Residents of Scotland, lend me your ears (played here by your eyes...) I dont have a vote today and, as a result, have tried to keep my, extremely strong, feelings on the matter to myself as much as possible. Since the big day is upon us however, Ill now relay the gist of said feelings. Here are a few of the reasons Id be voting Yes if I could. Ive spent the last two and a bit years living in a country with a population roughly the same as Scotlands but with almost none of the natural resources and a sub-zero climate for months at a time. A progressive and prosperous country where the standard of public services, housing, education and life in general are so much at odds with what Im used to its not even funny. When I compare things here to the UK, with its foodbanks, dismantling of the welfare state, huge and ever-increasing wealth gap, rise in extreme right politics, large swathes of the country living in relative poverty etc and read the slogan better together I dont know whether to laugh, cry or smash my face repeatedly against the wall. Finland gained its independent status less than a hundred years ago and went to war to retain it 22 years later. You in Scotland have the chance to shake things up and create a new, fairer society and all you have to do is put a cross in a box. Personally I cant fathom why, when faced with this opportunity, any of you would think Nah, its cool, Ill use my vote to try and retain this, objectively pish, status quo. That shows a lack of imagination, passion and hope thats both scary and horribly sad. Todays vote isnt for a politician or a political party, its a vote to change a system which has led to an unacceptable number of people living in unacceptable circumstances. Voting yes doesnt make you a nationalist and the fact its been so frequently implied that it does is baffling given the alternative is the very real prospect of a UKIP/Tory coalition nightmare. There have been half-truths on both sides of the campaign but many pro-Yes groups have done a sterling job of answering most of the too many unanswered questions as well as anyone can without a crystal ball. Certainly better than the vast majority of the mainstream media. To write off everything they say as nationalist propaganda, while swallowing wholesale the last minute panic statement by (not even all of the) Westminster govt that Scotland will get more powers if they vote no, makes no sense to me. This is a massive, massive opportunity. Please vote today, please make sure you know why youre crossing the box youre crossing and what it means. P.S, to those of you whove gotten genuinely upset about others engaging in political debate on the internet - Being offended by someone else taking an interest in one of the most important events of their lives (presumably because you have to scroll down for a few more seconds to find a video of a cat or a selfie of someone you vaguely know in a pub) is pretty tragic. Personally, as someone whose access to the whole thing has been internet based, Ive found it absolutely fantastic. THIS is what social media was made for. —Michael Lennie.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 15:43:29 +0000
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