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[Mizhara]

Latest figures from the local papers here say 55% for no and the yes side admits defeat, but still expect the promises made to Scotland to be kept. Let's just hope Scotland can mend the tears that have come along during this struggle, and handle that this may very well have been their last shot at this.

It's a bit heavy to see parents crying in the street, saying they'd hoped their kid would get to live in a free Scotland.

[Nmaro Makari]

I would have voted no, but this is still a deeply unhappy day for me. This only came about through negligence and something must be done for the entire UK.

Today was only ever going to end in tears. The question is; what now.

[Karynn]

This only came about through negligence and something must be done for the entire UK.

So much this. Well said!

[Lyn Farel]

Most Yes people I have talked to are responding with "We'll never get this chance again."

According to some historians, even if they lost the referendum, they won on the long run, which i'm inclined to agree with. Not even a few months ago the yes was around 25%. Then got above 50% before getting down again, maybe through a movement of fear playing on a catastrophic rhetoric at the last minute. But still 45%. That's huge. It remains to be seen if the trend is going to stay that high now.

It made Cameron panic, and that's completely amazing in itself since it was Cameron that said lol nope to the devolution max to powers in Scotland. He denied it completely since he was sure to win the first referendum idea that was to propose actually a 3 way vote including yes, no, and devolution max. And now, look at where he is.

There is also the case of Wales, that never got the same autonomy as Scotland and continued again and again to press the matter. Now that Scotland is going to gain even more autonomy, it sure is going to cause ripples in Wales as well.

Eventually, even if the no thanks won, a seed is planted, I think.

there's still lots of votes to come in

teh divisions are going to take a long time to heal.

a tiny minority on both sides brought shame to all of scotland.

the world was watching, an d they chose to be an ass.

I don't know honestly, everything I read seems to tell that everyone behave nice and that the divisions are rather well taken.

Maybe that's not the case, I couldn't know, but I don't think Scotland brought shame on itself to the world.

[Nicoletta Mithra]

It's a bit heavy to see parents crying in the street, saying they'd hoped their kid would get to live in a free Scotland.

For me it's quite weird to see people equate 'free' with 'independant'. First, independance is always only had in grades, never fully. Even if Scotland would have left the UK, it would have been dependant on England to some non-trivial degree, dor socio- and econo-geographical reasons.

Also, that may be the federalist speaking out of me and the particular german tradition of federalism at that, but I wouldn't think that, e.g., a Lower Saxony or Bavaria outside of Germany would be any bit more 'free'.

But then the vibes I get are that many scots didn't and still don't see Scotland as a federal partner on equal footing with especially England. It appears to me to be an inheritance of how the UK came to be and wasn't intended to be a federall community of states... vOv

I think it's a good thing for Scotland to remain in the UK, though.

[Mizhara]

That is indeed a significant part of the problem. When compared to, say the US, where most of the States "grew up together", Scotland, Wales and such very much didn't. It's always been a rather lopsided arrangement which hasn't been helped much by the way politics have been centered around a very English core.

What is best for Scotland long and short-term will remain to be seen, but for now we'll just have to hope half the country can get over this result.

[Lyn Farel]

I'm not sure the real root of the issue in Scotland is a yearning for the past and their national pride. I'm pretty sure that it's political inclination problem engulfed into misrepresentation intricacies.

I mean, there are countless of counter examples of regions that went under the exact same fate than Scotland, lived up as part of the new entity for centuries now, and most people consider themselves citizens and natives of that entity.

[Mizhara]

Never underestimate the need for a cultural identity, and more importantly the need for that identity to be perceived equally (politically, culturally etc) to your peers.

[Nmaro Makari]

Just for the sake of posterity, here's the results of Backstage's informal poll

SHOULD SCOTLAND BE AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY?

Yes - 12 - (31.6%)

No - 15 - (39.5%)

Yes, If the political situation doesn't look like it will change - 1 - (2.6%)

No, But the political situation needs to change - 3 - (7.9%)

Undecided - 7 - (18.4%)


In the UK it's sometimes considered a faux pas to ask people how they voted, but nevertheless, if you feel like sharing why you voted how you did, how you'd vote now, or if/why you switched to a different answer, or if you moved from undecided and why, please do share your stories.

[Louella Dougans]

in this backstage poll ? I voted no. nationalism is divisive, causes people to see other people as "them", and assign all the problems of society onto "them", and creates false solutions by attempting to remove "them" from society.

nationalism has caused hundreds of years of european wars, including some of the most self destructive wars the world has seen (the great war as the major example).

what the united kingdom shows, if you look at all the Scots inventors and thinkers that are often brought up as examples of Scottish ingenuity and such, they all appeared after the Union, because it meant that people in both countries could cease plotting and preparing for war with their immediate neighbour, and turn to other endeavours.

[Kala]

In the UK it's sometimes considered a faux pas to ask people how they voted

and yet it doesn't stop people coming to my door and asking me how I'm going to vote around elections 
none of your business, it's a secret ballot - get off my doorstep.
...and don't phone me, either.

My view is not dissimilar from Neil Gaiman's:

I worry that for the Scots, the YES vote has become essentially a gigantic Vote of No Confidence in Westminster and the Westminster Party system, which I share. As someone who has a house in Scotland, lives in Scotland when he can, and adopted his wife’s clan name as his middle name when we married, I hope that, in the case of a YES vote, life in Scotland continues to be as good or better than it is right now; and that in the case of a NO vote, the fractures between people of different opinions heal rapidly and that Westminster’s recent offers of concessions to Scotland are real.

I don’t get a vote, which is a good thing, as I’d probably be a Don’t Know until I got to the ballot box, and would then choose based on a hundred different reasons, including how much I disliked any particular politicians and whether the sun was shining that day and whether I was particularly missing Iain Banks.

Er, well sort of anyway. 
I also have no confidence in the Westminster system, mind.

[Lyn Farel]

I only voted undecided so I could see the poll results.

Never underestimate the need for a cultural identity, and more importantly the need for that identity to be perceived equally (politically, culturally etc) to your peers.

Are you saying that the british/Uk cultural identity is a non existing entity ? Or that Scots do not have one at the moment ?

[Mizhara]

I'm saying the Scots have one the same as we did while under the Danes. It's not entirely the same, but I can just see an attempt at holding Scandinavia together as one. We have a Scandinavian identity, but it comes after our Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish and Icelandic identities.

I voted yes, because it's not about nationalism. It's about being yourselves, governed by yourselves, THEN forming and maintaining bonds outside of that. The drawbacks are worth it.

[Louella Dougans]

I disagree that the Scots have a national identity.

[Mizhara]

Quite a few scots I know and worked with disagree quite vehemently with that.