WHY IM VOTING YES (apologies for length) With less than a week to go until the polls open for the most important political decision in my, and many other Scots, lifetime, the nerves are building up big-time. Since I was a young boy, Ive wanted Scotland to have her independence - initially from a romantic notion of Braveheart-style freedom, but as Ive aged, so too has my political awareness and world-view, and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that a Yes vote is the best way to go. I was born in 1981, so I missed entirely the clamour and buzz of the 1979 Devolution referendum, but its effects were felt through my entire childhood and beyond. The false threats and false promises made to keep the Scottish people in line with Westminster control - Devolution, Scotland was told, will lead to the destruction of the manufacturing industry, the oil will run out, there will be a wailing and a gnashing of teeth in general - only a vote that keeps Scotland governed by Westminster will save you from this fate, they said. Well, ask the people of Ravenscraig where that Westminster government took them. Ask the others in industry - the coal miners, the ship builders - what did the protective grasp of Westminster provide them? Unemployment, poverty, the removal of hope and the destruction of lives and, of course, the introduction of the Poll Tax, tested out on the Scots by the Tory government safe in the knowledge that they could get away with it. Truly, the workers of Scotland could eat the scrapings on their table safe in the knowledge that they were Better Together under the benevolent control of London? But those of us who believed never gave up hope. A Scottish Parliament was founded following another referendum in 1997 - I was 16, and so too young to vote in that one, but I still sat up all night glued to the television and desperately praying that this time the loopholes about turnout and unregistered voters would be cast aside, and Scotland would make the right decision. Thankfully, we did. Since its inception, the latest iteration of the Scottish Parliament has done more good for Scotland than the previous decade of London rule ever even considered. In an era where the Labour (a title they should be ashamed to wear) government introduced tuition fees for students and led us into economic disaster, the Scottish Parliament fought and clawed to protect the Scottish people from their mis-management. Under the SNP, the Scottish Government has delivered on promises like free prescriptions, no tuition fees and a commitment to fighting for Scotlands self-determination. And now the time comes for us to decide for ourselves. As a nation, will we be taken in by the fog of war placed around the referendum, created by the mainstream media at the behest of their rich paymasters in a blatant display of self-interest, greed and cowardice? Will we be taken in by a stream of unending and relentless negativity, designed to sow doubt that we can ever govern ourselves, that were too small, too poor, too stupid to manage the horrible burden of abundant natural resources and some of the smartest minds on the planet? They have been dubbed Project Fear for a reason, and it goes both ways. They spread fear through doom-mongering, naysaying and outright lies, but what they dont want you to know is that it comes from their very deep fear that soon they will lose control of one of the biggest cash cows theyve ever set eyes upon. In a circus, there is one man who could be torn asunder by his charge at any moment. That man is the lion tamer. Despite the beast being stronger, faster, more powerful than he could ever hope to be, he relies on fear and conditioning to control it. A crack of the whip, a raising of the chair, and the wild animal is cowed and controlled. So it is with Scotland - the leaders of the No campaign are cracking their whip with all their might, desperate for us to back down and put our claws away. They know that if we realise how little their whip can hurt us, we will turn on them and take their livelihood, which has been built on controlling and exploiting us. Compare this to the Yes campaign - a campaign fought with optimism, wit, intelligence, analysis and, dare I say it, some good-natured fun. They pour doom upon us, and we counter it with hope. Hope and dreams - a currency worth more than any Pound, Euro or glass beads. We have opened our eyes, the fog has been lifted, and lo and behold we can see the future ahead - a future where we have control of our own destiny, our own laws, our own people and place. Where we can act on our own, without being dragged into illegal wars or having the mistakes of the self-interested rich thrust upon us to try and dig ourselves out of. Self-determination. Its a powerful thing, and we have the chance to take it not by force, like some nations who have been plunged into brutal civil wars, but by democracy. A choice of the people by the people. How can you say No Thanks to that? Will it be perfect? Of course it wont. Nothing ever is. Will it be our country, governed by us, with us and for us? Youre damn right. Vote Yes.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 22:06:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015