Monday, September 15, 2014

Vote for autonomy!

 
I don't understand what there is to debate. Scotland has a chance to make distance between itself and the British Empire, a political enterprise now diminished in stature but still responsible historically for most of the political trouble in the world today.

Consider the disgusting condescension towards the Scots this week from England's aristocratic prime minister ("There's no going back from this. No re-run.") or its repellent queen ("Think very carefully about the future"). Who would want to stay in a personal relationship that was like that? Theirs is exactly the brand of haughtiness that inspired to rebellion everyone from John Adams (USA) to Michael Collins (Ireland) to Mahatma Gandhi (India) to Abdel Nasser (Egypt) to Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya). None of those men-- or their brothers and sisters-- came to independence from England so easily. Blood had to be spilled, and usually by the gallon. There was no option for them to simply check a box.

All I needed to hear to be willing to throw my weight in back of the Scottish independence movement was that the global banks were against it, but PM David Cameron has been unlikeable as well. He doubled down on the rhetoric of his Conservative Party today, trying, rather pathetically, to illicit loyalty to Britain. Strangely, he referenced the Industrial Revolution as a great moment of partnership between England and Scotland. Scotland lost two million people to North America and Australia between the years of 1841 and 1931. Today there are approximately as many Scottish Americans and Scottish Canadians-- five million-- as there are people living in the homeland. The Industrial Revolution is something that happened to Scotland.

Cameron has now warned the Scots against losing their currency, against losing access to British embassies. He's scared shitless. He knows that Scottish self-determination is good for Scotland, and bad for David Cameron. He knows that, at this moment, there is no waiting list of former British colonies pleading to get back into the Kingdom.

Get out now. Let freedom ring and the bagpipes wail. Leave the Empire and then concentrate on your own affairs. You might begin a trend. Make it about independence, not nationalism. Certainly you have the resources to prosper. Don't be afraid of yourselves. The timing is exquisite. You can develop strength in your own currency before the dollar collapses. Stage your walkout before another entitled brat is unveiled at Buckingham Palace.

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