Three days till the Scotland vote on secession from the UK.
I've known one true Scotsman in my life (and it's no fallacy). Back in the interesting years of 2011-2012. I knew one who worked in a nearby institute to mine. His name was R.W. and he was truly interesting to talk to, even down to his dramatic last day in Korea, when fortune would have it that I was with him almost to the end.
I've lost contact with R.W., but all the same I'm quite sure of two things:
- He'll support union,
- He'll have had frequent arguments against secessionists about this issue, often involving alcohol.
This is the kind of thinker R.W. was: I imagine him reflecting on the "Scotland secession referendum" by going on about it being a sign of the UK's long-running decline: The UK was the "global superpower" in 1914. By 2014, a short century later, it's lost it all and reached a point of such weakness that the UK itself may dissolve.
Here are some pictures of "pro-secession" rallies ("Yes") supporters (also more R.W. reminiscences below):


Speaking of Northern Ireland, another article today says that police fear street fighting during and after the vote so much that they are deploying heavily. This is inevitably reminiscent of decades past in Northern Ireland, though also of the hallowed tradition of British soccer rioting. (Much of the soccer rioting was 'nationalistic', split along ethnic/religion lines, I'm told: Most famously Glasgow's Rangers [Protestant] vs. Celtic [Catholic] football clubs.)
Maybe this is why the Scotland secession vote interests me: It may be a possibility down the road (again) in the USA.