I have been nominated to recount my journey to YES by Rob Ellen. As most of you may know I was brought up in a family with strong political roots. Socialist to the core my Dad was a local Labour town councillor, a trade union official, eventually a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party and later a Member of Parliament for the SNP. As a consequence of many days and nights as a child following him around housing schemes across Central Scotland and seeing with my own eyes the impact of inequality on working class communities, I came to realise that it was the structures of society which kept poor people poor. There is nothing inherently different in the ability of a person in receipt of benefit and a person in a private school. The only difference is opportunity and life chances. As I matured I began to understand that the Conservative Party views the world as if it is made up of people who, through laziness or indolence, remain poor and that social inequality is the fault of the individual. I could never understand this argument as around me I could clearly see great minds and great people struggling against vast structural barriers. The idea that we could redistribute wealth and opportunity so that all in society could benefit was, as they say, a no brainer. I was also shocked when I realised that although major reforms had been won (the right to vote, the NHS, the equal pay act) the movement for social change seemed to stall in the late 20th Century and the drive for social justice seemed to be lost by the people who should have fighting for it the hardest and a complacency that tacitly accepted damp housing, low wages and child poverty was setting like concrete across the UK. As an academic I believe that the language we use is incredibly powerful and I make no apologies for believing that politically correct language is essential to ensure that we do not marginalise and dis-empower people. Discourse and Power are inextricably linked. As the Black Power movement in America so clearly demonstrated, words are powerful tools. Through discourse we create positions of privilege and we render invisible other elements of society. Words, as well as our actions create the world around us and as I grew up I came to realise that to be Scottish, Welsh or Irish was to be ‘them’, and not ‘us’ within the UK. To be Scottish was to be invisible and in the margins of UK politics. The United Kingdom was represented by England, and in many ways - both subtle and unsubtle - the substitution of England for the United Kingdom was so complete that the people in power in Westminster were unable to understand that this could be a problem. Being bombarded with comments such as “...and how will this affect England?” on matters which were clearly ones which affected the entire UK reinforced my view that Scottish issues were marginal and that Scottish people did not count in the great scheme of things. Our only purpose being to continually vote Labour in the hope that this would somehow influence national policy. My problem lies with this systemic belief system that is passed on through British society by those in charge of curriculum, those in charge of the institutions of the state and those who rise to those positions by dint of birth and not merit. It is pseudo colonialism, insidious and endemic. The people who ask such questions and make such statements simply cannot help themselves because they are unable to understand the distinction. Some argue that this is, in reality, not that important – but I argue it defines the relationship between the countries which make up the UK – one is privileged and powerful and the others are not. My problem lies not with the ordinary people of England – of course not, as they are used in similar ways, but it lies with social elites maintaining power and authority through rhetorical devices which become naturalised, normalising the ‘just and right’ ways to think and live so that they are no longer questioned and which eventually control as effectively as more overt methods. When people in bad housing, on low wages and with low prospects of change believe it is their fault that they are in this position – then the job is done! I am not interested in oil revenue, although I probably should be. However, I have spent time exploring the economic viability of a modern country of 5 million people and have come to the conclusion that it is ludicrous to suggest it is not a sustainable entity. I do not think Scotland is special. I think Scotland shares many characteristics of other countries which are also independent. I cannot understand why it is even questioned that self determination and self governance is both possible and ‘a good thing’. I believe firmly in the redistribution of wealth, of creating a more equal society, of using our skills and abilities to solve the problems of society and not simply to enhance the share value of a company owned by a cabinet minister. I believe that a more inclusive parliament within a representative democracy is the only way forward and that this is impossible within the United Kingdom. I also believe that the people of Scotland are a diverse people whose hybrid identities abound and should be celebrated. The notion that being separate means we will be foreigners is so obviously jingoistic it is laughable and flies in the face of the internationalism that is so clearly a part of Scottish history - it is not even worth this sentence to repudiate. I will be voting YES on Thursday and I hope you will be as well.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:23:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015