Quote Originally Posted by Agent Smith
I thought Scotland became overpopulated when the blamanges from the planet Skyron in the galaxy Andromeda turned everyone in England into Scotsmen so they could win Wimbledon?

Kidding aside, this kind of news never ceases to amaze me. I try to keep up as best as I can on international news, but this is the first I've ever heard of this issue. I grow so tired of the news and media over here in the United States. Instead, you get top headlines on CNN like "Cop roughs up woman racing to dad in hospital," and "Hasselhoff: I have learned from drunk video." Maybe its because the US is so isolated from the rest of the world and only really borders two other countries, but I grow tired of our major news being dominated by Hollywood and meaningless drivel.

As for the Scots independence, I can somewhat understand. My grandmother is a direct decendent of a British family, who was given land in Virginia for military service in the colonies, and one of her relatives was a Civil War soldier named Robert Gaines Haile, Jr. He kept a diary and wrote home frequently during the war, and he actually has the only written account of certain events (he personally led Robert E. Lee's wife across the Chickahominy River from Federal lines, for instance). Anyway, the point is that he talked a lot about his reasons for fighting, and the over-arching theme is a right to self-governance, one which he thought would be taken away under Federal rule. Nationalism is really an offshoot of that personal freedom that individuals seek.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in Civil War stuff, all of his writings were compiled in a book that you can buy. It's called "Tell the Children I'll be Home When the Peaches Get Ripe." It's a really interesting look into the life of a soldier during the War.
The example of R G Haile is an interesting one. Although there were legal, political and financial causes to the Civil War, the psychological causes were all based on mutual dislike and distrust, similar to the anti-English feeling North of the border. Actually North of the border may be inaccurate because the Scots who live in England seem to be more anti-English than those who live at "home". He felt he was doing his patriotic duty in opposing the north, and whilst losing the Civil war was bad for the South, winning it would have been a disaster. The confederacy would have continued (for a while at least) as and agrarian economy whilst the Federal states would have rushed ahead into industrialisation. Worst case would the Federal states now arguing for a huge fence along the Mason-Dixon line rather than the Rio Grande to keep out the inhabitants of their less developed Southern neighbour.

If he really wanted to keep his homeland free and prosperous his best bet would have been to join McClellan's forces and help his wife across the river instead. (Mind you Robert E Lee was a much better general to follow).

Both halves of the US are stronger because they remained together. Perhaps Alex Salmond should reflect on this before he starts to stir up trouble in the UK.

Incidentally US nationalism may spring from the desire for personal freedom but that is to do with US history. In other nations nationalism can be used as a screen to remove personal freedom.