On Thursday, the Scottish people headed to the polls to cast their vote in a historic independence referendum that could mean the end of the 307-year-old United Kingdom. According to USA Today, 97% of eligible voters are expected to take part in today’s vote, and residents as young as 16 have been granted the right to participate. On radio this morning, Glenn did not support or oppose Scottish independence, instead running through some of the ramifications of a ‘yes’ vote.
“So today is a historic day, and I don't think most Americans are paying attention to Scotland and what is happening in Scotland,” Glenn said. “But this is important.”
While Glenn believes Scotts will vote in favor of independence today, Pat was not convinced. They agreed, however, there is likely a generational divide on the issue.
“What's happening in Scotland is self-determination. Do people choose to say, ‘I want to be part of something new, something that is much more local,’” Glenn explained. “I find it hard to believe that in today's world, the 20-somethings wouldn't say, ‘We want our independence. We want to be local and self-determining.’”
“That's probably true, but how many of them would vote,” Pat asked. “I would think the older Scots will want to stick to the status quo. It's been going on for hundreds of years. Let's not break up the UK now.”
Given all that is going on in the world today, Scottish independence might be at the top of the headlines in the United States, but Glenn believes the American people should care about what happens.
“Here's why they should care: Because someone like Vladimir Putin is licking his chops,” Glenn said. “If [Scotland] actually vote yes – and the world is saying, ‘Well, they voted for their independence because they’re different ethnically’ – that means countries like the Ukraine – when they have ‘free and open elections,’ the world has to support them because they're just saying ‘we're different ethnically.’ ‘We have no trouble with Ukraine, [but] we're ethnic Russians, so we vote to go this way.’”
“That works for Crimea,” Pat added.
Ultimately, Glenn said the outcome of the Scottish independence vote will be indicative of the direction the world is headed.
“There's two reasons to pay attention to this. One, what does it mean to the rest of the world? What are we teaching the rest of the world – especially those that like Vlad Putin,” Glenn said. “And two: What direction is the world going in? Remember, the leaders of the world are going for an even bigger state. They're pushing for the global governance. They're pushing for the EU.”
“Think about that we're talking about: Breaking up the United Kingdom… Just imagine this happening 50 years ago,” he concluded. “Imagine what a big story this would have been. Now, people are like, ‘Whatever. I don't know.’ It's incredible.”
Front page image courtesy of the AP