Scottish independence referendum results thread (Sept 18, 2014)

[Platypus]

Nothing is certain, other than that the 'yes' campaign has already won relative to expectations. Anything over 45% and the 'no' will have a soulless victory, and certainly not a commanding voice for the status quo.

[Platypus]

Dundee looks off.

Short version of my view on the results: No has not only won, but won by enough to avoid too much dispute. It's a clean with for no, and while it's remarkable that 44.7% of Scots were prepared to leave the Union, it puts the issue to bed for a while in a way that a 52% win would not have.

[Platypus]

I posted this to fb, but it works here too.

-----------

I'm feeling vaguely heartbroken, and I had nothing to gain or lose.

A dark part of me says that I did have something to gain - English pain - which is a drug I can't get enough of. But realistically, I was approaching this from a reasonably unaffected place.

But, stupidly, I allowed myself some hope. I really did hope that Scotland would be independent, not out of hatred for the Poms, or love for the Scots, but out of a desire to see something radical happen. Something that wasn't just 'economically sensible', or realist, or establishment sanctioned. Something that proved democracy was still alive, and that the average man or woman on the street had a voice, and that it mattered. A voice with the future in mind, a voice free of fear, a voice for equity, for community, and for freedom.

Not freedom for the Scots, but freedom for the people who want to be able to have their future in their own hands.

I know this was idealistic, and I know the Scotland is still part of one of the strongest democracies in the world - although Britain does have real issues with civil liberties, and there is, at least for now, a significant list of concerns with how democracy truly works in the UK - but the status quo is not particularly satisfactory.

Maybe independence in Scotland would change absolutely nothing for the world at large, and I was unreasonable, maybe presumptuous, maybe offensive, when I put more on this referendum than simply yes or no to a question about where Scotland's future would lie.

I wish the people of Scotland well, and can't argue with their decision, it was a decisive result. But I can still be disappointed with it, not because there won't be a new flag for the UK (and perhaps Australia), not because there won't be another country in the world, but because for once there was a chance for change to the current world order that didn't involve terror, that wasn't based on market capitalism, that wasn't about the delicate balance of global diplomacy, but was simply about one small country on the other side of the world choosing a new road without guns or bombs, fiscal bullying or lesser evil decision making.