We have that in America too, y'know

[neadods]

I have strong opinions about the Scottish Referendum today, although I've kept my mouth shut in the sure knowledge that nobody in a position to be personally affected gives a damn what Jane Q. American thinks. (Secession is not as academic a concept as you'd think over here; 140-odd years after the Civil War, we've still got states threatening to secede. You could set your watch by how often Texas brings it up.)

So, I'm watching the news today, specifically the Telegraph's liveblog, and I just hit a quote that made my jaw drop:

Moira Love, a 49-year-old mobile hairdresser, has never voted in an election before. But she is voting Yes because “Scotland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world – and yet we’ve got food banks”.

First off, yay for you Moira. Honestly. Voting is a powerful, important tool as well as a right.

But second... America's also one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and we've got food banks all the hell over. Seriously, everywhere. Government ones, private charity ones, church soup kitchens, from sea to shining sea. With our independence, with total control of our natural resources, with our vast wealth as a nation We. Have. Got. Food. Banks.

If Texas ever actually puts its citizenry where its mouth is and reestablishes itself as an independent nation, y'know what it's going to have?

Oil.

Cattle.

And food banks.

Comments

[legionseagle (from livejournal.com)]

Yes, well, I don't suppose Texas ever regularly returned a Communist elected representative, as Glasgow used to do. Although Alex Salmond has ties to some fairly right-wing economically hardline types, the fight in the heartlands has been based on promises that independence will bring a decisive leftwards swing (and by leftward, contrary to the opinion of idiot-features in the Atlantic, I do not mean centre-left by US standards, I mean left by Scottish standards.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I wish the US had a true left. We need it badly.

[legionseagle (from livejournal.com)]

To be absolutely honest, after reading this ("How dare you have a democratic process based on an 85% voter turnout and a 97% voter registration when terrorism's so much more picturesque?") as the last straw on top of a pile of other manure, I've not got the energy for discussing this with anyone from the US at the moment.