Independence Day thoughts from a Scot with a big “Undecided” post-it note on her head: the beginning of a possible mini-series on the road to the referendum.
Happy Independence Day USA!
As for the “land of the free and the home of the brave”, if you take our two media icons – “Braveheart” and “Brave” – you might be talking about us. Except there’s a debate about how free we are, in that we are not independent from the rest of the UK.
I think, at the outset I am probably not in favour of an Independent Scotland. There’s hardly anyone here.
*sounds of empty streets, empty buses, sheep baa-ing*
Perhaps that’s unfair. I live in a village – but when I ever go anywhere outside of Scotland – there do seem to be a lot of people around.
Given that our population is addicted to obesity, vacuous entertainment, fatty food and government freebies, I can’t imagine us being independent and not drowning in a vat of debt and chip fat.
So saying, I am open to persuasion – gentle, though. Politics wearies me. Who knows, maybe there are a lot of go-getting high-flying types who can underpin the government with talent and integrity in the long run…?
So, at the moment I am in the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” camp.
But I am watching this space.
Wee Scoops 
You nailed it with “there’s nobody here”. That’s the problem….. We Scots have expensive tastes we enjoy free prescriptions, a good (comparitively) education system, good (comparitively) healthcare. What does independence give us? It says to the world:
“Go away, leave us alone, we don’t want to play anymore. We would rather sit at home in our tartan hats, eating scones and watching River City with all the money we make from our two biggest industries, whisky and tourism.”
Oh Please!!!! 😦
I’d rather sit at home and eat curry…
😉
Whatever you do, take your time. Freedom isn’t an overnight sensation and just ask George Washington, it’s long, muddy, cold and expensive and often unappreciated by the masses. But thank you for thinking of us. I love your country, she is a beautiful country.
Very wise. I just don’t think I feel oppressed enough to want independence. It’s great here, largely.
Then I guess Hadrian’s Wall serves no purpose any longer?
Only for a nice historic walk.
🙂
I think. It’s been a while. Who knows – maybe I went to Antonine’s wall. Same idea, I think.
We did not have to learn about Antonine’s wall when we studied European history. Sorry. 😀
All we learnt about was 1914-1919 and farming methods 1760-1820. Oh and … Er …
😳
(tho I did a year of mediaeval history at uni. Bit dull).
I’m supposing you learned more than that about Scotland? We really had to know lots about European history, but it was all the huge stuff surrounding the wars, migration, etc. Having to know lots about each country left little room for the quaint and personable topics I would have rather studied, such as walls and castles. I was an adult before I realized the castles still exist, some habitable. What a crazy thing to leave out of a child’s learning! One of the first homeschool books I bought my kids was about castles. Too fun. And a British friend loaned me her book about remaining ancient landmarks, from which I learned that cannonballs are still nestled in the soil in some places. Oh, what I would have loved to have learned if only someone had known how to teach!
Oh we have castles a-plenty. My church is attached to a castle, even. I’ll maybe do you a castly blog soon.
🙂
Oh, DO! Please!
I have knowledge of only one, which my daughter visited on her senior trip, in Romania. It is in ruins, but is an amazingly popular tourist spot, especially considering its location and their transportation system. Took a whole day by train just to access it.