Re: Time to liquidate Scotland and sell off her assets!

"RMB" <robert.black@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:C9KdnWFMlJxrFiTeRVnyig@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Key quote
>> "The idea that Scotland might one day 'be a nation again' should
>> simply be dropped. We had our chance, when everyone else in Europe
>> had
>> it, in the 19th and 20th centuries. But we calculated that the
>> Union
>> and the Empire were a better bet than independence. Well, live with
>> it." - PROF NIALL FERGUSON
>
>
> There are a few gems of truth in the Professor's
> somewhat unbalanced snapshot of Scottish life and times.
>
> It may well be true that Scotland HAS missed the boat in
> terms of nation State aspiration. Often the comparison is made by
> Scottish Nationalists with european countries like Hollan, Belgium,
> Norway etc as a justification for a belief in the potential for
> success of such a Scotland.
>
> But I am forced to conclude that ceratinly over all of my lifetime
> there has been little evidence of real demand for nationhood
> by Scots. Contrast this with the history of Ireland where the
> concept
> of an Ireland in the UK has been roundly rejected as a vehicle in
> which
> Ireland may travel with comfort and dignity.
>
> Not so the Scots.!
> The Scots have in fact, been comfortable with the Union, and it is
> true today that Scotland is no less substantially well off than the
> bulk
> of England, with the exception of London and the Home counties
> which in reality may be perceived as a state within a state, having
> a huge population and a level of political, cultural and commercial
> dynamism that has never been witnessed anywhere else in the UK.
> I believe that that is simply..a fact.
>
> Add to this my own perception, that Devolution, admittedly a sort of
> benign halfway house sleight-of-hand, has at a stroke emasculated
> the SNP's claim to legitimacy as a vehicle for substantive
> realignment
> of Scotland position relative to the UK. One cannot either ignore
> the historic sea swell of Europeanism in which Scotland has been
> caught with just about every other European nation.
>
> Whether by accident or design, I believe that history will see the
> laughable parliamentary arrangements that Scotland has accepted
> as a guarantee that Scottish independence can never seriously be
> put back on the agenda.
>
> In effect...the 'baw is burst', 'oan the slates', 'ower the dyke' or
> any one of a hundred metaphors that indicate that 'the wheels hiv
> fell oaff Scotland's barra.
>
> And it Scots themselves who are substantially to blame.
> When people sing the songs of liberty in a British context,
> even in a Glasgow pub, it is Ireland's songs they sing,
> never Scotland's....for we have none.
>
> Glenallan
> ---------

Sorry, Glenallan. I don't agree that Scotland has no chance or
doesn't deserve independence. We are a rich country, but with a large
tax burden towards London, the presence of which is deliberately
obfuscated by those in power, in order to perpetuate the arrangement.
A nation of 5 million can do very well in the scheme of things, but
especially so, considering the resources at our disposal. A breakup of
the Union doesn't necessarily mean a closed border either, as far as
trade goes. It can be the beginning of a better relationship between
the former UK nations, without financial dishonesty to sour things.

However, none of that diminishes my long-held respect for your
intellectual musings. Keep it up, good man!


.

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