Believe in yourself, believe in Scotland.

Consolidating my recent musings, I have been thinking a lot about what the root cause of disbelief among Scots towards our ability to manage our country independently might be. When looking at modern day Scotland, it strikes me as odd that there is a common belief that there is no way we could possibly manage our own country. We are an established first world society, with a stable infrastructure, a world-class education system, a National health Service which is fully paid for and ran by us, a buzzing business world that is outperforming the rest of the UK in many sectors, a net production on food, (we export more than we eat) and not to forget a country rich in natural resources, both finite and renewable. Any person from the less-fortunate parts of the world would want to benefit from our social-democratic society in a heartbeat.

So, where does the pessimism towards our potential stem from? Well, if we take a look at what the state (not nation) of Britain was, and still is, we can quickly arrive at one of the root-causes. The state of Britain was formed as an imperialistic state made out of sub-servant nations. Its sole purpose was to take advantage of the opportunities for establishing an empire at the time of its creation. And what does any empire not want? Rebellion. An imperialistic state depends on its sub-servant nations being obedient and productive to maximise expansion, and the best way to do this is to consolidate the cultures of its member nations into a fabricated state culture. This is exactly what happened to Scotland. Our culture was taken away and replaced by British culture, leading to anyone who still involves themselves in Scottish culture being seen as alien and dissident. Up until recently, with the resurgence of nationalism, anyone seen to be indulging themselves in Scottish culture was seen as being extremely parochial and regressive. 

It is not nationalism which is regressive however, it is the British state. You do not have to look far to see the desperate attempts by Westminster to keep that fabricated 'British nation' going, just think back to the recent onslaught we received from the British media regarding the 'Jubilympics'. What Britain represents is an archaic imperialistic view of the world, and the consolidation of nations' cultures in the name of pragmatism. The fact of the matter is the British state was not born out of a unionist-fabricated romanticised love which each nation of the British Isles felt for each other – neither was it born out of a democratic vote - it was born out of pragmatism and the desire of the aristocracy to maximise their economic potential.

 I personally find it insulting when a Westminster politician tries to make out that it was the British public which chose to enter a union. That, is nonsense, the masses had no say in the matter. The people of Scotland and England were forced into a parliamentary union in 1707 by the top echelons of society in order to exploit the masses on a global scale. One of the founding principles of the British state was greed, after the union was formed the Scottish aristocracy received huge amount of capital from Westminster; no doubt arranged bribery. The people of Scotland were so annoyed at the loss of their independence, that there were months of riots in Glasgow, and marshal law had to be established in Glasgow. These initial rebellions were crushed however, and with time, British rule prevailed

So there's the historical reasons for modern disbelief among many Scots, and that's the thing about history it is harsh and unfair, but it does serve as good hindsight for how we can make progressive decisions for our nations’ future. What can be said then to make Scots believe in Scotland? Well, we have a very long list of our contributions to the world. These include industrial might (Glasgow once built a fifth of the world's shippage), creative prowess, and intellectual strength (Television, telephone, tarmac, penicillin and radar to name a few). In fact, to paraphrase the British prime-minister Winston Churchill: "Only the ancient Greeks may have contributed nearly as much too modern society as the Scots." 

Scotland can also be proud of its progressive social-democratic values. Scotland, throughout democratic history, has traditionally voted for social-democratic governments, where all citizens of our country, regardless of race, religion, sex or creed, receive equal welfare provisions. Where everyone can receive some of the best education in the world with primary, secondary and higher education provided based on the merits of the person, not their wealth. Where the most vulnerable in our society are provided the support they need by the government which we elect, not profit-driven corporations. Where all workers can be assured that the country they contribute to provides a safety-net for them for whatever ill fortune they may have. Where our public services, such as an NHS, police, fire-service, and councils are protected from cuts, and privatisation, so that they are focused on providing the best service they can to the people of their country, rather than trying to claw back the money they have lost from government cuts and not working for profit due to privatisation.

To bring this conglomeration of thoughts to a conclusion, I would say that Scotland does have a lot to be proud of, both in our history and in our modern day Scotland. Do not be fooled by the pessimistic ramblings of the unionist parties. Scotland is a country with a strong intellect, a hard-working population, a 21^st century economy that is not just stable but has the potential to become exponentially successful for our population size and progressive social-democratic values. Believe in yourself, and believe in your country; fear will only hold our country back, it is positivity that a modern Scotland needs.