There is no free poor country in this world, they depend on big and powerful countries, they are just under an illusion of freedom while getting financial aid and import food/drink/tech from powerful countries and do shit summer jobs in these countries and so on.
Okay, let's talk about Ukraine. Is Ukraine independent? On paper, it looks so but in reality, let's look deep. It's located between EU countries and Russia, both of them have their own interests. Russia wants to expand, EU wants to expand, Ukraine wants to be on its own but Ukraine isn't powerful enough but the powerful ones want to take it over. Isn't it so? Do you really think that West doesn't have its interest in Ukraine? Both, Russia and West have their own interests and there is a war between West and Russia on the field of Ukraine. Ukraine is a war field.
That's just my opinion but I think there is nothing wrong with joining a strong and powerful country. If you can't do things on your own and don't know how to do and struggle alone, then you need a mentor.
Would you like your family to be absorbed by a bigger and more powerful family (in which you'd have effectively no say). Would you let another man have authority over you, your wife and children if it meant more money and safety? Would that make YOU more or less powerful?
Let's not try to paint weakness as a virtue.
A mentor is someone who helps you become competent and independent, not someone who tries to take control over you.
No, this example is not a good example there. Usually, women prefer strong men and if man is a weak, poor and coward, wife will divorce him. Weak man can't provide wife and kids, can't protect them in danger. Man has to be strong to maintain authority over his wife and children. So, yeah, in real life, you have to be strong to be independent, this is the brutal reality.
Personally, I am focused on improving myself, I feel the pressure to be competitive in every aspect of life, so, definitely I'll have an authority on them.
Would England, Scotland and Wales be powerful on their own? Or does the UK sound better? Even Ireland took English as an official language and changed it's strategy to end poverty in their country.
Are Scotland or Wales powerful at all? They're part of the UK but what power do they each have? Does any of them have any real impact on the decisions in the UK? Both countries decided to keep their own parliaments for some reasons though, unlike England, which doesn't need one as it controls the British one. About half of Scotland wants independence from the UK, but they're still reliant on whether or not the British parliament let them have another referendum on that.
Not sure how's the language relevant, but it's not quite like Ireland chose to speak English out of their free will, did they? It was forced on them under the British occupation and they decided to stick to it. On the contrary, much smaller Wales still have their own language and they'd teach it to their children in schools, with English being the second one.
I don't think it will be better if Scotland and Wales were on their own. If Wales, England and Scotland become independent, then they'll have independent currencies, GBP for England and two other for Wales and Scotland. If they want to trade between each-other, they'll have import tax, currency exchange fees, etc.
Ireland decided to stick to it because English is the most beneficial language to own. England conquered the world, a lot of powerful countries, like the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK speak English language, at the same time English is an international language. If you want to adopt modern technologies, science, attract talented immigrants and so on, it's better if the whole nation speaks English. I think that was a very wise choice and probably forced choice too, but not bad.