My friend asked me what I thought of the Scottish independence question being voted tomorrow, knowing my interest in things geopolitical as well as my libertarian tendencies.
I do not have a horse in this race. Nevertheless I am following it with curiosity. I suspect it could have a bad outcome, regardless of the actual vote result. I read in a blog which I forgot to bookmark that political unions, like marriages, have questions best left unasked, because once asked, the relationship can never be the same. British political union was always, essentially, part of London’s imperial project. That project is long dead, and the non-English parts of the home islands are geopolitical fossils – which is not to condemn, since all modern nation-states abound in such fossils.
If I were confident that London and Brussels were predisposed to accept any result with equanimity and generosity of spirit, I would support Scotland’s effort. I have no such confidence.
If this could go smoothly, other divorces will follow rapidly: Catalonia, Euzkadi, etc. Divorces rarely go well, however.
[daily log: walking, 5km]