Glenn Beck says Americans need to pay attention to Thursday's Scottish vote on independence because, though everyone has the right to self-determination, if Scotland votes to become independent it could "destabilize the entire Western world."
"It is important for this main reason: What's happening in Scotland is self-determination," Beck said on his radio program. "Do people choose to say, 'I want to be part of something new. Something that is much more local'? ... I find it hard to believe that in today's world, that the 20-somethings wouldn't say, 'We want our independence.'"
But Beck said the Scottish vote also has "someone like Vladimir Putin is licking his chops."
"If they vote for their independence because they are different ethnically, that means that countries like the Ukraine, when they have a free and open election, the world has to support them," Beck said. "Because they're just saying, 'We're different ethnically, we have no trouble with Ukraine. We're ethnic Russians.'"
Countries all over the world could begin to see uprisings, Beck said.
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond poses for photographs with school children after casting his ballot at Ritchie Hall in Strichen, Scotland, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014. Polls opened across Scotland in a referendum that will decide whether the country leaves its 307-year-old union with England and becomes an independent state. (AP Photo/PA, Danny Lawson)
"Now, luckily, the Scottish and the English are not going to burst into flames, hopefully," Beck said. "They've been together about 300 years. It's not by force anymore. ... But it's not Scotland that you have to worry about. This is all about, who else is going to look at this and say, 'We have a right to do that?' And how do you stand against them?"
"I mean, I'm for the Kurds having their own homeland," Beck said. "I'm for the Yazidis having their own homeland, for the Christians and the Muslims. You want to have that, that's fine, but you have to get along with everybody else."
One caller noted that it isn't just eastern Europe and the Middle East where people could attempt to re-draw the borders, but in western Europe, also. According to the Associated Press, hundreds of thousands of Catalans have already started to organize in an effort to become independent from Spain.
"So there's two reasons to pay attention to this. One: what does it mean to the rest of the world? What are we teaching the rest of the world? Especially those that like Vladimir Putin," Beck concluded. "And two, what direction is the world going in? Remember, the leaders of the world are going for an even bigger state. They're pushing for global governance. They're pushing for the EU. The people are saying, 'The EU doesn't work and, in fact, I'm not even sure about the U.K.' Think about that!
"We're talking about about breaking up the United Kingdom, a huge thing. Just imagine this happening 50 years ago," Beck said. "Imagine what a big story it would have been. Now, people are like, 'Whatever. I don't know. Not really sure.' It's incredible."
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