I don't see how anything racism-related is related to Scottish independence.
After all, no matter how the vote goes, pretty much the same people will live in Scotland, with the same attitudes they have now. It's not like the more liberal Scotland is likely to be any more racially segregated than UK is.
Generally what kind of bothers me (to the point that any of this matters to a Finn) is that most of the anti-independence arguments seem completely disingenuous to me. Pretty much everyone of them play off on fears that seem completely irrelevant when you start looking at a world where the vote has already happened (which is where the possible fears would materialize, if at all).
For example, it's 100% guaranteed no company will leave Scotland even if the vote is "yes", no matter what kind of threats they are making at this point. Why the heck would they? Companies are in the business of making money. If you're an established player in a market of 5+ million people, the majority of whom have just declared they prefer the idea of an independent Scotland, the very last thing you want to do is painting yourself as anti-Scottish (and anti-democracy).
Besides, if you leave the country, it will give you a significant lobbying disadvantage when Scotland starts to go over every law they have to decide what they want changed.
Companies might leave based if the taxation changes to a point where the cost of moving is less than the potential gains in moving. Other reasons seem extremely unlikely to me.
Another stupid argument is "well what currency you will use?". Oh please. Is there a country in modern times that has not had a currency? This is a technical matter. Also, since it's generally extremely beneficial for a country to have it's currency to be in as wide circulation as possible, I don't see why the UK would actually want to stop the Scotland from using their currency.
Will Scotland be accepted into the EU or Euro? Who cares. Iceland is doing fine without them, Scotland will too. Not to mention most former Yugoslavia countries, Norway and Switzerland. For most people, life with or without EU is mostly the same. The benefits and drawbacks are complicated.
Since companies will want to trade with Scotland, (because again there's money to be made there just like everywhere else), free trade agreements will get done, end of story.
I mean, most of the threats are so irrelevant anyway, when you consider the stakes. This is a decision that might easily carry on through history for the next 300 years. Off the top of my head I can think of two things that matter on that timescale:
- The democratic will of the Scottish people will pretty much certainly be better heard in an independent country.
- There will just as certainly be some current benefits lost that come with being part of a major power of international politics and finance.
It's worth noting that pretty much in every situation those things go against each other. For example, since so much is these days decided on an international level, the Scottish might find that there might not be that much more they can decide for themselves as an independent but small country.
On the other hand, it's clear Scotland has never been a priority for London. So even if the Scottish economy takes a hit, the Scots on average might end still end up better off due to more of it's economy actually benefiting the Scottish, and just generally money being used in ways that fits their needs and wants.
Personally it seems like a no-brainer for the average Scot really. I can say from experience (and reading statistics) that life as a member of the Nordic welfare states rocks, and if that is in fact the way Scottish politics would roll if they got the chance to decide for themselves, I don't see anything London can offer that would offset that. But of course I'm biased
