The Drive for Scottish Independence: A Fortunate Failure

Why all the fuss about Scottish “independence” (aka incorporation of Scotland into the EU superstate)?

Why not independence for Yorkshire, for the West Midlands, for the South West of England, for London. All have similar or larger populations to Scotland and cultures as distinctive?

Actually, no one has the slightest idea.

Nor could one in a hundred of the fanatical participants in the Scottish Independence referendum on either side tell you what constitutes the ideal form, size, or constitution for a nation state.

Well here’s a suggestion. The ideal size for a nation state is sufficient to defend itself from foreign domination whether economic or military, but no larger.

Judged on that basis, Scotland is too small, but the United Kingdom, outside the EU and NATO, is large enough. So the objective for the UK should be devolution of powers to reflect regional differences in economic characteristics, culture, physical resources, etc. and to allow scope for creative innovation in government, while retaining the coherence and sense of collective pride necessary to the preservation of national independence.

In that connection, it should be noted that Eire is too small for true independence, as is evident from the fact that during WW2, it was taken for granted by the British Government that Ireland would be annexed should the military situation so require. (And more recently, the Bank of England bailed out the Irish banks.) From that, it follows that the UK and Ireland should work toward an eventual union of the British Isles under a federal constitution. Such a federation would be a highly secure and well integrated geopolitical unit that should be friend-of- all-the-world, trading freely with all, but without entangling alliances, either economic or political.

Then the British Islanders could look the World proudly in the eye and, and if necessary, say "fuck off" to the imperial United States whether of America, Europe or Asia.

But none of this will come to pass. Hate is a more powerful agent of change than rational thought and the hate-mongers continue their deadly work, in Ireland between North and South, in Britain, between England and Scotland (and here).