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


"Ian Smith" <ianinhoose@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1136256710.18562.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> "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!

But that means GlenallAn would have to actually apply some positive thinking
and do something instead of wallowing in the mud of eternal depression and
moaning about the state of things.

I'm off to buy a Sun to see what he'll be whinging about next.


.

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