People of Bay 12, my friends, some of you may or may not recognise me from various political discussion threads; often arguing the case for Scottish independence. I was originally going to make any last pronouncements in Sheb's excellent European Politics Megathread but I understand that the magnitude of what is going to happen over the next 48 hours is simply too great to be confined there.
On Thursday, September 18th we Scots will go to the polls to decide whether Scotland should become an independent country once again. The votes will be counted over the night, without exit polls; the results will be known by mid-day GMT on Friday. I'm sure virtually all of you know this, given that most of you seem to have opinions on the matter regardless of whether the vote will directly affect you.
Unfortunately I do not think there are many Scots on the lower boards; there can't be more than a handful based on what I've seen. If there's any still here, reading this thread that haven't made their minds up, while there is still time I implore you to vote Yes to give us all the opportunity to finally build the society we want. I hope and firmly believe that society will be a fairer, more equal one, but this will be our choice, for we shall hold sovereignty. Indeed, between the hours of 7am and 10pm on Thursday, absolute sovereign power will lie in the hands of the Scottish people for the first time in history. We have to decide whether to keep it, or give it away again.
While there are risks and questions that remain unanswered, for the most part these have been reduced to those that simply cannot be answered. You may want to know very complex macro-economic policy 20 years in advance but think on this - Margaret Curran, Labour Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, cannot tell us what the minimum wage will be in this country in 5 years. Whichever way the vote goes uncertainty will remain with us; uncertainty is about the only thing that is certain this life. However you make your decision, please do not make it out of fear; whichever path you take ensure you have a positive vision for the future, whether that's with the UK or in an independent Scotland.
Have hope so that we may rise through this iron sky that's fast becoming our minds.I will leave this thread up over the next few days for people to express their views on the topic, any last words and so on. I do not think I will post again until Thursday. Depending on the outcome of the vote, I may close the thread by the weekend and allow further discussion to carry on in Sheb's European thread.
As my last act on Bay 12 prior to the referendum I will leave you with this adaptation of the Great Dictator speech, as performed by the Scottish actor David Hayman.
Let us fight for a country of reason where our talents and hard work can lead us all to happiness.