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Comment by revolvingocelot | Hacker News Reader

>It is not the first time the public in the ethnically divided country, which is plagued by tribal separatist movements in the regions of Scotland and Northern Ireland

What's unclear? Yesteryear's elites drew lines on maps dividing or trapping people who don't look or think like them, and today's elites, sitting in distant enclaves, expect economic productivity and quiet passivity from their thralls. Now those people want self-determination!

Am I talking about Kurds or the Scottish?

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I know we Scots on the whole are probably a little more attractive than our friends down South but "people who don't look like them" is perhaps a little too much a stretch here? :-)

How about "people who don't sound like them"?

It's an oversimplification, but to an otherwise uninterested African observer, everyone in the UK probably looks and sounds alike. How can they express such vehemence over such small differences?! Savages!!

The Scots have never voted for the government that has been elected for most of the last 50 year. Boris Johnson is such a corrupt buffoon that the independence movement doesn't have to lift a finger to bolster support.

I am with you (particularly re Boris) but didn't we overwhelmingly vote Labour in '97. I suppose arguably that was partly due to the promise of getting a devolved parliament

The point was that for all intents and purposes the ruling elite (who would have been responsible for drawing said lines) would be in appearance virtually indistinguishable[0] from their subjects living in any of the component parts of the UK. You're in agreement, basically :)

[0] - other than the bit about us being much handsomer in Scotland, of course ;-)

Ahh, not so! I've been in contact with my hypothetical African colonialist-scientist, and after reading about the successes of Belgian phrenology in the 30s he's suggested that hypothetical African science might best isolate the "Scottish" from "British" via examination of tooth decay!!

While decades of Irn Bru consumption and a diet rich in Highland Toffee has caused no end of dental problems, I'll have you know my remaining tooth is in fine condition.

I'm sorry to say that the hypothetical African colonialist-scientist has examined your dental records and pronounced you British :(

Maybe he can be convinced by a tap water sample?

I reluctantly accept my assigned ethnicity, though I reserve the right to be very bitter and over-use the cry-laugh emoji sarcastically on social media … hey maybe I am British after all :-)

I think thats the point the article is an oversimplification to the point of absurdity

> people who don't look or think like them

Thats unfair the Scottish aren't that ugly.

Exactly, the Scottish don't look like the English!

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