To take the economic arguments first, it's easy to see that they're nothing but a load of rubbish. We've been told that companies are queuing up to leave Scotland if it becomes independent. The fact is, however, that most companies these days are part of international conglomerates, which don't actually give a monkey's fart who is in power. Go to any country in the world and you'll find the shops stocked with Coca-Cola. Banks, supermarkets, electrical goods comapnies, computer games firms and even the television channels we watch are becoming more and more global. Step off a plane anywhere and whether the country is Communist, led by a Fascist military dictatorship, an autocratic monarchy or a democracy you'll meet people wearing Nike trainers, carrying a Nokia phone, drinking Coca-Cola or Pepsi and smoking a Marlboro. The streets will be filled with vehicles from all over the world and people will be travelling to work in factories, banks and shops with names that come from America, Germany and Japan. This being the case, why would any company leave Scotland just because it's become independent?
As to economic theories of how Scotland will perform; they're all bunkum. We've had Free Trade, Protectionism, Deflation, Keynsianism and Monetarism and none of them have worked. Economists are baffled when their ideas don't work and they have nothing new to offer. In other words, economic experts don't know their arse from their elbow. So why should we listen to them? Much better to concentrate on social factors, like how our country is being left on the scrapheap while the fat cats in London take more and more. Is that what you really want?
The Church of Scotland used to be the established church in this country, but lost most of its clout with the Union of 1707. The Disruption of 1843 showed how riven with dissention the Church was and it took a long time to heal the divisions. As far as the Church's politics go it used to be quite a bigoted organisation, even calling for Irish immigrants to be repatriated. Things have changed these days, though. The Church has apologised for its previous stances and, if anything, the Church of Scotland in the Twenty-First Century is a left-of-centre organisation, commited to ecumenicalism and equality in society. The Church of Scotland has moved on and attitudes towards it need to change as well.
Folk, however, point to the favours that Bisto FC got in being allowed into the league and in perpetuating the myth that it's 'still Rangers' as proof of an agenda in this small country of ours. We need to stay in the Union to stop this kind of thing happening, is the conclusion reached. My answer is, being in the Union hasn't stopped it happening so far, has it? This one-sidedness is all part-and-parcel of our society as it is right now. So how do we change this? Certainly not by maintaining the status quo! If our country is in charge of its own destiny then we'll all have a say in what goes on in it. If you don't like the way things are being run then vote for somebody else; and you won't need to worry about the selfish south of England electing Tory governments and negating your voice!
Have a read at McMurdo's website; the Orangemen are terrified of a YES vote. McMurdo is even resorting to threats of violence now if The Peeppil don't get their way. He's talking of enclaves breaking away from Scotland to preserve their 'way of life'. Even McMurdo admits that the idea is ridiculous, but he is far from happy at the idea of an independent Scotland. I have mentioned a few times on here why The Peeppil are so dead against Scotland breaking away from the Union; they don't want to abandon their brother bigots in Northern Ireland.
And there's another point: if we have independence there will be no more dinosaur jockeys moaning about Celtic in Westminster and the European Parliament, no more sad wee men in Belfast trying to stir up trouble for Celtic and no more snide complaints to UEFA. They would no longer have any connection to us and would have to address any complaints to the Scottish Embassy, who could then tell them to go fuck a brontosaurus!
The fact that the Better Together campaign has been a complete failure so far, with nothing but scare stories to offer, shows that they have no argument at all. The majority of people in this country do not think like McMurdo and his cohorts; just look at what happened when our football authorities tried to shoehorn Bisto FC into the SPL. If The Peeppil try to carry out McMurdo's threats of violence, nearly the whole country will be against them; they are nowhere near as powerful as they think they are. To get the majority of Scottish folk on the side of the likes of McMurdo there would have to be a scenario like the one in 'Torrent' (available now - just click the link MY BOOKS above!).
Somebody on Phil Mac's page said that he is a socialist and wants less borders, not more. A fair point and one that I, and many others, would agree with. Look, however, at the way politics are moving in England. Just read some of the articles in the English press, and the comments on their websites, and you'll see that the UKIP mentality is getting more and more strong. They all hate anything to do with Europe and blame immigrants for everything. Do you want to be dragged into this isolationism and xenophobia? You will be, no matter how much you hate it, if we stay with the UK. Personally, I would rather remain in Europe and an independent Scotland is the only way to guarantee this. Forget all the scare stories; the majority of European commentators are ready to welcome us with open arms.
McMurdo compares the referendum to the situation in Ulster before the First World War. The Liberal Pary was in power and, as they had promised for decades, they were trying to give Ireland Home Rule. There was also the little matter of an arms race with the Germans and war with the axis powers was looking more and more likely. The Ulster Unionists, however, cared nothing about the world situation; all they were concerned about was preserving their own superior status. Consequently, they began to import arms from Germany to fight against the British! So where would the Orangemen get their weapons from this time? Syria? Iran? The mind boggles.
A post on McMurdo's blog that is worth reading:
"It sounds like the traitors of our Union are up for it . The Sheridans and Galloways that were given freedom of speech by our forefathers , would destroy that same freedom and make sure our Country would become a stronghold for haters and traitors of our Union and our Protestantism .
The road to Rome and it`s Hateful , Criminal and downright despicable legacies is on our collective doorstep .
It`s time ” The People ” thought long and hard about using that vote , I know I would,"
The fact that Galloway is pro-Union is lost on this character; his bigotry and hatred means that he will not listen to anyone of Galloways's 'background'. And I have outlined before on here how the Orange Order fought against every extension of the franchise in Britain, so how his 'forefathers' gave us all 'freedom of speech' is beyond me. And the 'Protestantism' this hate-filled creature talks about has nothing to do with churches or Christianity; it's all about bigotry and hatred. In fact, it's not Protestantism at all; it's Orangeism. And as for traitors, surely folk that put their own selfish, narrow interests before the good of their country are the traitors? That's the type that wants you to vote NO.
Finally, let me apologise for the seriousness of today's blog, but it had to be said!
"We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills...no, not the Germans; the British - with German guns!"
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