Last week I was invited to write a blog post for Third Sector Yes, a group of people in the third sector who are keen to build support for a Yes vote in the referendum. I’m not sure if I will write such a blog or not, but more importantly I’m not sure yet if I will vote Yes. I’ve always been a socialist and disliked nationalism, so it is some surprise to me that I’ve been sitting on the fence for these last two years, trying to work out which way to jump.
I’m not going to rehearse the various arguments for and against independence - I don’t have enough information and many of the more complex issues I simply do not understand, although I am reading and researching the topic as much as I can.
All I really know for certain is that my final choice will be based not on what sort of arrangement will suit me in the near future. I suspect that whatever the outcome of the referendum it won’t have much of a direct effect in what remains of my lifetime. My final choice will focus on what sort of Scotland I want our grandchildren and their generation to inherit. Being by nature an optimist, my hopes for the country our grandchildren inherit are thus:
Now I wonder which political arrangement is most likely to achieve some of my aspirations for Scotland?
I’m not going to rehearse the various arguments for and against independence - I don’t have enough information and many of the more complex issues I simply do not understand, although I am reading and researching the topic as much as I can.
All I really know for certain is that my final choice will be based not on what sort of arrangement will suit me in the near future. I suspect that whatever the outcome of the referendum it won’t have much of a direct effect in what remains of my lifetime. My final choice will focus on what sort of Scotland I want our grandchildren and their generation to inherit. Being by nature an optimist, my hopes for the country our grandchildren inherit are thus:
- A peaceful Scotland: a place that is free from weapons of mass destruction, free from hosting them, free from the will or the power to use them, free from the threat that hosting them poses for our children and able to use more productively the vast resource we currently plan to use in replacing them.
- A prosperous Scotland: prosperous in the sense of happiness and health being as important as wealth, with a clear understanding that it is only when we care adequately for the needs of our most vulnerable members that we can be truly prosperous. A Scotland that understands that investing in the early years is the surest way to reduce future welfare spending.
- A co-operative Scotland: a country that looks beyond its borders in a spirit of co-operation, respect and mutual support. A country that is willing to work with others to find solutions for problems that confront us worldwide, such as climate change. A country that welcomes strangers, particularly those who flee from oppression elsewhere.
Now I wonder which political arrangement is most likely to achieve some of my aspirations for Scotland?
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