Scotland Votes Against Secession
Connor Strange
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Scottish citizens flooded to voting booths to decide whether or not to secede from the United Kingdom on September 18, and ultimately decided on a big, fat “no”.
Nearly 85% of the Scots attended the polls, an astounding show of concern for their nation’s future in either direction.
Of that massive turnout, the majority voted to stay in the United Kingdom. The difference of votes was not overwhelming, with only 55% in favor of remaining. Nevertheless, the votes landed with union.
Because of that, some Scottish citizens with their minds set on secession got to the point of calling the naysayers unpatriotic.
Talks of secession are no stranger to residents of the United States if they’ve paid attention to some angst out of Texas.
Ever since the Civil War and well before it, some Texans have been of the mind that they would do better off outside of the United States.
The idea was even put to a statewide petition in 2012, which received enough participants to be sent to the White House’s door. The signatures numbered over 120,000 - a surprisingly large number.
But it was denied with a response titled “Our States Remain United” from White House spokesperson Jon Carson. The denial was called propaganda, and the ache for independence is still held by some citizens one of the southernmost states.
Scotland’s shot at secession was a little more nationalistic, harkening back to a historical context of fighting against English imperialism. In regards to Texas, the petition was a little less of nationalism and a little more of a century-long temper tantrum.
Waverly underclassmen and juniors hold a fond, embarrassing memory of a similar tantrum years ago. When they were in middle school, extra purchases at lunch were removed for a week. In response to this heinous, unconstitutional crime, many kids wore orange clothing and refused to buy lunch - tearing down the man in their own way.
In hindsight, it was pretty darn embarrassing for participators.
“I remember we all felt really stupid because Mr. Kucera chewed us out. It didn’t really matter at all. The school gave us extras like two days after, they were going to give it to us anyway,” junior and boycott participant Seth Howe said.
In the end, freedoms infringed upon by the administration were privileges, and the movement for change wasn’t necessary. But even in the more historically grounded case of Scotland, the levelheaded citizens outweighed the vocal ones. People crying for independence didn’t get it, and the situation in Texas would likely result the same - with nothing changed, and no unneeded separations.
