Vote Yes...or No

I have to say that I'm not an expert, by any means, on the Scottish Independence referendum.  I'm not from Scotland.  I'm not from England.  I'm an American citizen and am purely an observer in the biggest vote in British history.  But I'm still fascinated by it.  I'm not sure what it is about the whole situation, but I'm constantly reading about it.  That's what I find so odd.  Even after reading so much, I'm still not sure whether I'd vote yes or no.  I can't quite figure out the best choice.

On one hand, I'd say that staying part of England, has worked for so long - why change it now?  Everything including money, empire, land and government has run fairly smoothly; changing that would just throw them into chaos.  Even with a yes, they're destined to stay under the rule of the monarchy so what's really the difference?

But on the other hand, I'd say vote yes.  Be your own country and be your own people.  I like to think about it in terms of the US and Canada.  Scotland is being ruled by England, for proximity's sake.  Basically, it would be like the US being ruled by Canada because Canada is bigger and close to the US.  The same rules and regulations of Canada wouldn't make sense in parts of the US, but we'd be forced to follow them, the same way the Scots follow British rule.  As a member of an independent nation, it just makes sense to vote yes, when I think about it like that.

But of course, that's not bringing in other more complicated matters such as economics or defense.  My favorite article from a few months ago, questioned whether or not the Scots would still have access to Doctor Who, because the BBC was a licensed product.  (In case you're worried, the Doctor will still be traveling to Scotland, for many years to come).

So with that in mind, I have NO idea what the right answer is.  What's a little scarier is, that I'm not sure if anyone really does.  It's a tricky situation that's going to require lots and lots of hard work, like most big elections.  But, it's still a big exciting moment in history and I wish all the Scots good luck on Thursday!  I hope you find what you're looking for and work toward making a more united Scotland - independent or not!