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The probability of Scotland voting for independence from the UK over the next few years is increasing rapidly. I think this is another sign of the "breaking up" aspect of bear markets. The last time Scotland came this close to voting for independence was in 1979.
--Murray Gunn

Exactly right. The bear market that ran through 1979 was only a Cycle-degree experience. This one encompasses two larger degrees, so the potential for a break with England is much greater. Canada’s successionists are also stirring. Or how about Vermont? A Washington Post opinion piece begins:
The winds of secession are blowing in the Green Mountain State. Vermont was once an independent republic, and it can be one again. We think the time to make that happen is now.

Sounds far fetched, but the authors insist there’s a movement afoot. A poll of the University of Vermont's Center for Rural Studies found that 8% of respondents favor peaceful secession, which makes Vermont “foremost among the many states with secessionist movements (including Alaska, California, Hawaii, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Texas).” Secessionists insist that a “350-year swing of history's pendulum toward large, centralized imperial states is once again reversing itself,” and the Wave Principle says they are right. As you say, this is a great example of the fragmenting effects of a bear market, which are covered in the Cultural Trends section of this month’s issue of The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast. We’ll cover some more manifestations of the big break-up in future entries.