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[Max White]

Good luck Scotland! If you don't get independence now it is very possible that people will become more apathetic towards the issue, and you are going to have a lot of trouble rallying the troops then. Fight hard, move fast, and assume you are the in the minority. It is the only way to gain political traction.

[Owlbread]

That's exactly why I have thrown my weight behind this now, Max. I know that if we vote No this time I'll be a middle aged man by the time we get another credible chance, if not older. Now is the time.

[Descan]

If you fuck this up, Owlbread, I'm gonna poke you with a stick. >:I

[Owlbread]

If you fuck this up, Owlbread, I'm gonna poke you with a stick. >:I

I tried to say something along those likes to Alex Salmond when I met him but it came out more as a burbled thank you for everything he's doing. Cat got my tongue and I was unnerved by the enormous size of his hands and that was that.

[kaijyuu]

Enormous hands? How big?

He might have a case of yaoi hands.

* kaijyuu [/offtopic]

[Sheb]

I really hope you're going to win, if only because change is fun. Plus I'm not a big fan of the UK's influence in the EU, so anything that weaken them is good.

[Owlbread]

Enormous hands? How big?

He might have a case of yaoi hands.

* kaijyuu [/offtopic]

Yeah his hands are like that, but it was like placing my hands on enormous pillows. They're like Hagrid's hands.

I really hope you're going to win, if only because change is fun. Plus I'm not a big fan of the UK's influence in the EU, so anything that weaken them is good.

That was basically my original reason for wanting to vote Yes as soon as I became aware of the cause, but of course since then my views have become more concrete.

[Descan]

I want the Yes to win because I want my Gaelic empire to come to fruition, and the freedom of the Gael and Scot speaking population is but the first step!

Alba os uile!

[Max White]

I want the Yes because then hopefully England will finally stop sending us their Scottish convicts. Also when you are done would you mind campaigning for Irish independence too?

[misko27]

Damn it, pulling me out of my leave-of-absence again. I wish you luck Owlbread.

Even if it's a majority of just 1% it doesn't matter how many members of the electorate bothered to vote.

This bothers me a bit. When the American colonies voted to declare independence, the measure was required to be unanimous (as in, a majority of delegates from each state vote yes). A quote from Movie/Musical 1776 explains the sentiment as "That no colony be torn from its mother country without its own consent".

I'm not saying that you require some specific percentage of the population or something to declare independence, but I don't like the idea of such a change based on the beliefs of very small, principled minority over an even smaller minority. If only a small number if Scottish support independence, can you really say you speak for them more then Britain?

[Owlbread]

The trouble is though that the people who make all of our decisions, take us to war, choose our welfare system and so on are elected on that basis where tiny margins are all that matters.

[Max White]

The problem is that it is very hard to convince people that compulsory voting is good... The people who don't vote tend to just not care.

[Descan]

Then do it American-style: Not compulsory voting, but incentive voting. Don't punish someone for NOT voting, reward them FOR voting. A small monetary gift, a tax break, etc.

Up in Canada, we have a third-party group called Elections Canada that handles the vote, they don't answer to anyone but the public. Corruption would be minimized.

[XXSockXX]

People should be aware that tiny margins do matter, so if you're not voting it's kind of hypocritical to complain after the fact.
I would expect though that interest will rise and the number of undecided people will shrink as the vote comes closer.

I personnally wouldn't be upset either way, since I have no personal stakes in it and I don't really feel strongly convinced about either possible outcome. I'm generally a sceptic and I'm not sure what the best course of action would be for a)Scotland, b)the UK and c) the rest of Europe.
Both sides have good arguments and it seems a lot depends on factors that are a bit difficult to predict.

I for one would like to see the UK taking a more pro-active role in the EU, just because it would counterbalance some things and it would be good to have some sceptics among all the blind enthusiasts that run the EU now. Whether Scottish Independence would influence that in any way (as I have speculated before) I don't know.

[Sheb]

What do you mean about "blind enthusiasm"?