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Offline Lemon

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Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #180 on: September 19, 2014, 06:30:18 AM »
This is an awful disappointment.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE. IGNORE RAMA SET.

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Offline rooster

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Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #181 on: September 19, 2014, 07:26:12 AM »
Pretty close though. Aw well.

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Offline Pete Svarrior

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Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #182 on: September 19, 2014, 07:29:45 AM »
The drama of Scotland crashing and burning would've been entertaining, but I think I prefer this outcome anyway.
Read the FAQ before asking your question - chances are we already addressed it.
Follow the Flat Earth Society on Twitter and Facebook!

If we are not speculating then we must assume

Thork

Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #183 on: September 19, 2014, 10:50:06 AM »
"Please rule us England. We can't do it for ourselves."

How do they look themselves in the mirror this morning? Let's hope the Borg don't turn up. Scotland wouldn't be much help.

Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #184 on: September 19, 2014, 10:56:47 AM »
Oh well. Maybe this will lead to increased devolution powers in the UK.

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Offline Pete Svarrior

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Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #185 on: September 19, 2014, 11:03:18 AM »
Oh well. Maybe this will lead to increased devolution powers in the UK.
Only in the one country that can actually increase them.
Read the FAQ before asking your question - chances are we already addressed it.
Follow the Flat Earth Society on Twitter and Facebook!

If we are not speculating then we must assume

Rama Set

Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #186 on: September 19, 2014, 11:25:47 AM »
"Please rule us England. We can't do it for ourselves."

How do they look themselves in the mirror this morning? Let's hope the Borg don't turn up. Scotland wouldn't be much help.

Thork, architect of all no-win situations.

Yaakov ben Avraham

Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #187 on: September 19, 2014, 01:47:26 PM »
I don't see what you are all fussing about. Scotland, and the UK, and the entire Western world, dodged a bullet. If Scotland had voted to leave, what would that have done to the UK's ability to project itself as a power on the world stage? What would have happened in the UN Security Council? How would they have divided the nation's debt? How would Scotland have paid for the NHS, since they don't have a tax base to do it? Without the much more populous England, how can they keep the NHS afloat in Scotland?

How would they have defended themselves? For that matter, would the rest of the UK been weakened as well? Scotland can bleat about N. Sea oil all it wants, but the fact is that there probably isn't as much there as earlier projections said there were. There's only so much money you can make on sheep.

Remember, Scotland has only 8% of the population of the UK. How can they pay for the social welfare state that they like so much? Lets face it. England pays for the social welfare state, both in England, and in Scotland.

I'm not saying that Scotland isn't important. It is. All I'm saying is that they need to use their brains, and it appears they did yesterday, thank God! Britannia remains strong, united, and free.

Thork

Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #188 on: September 19, 2014, 01:56:05 PM »
I don't see what you are all fussing about. Scotland, and the UK, and the entire Western world, dodged a bullet. If Scotland had voted to leave, what would that have done to the UK's ability to project itself as a power on the world stage?
Nothing. The Uk would still have nuclear weapons, the bank of England, the financial Capital of the world (London) and the only growing economy in the Eurozone.

What would have happened in the UN Security Council?
Nothing. The Uk would still have a power of Veto. Losing 5 million people from 63 million isn't that big of a deal.

How would they have divided the nation's debt? How would Scotland have paid for the NHS, since they don't have a tax base to do it? Without the much more populous England, how can they keep the NHS afloat in Scotland?
The UK said if we take your share of the debt, you get it written down as a default. So take it, or have your bonds rated as Junk forever more.

How would they have defended themselves? For that matter, would the rest of the UK been weakened as well? Scotland can bleat about N. Sea oil all it wants, but the fact is that there probably isn't as much there as earlier projections said there were. There's only so much money you can make on sheep.

Remember, Scotland has only 8% of the population of the UK. How can they pay for the social welfare state that they like so much? Lets face it. England pays for the social welfare state, both in England, and in Scotland.
These are Scotland's problems.



Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #190 on: September 19, 2014, 06:19:10 PM »
I don't see what you are all fussing about. Scotland, and the UK, and the entire Western world, dodged a bullet. If Scotland had voted to leave, what would that have done to the UK's ability to project itself as a power on the world stage? What would have happened in the UN Security Council? How would they have divided the nation's debt? How would Scotland have paid for the NHS, since they don't have a tax base to do it? Without the much more populous England, how can they keep the NHS afloat in Scotland?

How would they have defended themselves? For that matter, would the rest of the UK been weakened as well? Scotland can bleat about N. Sea oil all it wants, but the fact is that there probably isn't as much there as earlier projections said there were. There's only so much money you can make on sheep.

Remember, Scotland has only 8% of the population of the UK. How can they pay for the social welfare state that they like so much? Lets face it. England pays for the social welfare state, both in England, and in Scotland.

I'm not saying that Scotland isn't important. It is. All I'm saying is that they need to use their brains, and it appears they did yesterday, thank God! Britannia remains strong, united, and free.

Population size doesn't translate to higher quality of life. Some of the smallest countries in Europe have great economies, low unemployment etc. San Marino for example.

Yaakov ben Avraham

Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #191 on: September 19, 2014, 06:34:47 PM »
San Marino is a city-state! Come on! Well, ok, a bit larger than a city-state, but not by much. Its primary things are banking and tourism. They also have a TINY population. That is easy to deal with. Scotland has too large a population to be compared to a micro-state, and too small a population to go along with countries like the rest of Europe (or even the rest of the UK for that matter). Be realistic, for God's sake.

Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #192 on: September 19, 2014, 06:54:01 PM »
Finland has around the same size population as Scotland.

Yaakov ben Avraham

Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #193 on: September 19, 2014, 07:10:45 PM »
And Finland is linked with Sweden, and always has been, on one side, and to a lesser degree, on the other side, Russia. In fact, it was ruled by Russia for quite a time there, and before that, Sweden. The fact that they have successfully made an independent nation work is more to having balls and luck then anything else. Could Scotland follow their example? Maybe, maybe not. Scotland is more intimately connected with England than Finland was to either Sweden or Russia, simply due to the fact that world has gotten a lot smaller than it used to be in an age of Internet communications, and so-forth. If England were to just tell the Scots to bite English balls, could Scotland go it alone without England? I'm not so sanguine on the idea.

Back when it took 20 days or more on horseback to get from Helsinki to Stockholm to get answers to your problems (or Uppsala; I'm not sure what the capital was then), it would perhaps be easier to BE independent. But now? When decisions are made in London and heard about within 30 seconds?

And again, how would Scotland survive economically? They depend on the rest of the UK. You can't do it with sheep alone. And that oil won't last forever. Right now, the National Health is paid for largely by taxpayers in England. Who would replace them? What quality of National Health would Scotland get for its tax currency (I can't say pound, because they wouldn't have been permitted to use it, nor euro, because who knows whether that would have been allowed, and who knows what they might have come up with on their own)?

So I say, thank God, and yes, PizaaPlanet, Rule Britannia!

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Offline markjo

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Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #194 on: September 19, 2014, 08:19:30 PM »
I don't see what you are all fussing about. Scotland, and the UK, and the entire Western world, dodged a bullet.
Even so, I'd say that a 44% yes vote should be more than just a subtle hint that all is not well in the kingdom.
Abandon hope all ye who press enter here.

Science is what happens when preconception meets verification.

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. -- Charles Darwin

If you can't demonstrate it, then you shouldn't believe it.

Yaakov ben Avraham

Re: Scottish Independence
« Reply #195 on: September 19, 2014, 08:41:08 PM »
MARKJO, I think you are right on that!