It's a Debate About Prosperity, Not Survival.

Hearing Unionist talk on a daily basis, there seems to be a prevalent conception that the entire independence campaign is based on the question of "How will Scotland be able to survive after independence?". This seems rather odd to me, there has been countless admissions from the unionist side that there is no doubt that Scotland would be able to at least stand on its own two feet. The most prevalent in my memory comes from David Cameron who said clearly: "Of course I am not saying Scotland could not survive on its own." If the largest and most public advocate of the benefits of the union, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, agrees that Scotland could survive, then that should be a sufficient clarification for the unionists... unfortunately it never is.

I find it a regrettable situation when the debate around Scottish independence comes back to Scotland's basic ability to survive as an independent country. Time and time again, on both sides of the debate, the claims that we are too wee, too poor, and too stupid to be an independent country have been proved to be based on nothing but total ignorance, and revealed to be a pathetic use of scaremongering.

No one in the mainstream debate surrounding Scottish independence makes the claims that we could not survive as an independent country. (even "Better Together" verifies that in their latest video) Everyone knows that Scotland is a resource rich, energy rich country which has some of the highest education levels in the world. The crux of today's debate is whether or not Scotland is more prosperous as part of the United Kingdom or not, I have much more respect for those on the unionist side who take an informed part in that debate.

I do not need to delve into the nitty-gritty details of how we will be a more prosperous country in the event of independence. - you will be able to find much evidence of that on this blog - What I do want to say however is that the Scottish people need to get away from the childish claims that we could not survive as independent country. Some of my favourite claims which I have heard along these lines are such things as:

"Sean Connery lives in America.", "When the oil runs out, all we'll have is whiskey and shortbread tins!", "How will we even be able to feed ourselves?!", "The only reason Switzerland does well is because they stole Nazi gold after WWII!", "Us Scots can't manage anything!".

While these claims are certainly full of comic value, they do raise a serious point. These are the things which people actually believe about their own country. I have often believed that in a debate the most important thing a person can do is educate those who are wrong, as if you do not, it is ignorance, not truth, that will win. And this is certainly true in the debate about surrounding Scottish independence. The most important thing we on the Yes side of the debate can do over these next two years it to educate those who still believe in these misguided, antiquated, and severely ignorant views.



Linked here, is some evidence of the sustainability of the Scottish economy:

·         http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0039/00390896.pdf

·         http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Energy-sources/traditional-fuels/oilandgas

·         http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/Statistics/source/renewables/et6_1.xls

·         http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-16532440

·         http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2012/04/seveneconomicstrengths15042012

·         http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/political-news/the-myths-of-independence.15629679

·         http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-economy/4235-would-an-independent-scotland-be-financially-sound

·         http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/Home/Spare-us-the-phoney-analysis-Scotland-can-hold-her-own-7601111.htm

·         http://www.oilofscotland.org/mccrone_oil_reports.html

·         http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/opinion/cartoon/george_kerevan_we_can_still_rise_and_be_a_triple_a_nation_again_1_2040202

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy