19 March 2012

Scottish Independence - Yes Please!

I decided today that when the referendum comes around in 2014 I will vote for Scottish Independence. Not for the obvious reasons,  I actually quite like being British. I think our country has a great history and I am not really bothered about the Scottish identity. I am not really that bothered about my own Welsh identity. I love the bit of land that is called Wales, I am a keen student of history, I like culture, I even love the fact that we just won the six nations last Saturday. But, I won't plan to make any serious decisions about my future based on the outcome of 15 blokes in red jerseys kicking an odd shaped ball around a field, or the fact that 600 hundred years ago my ancestors belong to one tribe rather than another.

Society, politics and geography are fluid, they change constantly and evolve perpetually. Nobody is a native. We are all descended from migrants at some point, so bitching about wars you lost centuries ago or about the fact that you were invaded and conquered by a foreign neighbour is a fairly meaningless sentiment. Nationalism has less to do with cultural identity and is more about finding a scape goat for your own failings. Renton summed it up nicely in Trainspotting.

The reason I will vote Scottish Independence is that it offers the only real chance I see to be governed by a half-way decent bunch of people. Today in the news, the self serving bunch of Tory's cretins who current run the UK are proposing to scrap the highest rate of income tax and sell the road infer-structure to the Chinese - I kid you not! You couldn't make this.

So after rail privatisation, which was such a huge success, they think that the way to stimulate the economy is to sell off our infer-structure to the Far East. Really? Are they truly that stupid? No they are not and it's dangerous to think that they might be. Nope they don't think its a good idea at all, they just see an opportunity to spend less on the country, thus allowing them to give bigger tax breaks to their rich donors. Who cares if it doesn't actually work and if it seriously erodes the long term future of the country, that's just tough luck? The rich will get their tax break and who knows, maybe a few of their buddies will make money doing the deals along the way.

When will the voting public wake up and realise what these people are doing?

HELLOOO! Your schools, your higher education, your health service, your police force, your roads and almost every other aspect of your society are being sold off to help rich people pay less tax. Its crazy, not just for the poor, but for the whole of society. I can say this because, statistically I am rich, allegedly at least. My income puts me in the top 5% of the population, our joint income puts us in the top 1%, and I still think its a ridiculous state of affairs. I want to live in a society were everyone is looked after, not where a few ultra rich, piss on a slumbering population, fat and over indulged on a crass diet of celebrity gossip and X-factor. Too stupid to wake up, take an interest in what is actually happening and too quick to blame the people down the ladder rather than looking up and seeing where the shit is really coming from.

The sad thing is that for the majority of the UK population, even if they woke up to what is going on there is no credible alternative. Labour, trashed by the warmonger Blair and the idiot Brown is a now lead by a wet fish who couldn't fight his way out of a proverbial paper bag and the liberals have bloated their copy-book for eternity. Only in Wales and Scotland is there actually a true option with a reasonable chance of getting elected.

So when the independence question comes around I will vote in favour, not because I care about Scottish nationhood but because I want a proper socialist government that runs the country I live in for the benefit of all it's people.

2 comments:

madliam said...

Couldn't agree with you more, John. If I was still there, I too would vote for independence. I don't agree with everything Alex Salmond does, but his government has been a breath of fresh air and are just about the only progressive party in British politics.

Dan said...

Good to see it never took long for the insular Scottish ways to seep into your bones John ;-).
Salmond has shown some nice ideas regarding independence which is promising and it makes no sense to apply laws from the London MP's to Scotland where the people and social environment have different demands.

I also strongly support Independence but mostly for the braveheart related themes ..... Haha.


Dan