Posts

Showing posts from September, 2014

Scottish Independence: Scotland Votes to Remain in the U.K., "Caledonia's Been Everything I've Ever Had"

Image
Photo courtesy of Dougie MacLean This week Scotland had an historic referendum on whether the country should declare independence from the U.K. Passions were high on both sides, as reflected in the stunning, record-breaking voter turnout of 85%. When the dust had settled, NO had won by a margin of 55% - 45%. For many reasons this endeavor was good for Scotland; for one thing there was an incredible focus on Scottish history, legacy, and culture. In my opinion, Scotland is a much stronger country today by virtue of the fact that they are now part of the U.K. because they choose to be, not because of agreements made several hundred years ago. The political implications for Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom are both huge and complex; there is an excellent analysis in this article from the New York Times . There are many aspects of Scotland that appeal to me, not the least of which being the landscape, the accent, and especially the culture, specifica