Independence bid is hardly new: Opposing view

Having spent a lot of time in Scotland over the years, I find myself intrigued with the notion of a free and independent Scotland.

I also wonder about the underlying furor behind Thursday's Scottish independence referendum vote. After all, it's far from a brand new notion.

Scotland has followed the globalization trend of much of the world. You're as likely to see someone draped in sari on special occasions as wrapped in a tartan. And walking through the streets of Edinburgh or Glasgow, you'd probably have a harder time finding a shop hawking haggis than one selling kababs. Yet the reality is that for hundreds of years, despite being enmeshed in the British government and economy, Scotland has very much been a separate entity.

I'll leave the pontificating on warfare or North Shore drilling to four-star generals and economists. And I refuse to fret that a Scottish secession will reignite the fervor of those in Vermont or Texas. If you study maps of the world over the past millennia, you'll see more mutable borders than those we know now. Because from teenagers to communist countries, independence has always been a recurring theme.

And just in case you think the Scottish bid for independence is brand new, it has been said that the American Declaration of Independence was heavily influenced by the Declaration of Arbroath, which declared Scottish independence from the crown (and the right to use arms to defend this claim) in 1320. In the 18th century, native bard Robert Burns was so moved by the French Revolution, he wrote poetry extolling the virtues, if not necessities, of a free and independent Scotland.

The struggle isn't new. It's the validity of the vote that has some shocked.

While you mull over this, consider the fact that in the United States, George Washington struggled mightily to free us from the yoke of King George III; and yet a scant few hundred years later, Britain's baby Prince George graces our tabloid covers regularly.

Friendly independence seems to be working well for the American people. Here's hoping it works equally well for Scotland.

Rachel C. Weingarten is a former columnist for Scotland on Sunday, a weekly newspaper based in Edinburgh.