WHILE it is true that (borrowing from Mr Springsteen) "I was born in the USA", my grandparents were born in Scotland and I have thus been following with great interest Scotland's ongoing quest for independence ever since the 2014 indyref campaign. (And, if there ever came a time at which I could apply to the COUNTRY of Scotland for dual citizenship to reclaim my heritage, I would proudly do so.)

I recently attended a conference in our most temperate city of Phoenix, Arizona earlier this month. Not only were attendees from across the USA present, but also several from the EU. I was most interested in what our EU visitors had to say about Brexit and indyref2. Consider this a view from afar.

First I spoke to some folks from Austria. "What about Brexit?" Meh. They were not concerned about Brexit as they felt it was too far away from them to matter, but they did concede that it might be different if they lived in the western part of the continental EU, and that it could affect EU folks living and working in the UK.

Next up, some folks from the Czech Republic. Again, meh. They did not feel that Brexit was of any consequence to them. I did ask though, if they felt that Brexit had provided an "inoculation" against similar desires for other EU members to leave. To my surprise, the response was: "That remains to be seen."

Finally, I spoke with a woman from England. The whole reason I was prompted to send in this letter. She has been a frequent traveller to the western part of the USA but I got the impression she did not travel to the continental EU at all. I asked about Brexit. To my surprise, another meh. She was not concerned about Brexit.

Okay, I thought surely she would care about who would be the new PM. Nope, she really was not interested. Digging deeper, she's not a Conservative party member and did not get to vote for the next PM.

I think my mouth might have been gaping a bit at this point. How could a UK resident not be concerned at least a little bit about Brexit?

Okay, I'm thinking, let's see about indyref2 ... I asked her what she thought about Scotland gaining independence. Immediate knee-jerk reaction: "Oh, they could never make it on their own." I spit out some flies. And then she went on with several rather unfavourable remarks about the FM. At which point I confessed that I don't care for the way May speaks (always sounds like a blustery windbag to me, but I managed to be polite and not actually say that bit).

I said: "What about Finland, Norway and Ireland, they are quite successful?" Immediate response: "Scotland depends on all the money they're given, they're so spread out, everything is more expensive, they couldn't possibly make it without that extra infusion of cash." I spit out a glob of flies, I couldn't seem to keep my mouth closed.

Then I said: "But, compared to the population of England of roughly 55 million, England wouldn't hardly even notice the loss of Scotland's roughly five million."

She replied: "But we're quite fond of Scotland, they have that lovely accent and we want to keep them around." In other words, Scotland makes an adorable lapdog, but they must know their place.

Somehow, even though this individual didn't seem to be the least bit concerned about the next PM or Brexit, both of which likely have the potential to affect her personally far more than indyref2, she had immediate knee-jerk strong negative (and factually unsound) reactions to the idea of an independent Scotland. (And how did she form those nasty opinions of Nicola? The excessive and extravagant BBC coverage of Scottish politics?)

That is the attitude indyref2 is facing. A result of decades of Tory propaganda? 
Whatever the reason, a successful indyref2 will have to unbrainwash any Scots who have been so afflicted.

Best of luck,
Kyle McKay
USA

PS While it appears that you'll shortly be dealing with the Blonde Boojum PM, we here have been dealing with the Orange Menance POTUS for years now. You can survive it!