READERS of The National will be familiar with the Chinese curse threatening us with the dangers and challenges of “living in interesting times”, but independence campaigners know that such times are the petri dish of opportunity and Scotland is currently a living laboratory of interesting experiments.
Nearly 50 years ago Neil Ascherson said that the Scottish version of history consists of “extolling the virtues of passive suffering and glorifying moments of volcanic violence”. He ascribed this weird oscillation of emotions to a defining contradiction in Scottish society – “the old contradiction between self-assertion and self-distrust”. A national pathology.
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This diagnosis has been true for a long time but we’re finally moving on. Transition is a process, not a quick flick of the page. There’s still plenty of evidence of the old Scottish disease (belligerence, contempt, outrage, and all the other symptoms of powerlessness) in the binary Yes/No positions presented in the letters pages of The Herald and The Scotsman.
It’s here too in The National, where assertive independence supporters berate those they perceive to be moving too cautiously towards the common goal. It’s online and on social media particularly, where campaigners pause by the wayside to argue about policy, moral standpoints and personal views on tactics, while the key constitutional issues trundle by.
So some will see us still locked in opposition both to each other and within ourselves, between self-assertion and self-distrust. But the truth is, revolution (which is what we’re after) is messy and its trajectory won’t be visible until the history of it is written.
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Meanwhile we have, in the years since the failed referendum, expressed our rage and disappointment at that Scottish triumph of self-distrust over self-assertion by doubling down on political campaigning and community activity, organising events, marching, arguing, starting community enterprises, plugging gaps in state provision with charities, buying land, planting sea grass, opening community shops and generally engaging with new confidence and commitment to taking charge of ourselves. This has (some might say, particularly for women) changed self-assertion into self-confidence and self-distrust into self-empowerment.
We who campaign know this. We know too that we are increasingly coming together and looking for common ground, working across silos, and collaborating. A diverse group of around 50 attending the Independence Forum Scotland last month is one example. Believe in Scotland (with its 142 affiliated grassroots Yes groups) collaborating with Yes for EU, Pensioners for Independence and Salvo in Perth is another. Common Weal’s “Realistic Strategy for Independence” helpfully combining and refining the SNP hard yards of leg work and leafleting by suggesting a more strategic and targeted take on who is persuadable. Yes Highlands & Islands having monthly meetings online with a range of independence supporters of different political hues and views.
The world is increasingly turbulent. Turbulent times are interesting times. Times of opportunity. No-one is “extolling the virtues of passive suffering” any more or “glorifying past moments of volcanic violence”. We are organising.
Frances Roberts
Ardrishaig
JUST to remind all those folk out there who do not appear to know that ageism is illegal. Totally scunnered with remarks about weakness in all sorts of areas, particularly technology, of older women. Time to mature, folks, and consider the intelligence, survival strategies and overall input to families and communities of mature women.
Alice Sharp
via email
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