Executive Decision

When I first thought of doing this blog, initially my thought was to write about the three global issues I mentioned in my introduction post, with a twist of how that impacts on Scotland. But I soon realised that this would be a waste of my time (and probably yours). Huge volumes have already been written on resource depletion, climate change and the woes of the global economy. Spend a short time googling these topics (in particular the biggest of them all perhaps - peak oil) and you'll find a wealth of information at your fingertips. See "global issues" to the right; these are among my favourite sources. I can't stress enough what an excellent resource the crash course series of videos on YouTube is. It's free to watch and comes in mostly bite-size pieces - it'll have you up to speed in no time.

So – executive decision. There's no point in me re-hashing what has been written before by many different writers. I believe the intention for this blog needs to be flipped on its head towards something that focuses on the little part of the world I know best: Scotland, with a twist of what these global issues mean for us and our future. And in particular, what they mean when viewed through the prism of the impending independence referendum. Time is, after all, marching on, and these are issues that I've not seen applied in the context of the referendum yet. And believe me, I spend a lot of time reading about the referendum! Please inform me in the comments if there's something I've missed – I'd love to see it.

In fact, I'm bringing these arguments rather late to the party. I could have started this blog months ago but I wrestled for a long time with whether I should. These issues do not make for light reading. It's possible when trawling around the internet for articles on peak oil and climate change to turn the bleakness dial all the way up to 11, and the Yes campaign for Scotland's independence has always been one of positivity and hope. I was uncomfortable with souring the tone.

But awareness is half the battle. Being more aware of what we face is another crucial reason to have the freedom to re-invent Scotland as a response to it. There is no reason why the same positivity and hope we see in the Yes campaign cannot be diverted to another cause post-independence: the cause of transition to sustainability. We want independence for the good of generations to come. Our work must go on until we have a country fit for these generations to thrive in.

The three Es (energy, environment, economy) are issues that will impact every part of the world – including ours. How we deal with them, whether as an independent country or as part of the UK, is vitally important. I believe we have an incredible opportunity, with the possibility of independence before us, to begin building a new, resilient nation that can face these issues head-on and begin to tackle them in a way that few others could. We have reserves of oil and we have a massive potential for renewable energy. How many other countries can claim that and have the chance to re-imagine themselves – to set themselves up in a way that is optimal to face a problematic future?

I can't remember the particular article I was reading when I made the connection that peak oil and the demise of the global economy could have a direct tie to Scotland's eventual independence, but I do remember the gist - that economic collapse will lead to political collapse. In other words, when the economy fails hard enough, governments get thrown out. Change can and will happen. Sometimes that change can be quite radical in nature. Sometimes it may even lead to the break-up of nation states and the re-configuration of national boundaries.

So should September deliver a No vote, a break-up of the UK may be possible, even likely, in the years to come anyway. But what if the UK manages to hang together? Is it not possible that the UK will eventually be forced to address these issues? Should we not confront them together anyway, pooling our strength and resources, a key unionist argument?

I don't think so. For a start time is too short, and the UK is already mortally wounded. With a debt load of over £1.2 trillion (watch it spin here), the UK is simply unsustainable. The UK economy is one huge game of spinning plates, kept aloft by the manipulation and chicanery of a cohort of financial tricksters in London. Sooner or later (likely sooner) it will come crashing down, most likely torpedoed by the superheated London property market.

Einstein said “We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” Leaving our fate in hands of the same London establishment that got us where we are is not going to extricate us from the predicaments we face, nor will they prepare us for the difficult future barreling down towards us. They are hopelessly and institutionally corrupt, a cartel of self-interested careerists who long ago dispelled any notion of public service, if it was ever there to begin with. They are obsessed with sucking all wealth in towards them like a financial black sun, in full knowledge, I'm sure, of the uncertainty to come. As for us, as far as they're concerned it's every man, woman and child for themselves.

So be it. In Scotland we have this incredible opportunity. We have to prepare ourselves, and so we must have the ability to elect who we choose to have any chance of doing so. And only by delivering the shock therapy to the London power-money that Scottish independence will deliver can we hope to open a window to the kind of change the rest of these isles desperately needs.

I hope to post at least weekly. In the next post I'd like to put forward the opinion that the future we're about to have served to us is not what is commonly expected, and why the UK is unfit for purpose within it.