SCOTLAND = WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE
What the US Could Learn From Scotland’s Anti-Austerity Independence Vote by John Nichols on September 18, 2014
Click for Source Article by John Nichols in THE NATION
SCOTLAND = WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE
SCOTLAND = No matter how VOTE GOES, there can be no doubt “the atmosphere in Scotland is extraordinary.” — Herald
SCOTLAND = Extraordinary Engagement of the PEOPLE = Massive Voter registration 97% of eligible Scots are registered = a “testament to a movement which has been engaging with thousands of people over the past two years.” = Vote is “a huge opportunity to restore democracy.”
SCOTLAND = The lesson for USA is start scheduling high-stakes national referendums on fundamental questions regarding the nation’s future? = MANY MILLIONS OF NEW VOTERS WILL TURNOUT.
SCOTLAND = American political campaigns = Pettiness and NO IDEAS
FACT: 2013 Gallup Poll = 68% of Americans favor national referendums on vital issues.
SCOTLAND = Expanded electorate. to 16 year olds.
SCOTLAND = Simple Clarity in ballot design and wording matters immensely
SCOTLAND = 2000 electoral meltdown in Florida with butterfly ballots and hanging chads.
SCOTLAND = One issue on the ballot = “yes” or “no” on the question: Should Scotland be an independent country?
SCOTLAND = Limited Spending + Lots of grassroots campaigning.
SCOTLAND = Scotland strictly limits campaign spending + No thirty-second TV or radio spots = LOW COSTS for the campaigners + NO negative advertising flooding the airwaves.
SCOTLAND = Changes character of the campaign as voters are NOT Exhausted and Disenchantment on Election Day. = Scots are remarkably enthusiastic.
SCOTLAND = Lots of debates + Take lots of questions from journalists and citizens.
SCOTLAND = Scottish television and radio programs and opinion pages featured daily debates. + In smallest communities there were organized events.
SCOTLAND = Easy voting = Electoral Commission has run its own “You Can’t Miss It” campaign to increase voter registration and participation = all jurisdictions use same sets of rules regarding who can vote, when and where voting takes place and how votes are counted.
SCOTLAND = Majority rule = NO BS “super majorities” that foster frustration. = Voters believe the process is fair and that their ballot could be decisive.
SCOTLAND = ALREADY HAS CONCESSIONS FROM THE UK AND WILL GET MORE = WIN OR LOSE
SCOTLAND = US officials BETTER START FAVORING national referendums on critical issues soon, using the systematic approach Scotland has taken.
SCOTLAND = Independence referendum could end 307-year union with England.
SCOTLAND = Dreamed of for decades = FREEDOM = “Fifty years I fought for this.”
A Poll TOO CLOSE = BUT ONE suggests “NO” might win.
SCOTLAND = What currency will Nation of Scotland use? EURO or BITCOIN or maybe the POUND
SCOTLAND = Yes vote = 18 months of negotiations with London to lead to Independence Day on March 24, 2016.
SCOTLAND = America has confidence and Scotland is “getting it, they’re walking tall.”
SCOTLAND = No campaigners said they swayed enough undecided voters to stave off independence. = Last-minute offer from Britain’s main political parties for more powers for Scotland if they reject secession.
SCOTLAND = “Whatever happens, Scotland is going to be different.”
SCOTLAND = Suffered Anti-independence push by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown
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SCOTLAND = PETER WATT, LECTURER, UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD = I think the UK kingdom is largely bankrupt.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=12391
SCOTLAND = UNION of the two countries wasn’t a very popular thing at the time. — PETER WATT = It was an agreement between the two crowns.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = The currency of this union, has kind of begun to decline in the last two or three decades.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = The Conservative Party (the Tories), the Labour Party, and the Liberal Democrats–have all inflicted policies on Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland which have really been to the detriment of the majority of the population. = Similar to USA = Benefit the super-rich = Create high levels of unemployment + Rise of the corporate sector as taking over the state.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = The Labour Party no longer exists its “the red Tories”
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = The three parties in England essentially all agree on the main issues. = 9,000 pounds/year for one year of university education, but in Scotland they couldn’t pass that. = Labour Party sold out on education = Deepening of neoliberal policies of Blair to Brown to Tory agenda.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = Tony Blair started five wars, military invasions + Tony Blair, the Labour Party, supported increasing expansion into the West Bank by Israel + The sale of armaments to Saudi Arabia and to Israel.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = In Scotland there are more panda bears then there are Tory members of Parliament. Yet Scotland is expected to suffer under a Tory government for decades.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = This is a question of democracy, the people in Scotland should get the government that they vote for. BBC + Media establishment + Westminster elites don’t want Democracy.
FACT = Scotland sits on huge oil reserves
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = One of the myths peddled by the BBC is that suddenly the Royal Bank of Scotland is going to pack its bags and leave for the city of London. It’s simply untrue. The Royal Bank of Scotland issued a letter to all its employees saying they were going to pack up and move their central office to London, but there was no issue of jobs suddenly leaving. The Royal Bank of Scotland, who saw their profits rise by about 15% while homes in USA were being foreclosed.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = It is all part of the scare campaign. Here’s the Scots again, ungrateful and pushing for these things. + There’s no way they could ever make it on their own.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = 3 leaders of London’s main parties, Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Tweedle Dumber–that’s Cameron, Miliband, and Clegg–all rushed to Scotland to say, we don’t want you to leave.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = Even if there is a “no” vote for the status quo, but things can never be the same after this. Growing up in Scotland you have this sense of disempowerment — Nothing you can do to change it. Margaret Thatcher said there is no alternative, there is no such thing as society. Drummed into you from a very early age there was nothing you could do to change things. And, of course, that continues. = Young people in Scotland today known nothing else but suddenly they have a stake in Scotland’s future.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = I certainly think it’s a step in the right direction because the present setup is so corrupt, rich state, rich government is massively corrupt and massively undemocratic. And any attempt to redress that imbalance is a positive thing.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = It’s NOT about nationalism, It’s about social justice. It’s about getting nuclear arms out of Scotland, weapons of mass destruction. And it’s about protecting the National Health Service. The Labour Party pledged to continue with the austerity cuts = Labour Party OFFERS NO alternative anymore.
SCOTLAND = Peter Watt = Labour Party voters have moved towards the idea of independence, because the Scottish National Party, certainly not a perfect party — it’s the SNP which are filling the boots of Labour, because Labour has completely and utterly abandoned its project.
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