THIS is interesting - especially as a diagnostic indicator of a particular mindset. The proposal isnt actually to eject Scotland from the UK. Its to kick out Scotland, Wales AND Northern Ireland. In other words, the assumption is that the UK stripped of everything but England would still be the UK, and still be British. Still be British is the really interesting assumption. It lays bare the underlying assumption of Britishness - that English identity is the Gold Standard of human being - as Kipling is supposed to have said to a young army officer asking what he should do with his life, You have been born an Englishman, so in the lottery of life you have already won first prize... Britishness is therefore (a) for English people so minded (and many, many arent, God bless them) the way they can continue to feel like an Imperial Power, and (b) for the other denizens of these islands the way in which they can enjoy some of the benefits of Country Membership of England, full membership of which they cannot, of course, ever really qualify for, for reasons of birth - or speaking with funny accents that its considered socially acceptable to imitate in front of them, etc, etc... Britishness is therefore an inherently racist and segregationist concept. As I say, many millions of English people, many of whom live here, voted Yes, and would have had Scottishness conferred on them by the civic nationalism of the New Scotland, find this as revolting as many Scots do. The REAL wonder is that a couple of million Scots EMBRACE it - at least to the point of having voted for it... huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09/25/ukip-scottish-referendum-_n_5881572.html
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 10:38:00 +0000
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