You know, being 100% a cynic is really easy. You always have your responses written down in advance, since all you have to do is scoff at things and be negative about them. Its much harder to be a cynic most of the time but when something is truly deserving of your awe or optimism to grant them because you have come to the mature and horrible realization that not everything is terrible. And so, we come to Scotland and the referendum. My ties to Scotland range from the intellectual to the personal. I visited there while living in England as a boy and fell in love with the harsh landscape and the peculiar yet hospitable people. Since then, recently as well, I have read, researched and understood a tiny fraction of its history which is all any of us can ever hope to understand of the history of anything. I dont know what the right call is. Both sides have good arguments going for them and frankly, I dont live there and it would feel condescending to pass judgement either way. But you know what, I take a step back and look at the bigger, historical picture. Just 300 years ago, or even less possibly, such a crossroad would not have been resolved with a referendum. It would have been resolved with blood. And it was, several times. The wars between Scotland and England are many and they are bloody and enough of them were fought for things much smaller than an independence question splitting the nation in two. From the early tribes and the Britons, through the early Anglo-Saxons and the Picts, all the way down to the Engagement army and Cromwell, much Scottish and English blood has been spilled in the provinces of Cumberland, Durham, Carrick, Galloway, Lothian and Dunbar, just to name a few of the regions of this beautiful area of the world. And now, were here. Yes, there is a lot of money, power and shady dealings behind whatever decision will be passed today. And yes, the cynic in me wants to point to the silent, terrible forces that operate behind the mask of rational diplomacy. But at least men arent dying in a field right now. At least their heads arent being trampled by horses. At least women arent being raped, villages looted, fields set afire, cities besieged. At least the rough clang of metal on metal, of horseflesh on man-flesh, of rifles resounding in the night, at least those terrible sounds do not echo in that countryside that I visited so briefly and fell in love with so deeply. Rest easy Scotland. I hope you make the right decision tonight, whatever that decision will be. You have never been far for my thoughts and I love you.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 23:52:37 +0000
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