Scots, Catalans -- Scotland’s Identity, Put to a Vote - NYTimes.com
" It is testimony to democratic values in
Britain and in Spain, where a vote on Catalonia’s independence is
scheduled for November, that the question can be put to the people
peacefully — in stark contrast to Russia’s armed campaign to punish
and dismember Ukraine for trying to break out of the Kremlin’s orbit.
In Scotland, there is no threat of reprisals for either choice, and the
only pressure is the complexity and fatefulness of that simple
question."
" Globalization and loss of empire have weakened a
shared British identity, and the European Union has made it possible for
distinct peoples like the Scots, Catalans or Basques to contemplate
going it alone."
