Scotland Lets The "Nationalism" Genie Out Of The Bottle

The question was simple:  "Should Scotland be an independent country?"  The voter turnout was phenomenal:  84%.  The answer was "No"  (55% - 45%)  but the "Yes"  campaign was so emotionally persuasive that all 3 British political parties scrambled to promise the Scots more control over their affairs.  The "Yes"  campaign also unleashed the nationalism genie in Wales, Northern Ireland and even parts of England where there is growing resentment over London's control of their regions.  It will take years to untangle this mess, so the new look of the so-called "United Kingdom"  is anybody's guess.

But one thing is for sure.  The 2 year Scottish campaign for independence has fueled "nationalism"  all over the world.  Take Catalonia, for example, a wealthy industrial region in North East Spain.  For decades, the Catalonian population of 7.5 million has pushed for independence from a Spanish government that many separatists consider to be "foreign occupiers".  Last week, nearly 2 million Catalonians demonstrated in the streets of Barcelona in advance of a referendum on independence in November.  The Spanish government in Madrid is taking the organizers to court in order to block the referendum.  They say it's unconstitutional but how do you bottle up the drive for self-government once national pride and honour have been unleashed?  Many Catalonians traveled to Scotland to witness and learn from the separatist campaign.  One young patriot, Rosario Borvas, said:  The Scots have helped inspire us in our fight, all along the way".

Catalonia is not alone.  The fires of independence have been stoked in regions from Xinjiang province in China to Kurdistan in Iraq to Novorossiya in Ukraine to the province of Quebec in my own country, Canada.  Critics of pro-independence movements argue that "nationalism"  is just a human emotion.  Well, that's true, but so what?  Since human beings lifted their knuckles off the ground and walked upright, emotion has been an integral part of our development.  Even Mr. Spock, a Vulcan ruled by logic and reason, had an emotional side.