Flowering of Scotland?

Like every other nation, Scotland faces some tough challenges in the years ahead. The decline of global industrial civilisation is gathering pace, spurred on by an inexorable reduction in resource availability and quality. The economic hardships that will bring, compounded by the costs we will face due to worsening environmental degradation and failures in our built infrastructure are bound to accelerate over the coming years. The initial tremors of these global seismic events are even now being felt in the form of the market crashes, banking and corporate failures of the past few years. This is only the beginning of a landmark phase-shift into a new way of human living, and no amount of government funny-money shenanigans and massaging of statistics will be able to prologue the phoney “recovery” for long. Sooner or sooner still the dam will burst again and we'll begin another slide down the slope of reducing living standards until we reset at a new normal.

As ordinary life comes apart the need to re-configure and glue it back together in new and unexpected ways will become apparent. For most likely the majority of the population – those caught blinking in the headlights of an onrushing, possibly frightening new paradigm for daily living – the experience may be traumatic. The frame of mind and attitudes we adopt in the face of this demanding future will therefore be important. Does Scotland have the cultural fortitude to keep its head above water? It's a question we need to address, given the injuries our country has been exposed to during its long history.

Carol Craig's book “The Scots' Crisis of Confidence” makes for fascinating reading in this regard with respect to Scotland's cultural traits. For anyone who grew up in or has lived here for any length of time, the descriptions of our national idiosyncrasies are bound to be recognisable – certainly for me personally there was much within the book that I could identify with. The insights I've gained from that recognition has led me to question my own attitudes and driven me to try to change them, and with the kind of difficult and demanding future we're facing, understanding our character as a people could be a valuable exercise if we're to live successfully in it.

 
We Scots were at one time an outgoing people that traded and traveled extensively in Europe, and while we of course have many positive characteristics, Craig's book focuses on the less commendable aspects of our cultural behaviour. Our capacity for negativity and pessimism and our lack of confidence as a nation are major topics for exploration. The causes of these traits are varied: the Calvinist period of religious austerity; the difficult, marginal life of most of Scotland's early inhabitants; the Highland clearances and mass emigration of large parts of our population; our higher than average war losses compared with other allied nations, particularly in the first world war; the Darien disaster and the consequent loss of our sovereignty in 1707's Act of Union. There are many more historical events that have contributed to making us what we are than just the few I have listed here, but the result has been a people practically conditioned to expect the worst. Craig draws attention to our ability to be pessimistic even in the event of good news, citing as an example a bet between a former Scotland rugby captain and an ex-England internationalist at a pre-match event in 2008. The match and the bet went to Scotland, but the former Scottish player, upon receiving his winnings said, “No doubt I'll be giving it back to you next year.” That's the kind of classic self-effacing, more-or-less defeatist attitude so common in Scotland - I've used these kind of lines myself on more than one occasion!

We're going to have to try to address our issues of national self-confidence if we are to deal positively with a harder future. It can be done – in my case, I've confronted two of the traits raised in the book, fear of criticism and of knowing my place (or "getting above myself”) by starting this blog. I've aspired to write for many years without finding the confidence or the motivation to start, but I can thank the independence referendum and my small part in the grassroots Yes campaign for inspiring me to action. It's a movement that's having the same effect on thousands of others throughout Scotland, demonstrating that despite our issues we're not a write-off yet.

The levels of optimism and hope for the future evident in the Yes movement belie the insecure, negative and fatalistic attributes portrayed in “The Scots' Crisis of Confidence”. We're showing that we can change and grow out of our cultural shells, and it's a trend that shows no sign of slowing or stopping on the way to September 18^th. Undecideds and former No voters are swelling the ranks of Scots who see change coming and are eager to be part of it. Contrarily, the No campaign would have us lower our voices and sink back into sullen acceptance of Westminster's grip, surrendered to that other old Scottish cultural debilitation of knowing our place as the UK careens towards its unavoidable appointment with destiny as a failed state.

The real test then of our potential return to the type of outgoing nation we once were will come in September. A Yes vote will be an indication of a re-awakened confidence and self-respect, something we're going to need to build rapidly if we want to meet the challenges of a world in decline. Continuing along the same path is simply not an option – a No vote will bring nothing but regret and disappointment at the opportunity we will have squandered, further reinforcing the foolish opinion held by many - and dishonourably purported by a shameful few - that we are a nation of not-quite-good-enoughs.

That's something we simply can't afford at this critical point in history. Forward Scotland.

Contained within “The Scots' Crisis of Confidence” is a reference to the Afternow website, an excellent university of Glasgow resource addressing many of the global issues we're facing. Highly recommended viewing.

I'm off to visit with friends near London for two weeks - my first visit in quite a few years. My thoughts on the City at the Centre of the Universe in my next post on the 10th of July.