Hello.

My name is Gus Steedman. For more than twenty years, I have made my living writing computer programs. Writing for machines. During all that time though, I'd rather have been writing for people. Time to get started.

Since 2004 I have been a near-insatiable consumer of a certain type of blog. Almost every day, I would spend my lunch hour and sometimes evenings avidly searching for and devouring any new post from my selected group of authors, my growing obsession soon expanding to books, podcasts and documentary films. About time then, I thought recently, that I should create a blog of my own with my own perspective on these subjects - particularly since my perspective may be unique. I am a Scot living at a pivotal time for Scotland. I am a sufferer of secondary progressive MS, my own gradual loss of function a strange analogy for a planet and civilisation also in decline.

 Er... say what?!

Now for the difficult part. Unless you're very wealthy, or have just not been paying attention, you may have noticed that since the start of this century, and especially since the financial crash of 2008, a lot of things in the world around us have been starting to... well, suck. The poor are getting poorer. The rich are getting richer. Wars and other atrocities flare up with mindless regularity. Inequality is rising. Cuts are being made to welfare programs and salaries (except for bankers). Oh, and jobs are disappearing. Even the shitty ones.

There's many reasons for all this. A corrupt and rapacious financial sector, matched equally by selfish and nefarious government is the obvious one. While this is an important subject, there are three things that underlie it; that may even go some way to explaining it. They are:

1. Resource depletion
2. Global economic collapse
3. Accelerating climate change

These three subjects, in my opinion and in many much more qualified others', will come to be the defining hammer blows of the 21st century. Yet the mainstream media covers each to varying degrees. In particular the first gets barely any mention at all, while many of the bleakest details of the others are glossed over or ignored. Understandable perhaps - there aren't many feelgood stories to be found here when the facts are fully explored. However we owe it to ourselves to confront the growing precariousness of our situation; we cannot prepare for the future that is now unfolding otherwise. It is a future that is likely to be very different to the vision of continuous progress and technological improvement that we all take for granted. We hear often that flying cars and vacations in space are right around the corner. I'm afraid they're most likely not, so one use I have in mind for this blog to share why I think that way.

The other use is to present my views on Scottish independence. In September this year, we have a vote to decide yes or no to the restoration of our sovereignty. I will be voting yes, for all the many great reasons put forth by the Yes campaign and the amazing grassroots movement I'm honoured to feel part of. But I have another reason - one perhaps not commonly voiced. My study of the global issues above has led me to believe that as the coming years and decades unfold, the nations and states we know now will inevitably fragment and collapse.

In my opinion, Scotland's independence in the midst of the coming global maelstrom is unavoidable, despite the referendum result. A no vote simply delays the inevitable, and takes us there down a chaotic, difficult path as the UK increasingly fails around us. Far better to vote yes now and take a chance at managing our way to being a small nation fit for the many difficult challenges of the 21st century.

The future is local, not global. I'll detail what I mean by that in future posts. And as for Scotland, what is independence if not a re-localisation of government?

Back soon, and thanks for reading.


For a headstart in many of the issues mentioned above, Chris Martenson's crash course series of videos on YouTube is highly recommended.