the largest turnouts of ever, no clearly the thing to do is rage about what happened.

I just... I guess I just expected a bit more, I think the word I want is dignity, from people on either side of the debate. It's what happens when living in a democracy, people are always going to be upset. You just have to sort of... grit your teeth and bare it. With any luck, the most important factor of change will be enacted. If no change happens, well, then you can get angry.

Also; my Dad just pointed out that this is the second independence vote within his own life-time, and he wouldn't be surprised to see a third within the next two years. 

[Aflame]

i think there will be changes now at least but  im glad they arnt going to be sepourate i like the united kingdom (im welsh btw)

[Whippycorn]

I'm not angry, just baffled and disappointed. 

I'm just feeling a bit hopeless right now, though I do still hope that something good will come out of this. I just don't want Westminster to take the no vote as an acceptance of the status quo.

I think it's a great shame (and probably tactical) that Cameron rejected a three option vote, with the third option being maximum autonomy within the UK - I think the majority would have backed that. I seriously doubt he'll stick to his last minute bribes of more power, that is unless we make him.

I need to get my drive back up first, which might take a few days. 

[Starfall]

I think you're right about the third option Whippycorn.

I'm glad the "no thanks" vote won, as I think it would have set back the Euro economy a huge amount.

I'm pro Scottish independence if that's what the majority want (ex Englishwoman, now Australian citizen) but I just think the timing was awful.


Edit - also I think Salmond is a smug git.

[Sprintex]

Look on the bright side, we won't have to revoke the PonyCon tickets for those north of the border now. . . it is UK PonyCon after all 


Paul

[Beldarna]

I turned on the tv this morning just to hear the news of this event. It was so close! OMG! I don't think I ever seen a more even tippingscale in an election. Anyway, Congrats to the nosayers and bummer to the noes. Hopefully something good will come out of it in terms of being more independent.

I do wonder what would have happened in the rest of Europe if yes had won. Thinking of Catalonia and Basque in Spain and eastern Ukraine amongst others.

[pony_magick]

I found this whole independence vote quite fascinating. I know quite a lot about Scottish history and was really glad to see that this time round you guys got a fair chance at becoming your own country! I'm also amazed that 97% of the those allowed to vote, voted! That's amazing! Just shows how serious this is and that it's not just some dream of the Scottish rebels in the 1700s.

[Whippycorn]

The turn out ended up being 84.5%, which is still pretty amazing, as normally you're lucky if 50% bother to vote here. I hope that this no vote doesn't stop those other communities like Catalonia going for their independence. When we were out in Edinburgh last night, there were a few estelada flags about.

I'm just emotionally and physically wiped out today. 

[Wardah]

I'm disappointed because I was hoping NI would have been next. I've always been sad that Ireland is divided like that.

[kaoskat]

Whippycorn and others who are sad. Like I said earlier, I've been avoiding the news for a bit so I'm not really certain what this was about other than the bare minimum, but I'm gathering it was caused by dissatisfaction over how things are being run? If that's the case, maybe, if the vote was so close (it was really close right?), those in power will realize there really is a problem and try to fix things rather than just ignoring the problem? It seems there may still be hope for things to be better even if Scotland doesn't become independent just yet. I hope so at least, for you guys.

[Starfall]

The Guardian newspaper has a fantastic map on its website showing all the countries that have declared independence from the UK and when