Less than 2 weeks ago we were poised, anticipating a future filled with hope. The hope of change in our country. Not just for Scotland, but beyond our borders too. Because we knew that when the change came it would be sweeping and it would be momentous and it would inspire. We had hope, hope that with our independence we would build a better society and those looking inward would see us as the model for how a country can be run. If Scotland was able to make its own decisions then why can't Wales? Why can't Northern Ireland? And why can't England? If we had a truly representative government, of the people, by the people and for the people then the government in England could worry about the issues affecting England only without having to pay lip service to the rest of the Union. Every single person in the small island would have a voice, unique to them.
It was exciting. It really felt like we were about to see something wonderful.
But it wasn't to be. I fail to see how anyone who voted No could have felt anything like the exhilaration of those closing hours of polling day, the 18th September. At 10pm on that day, Independence was like Schrödinger's Cat. It was alive and dead at the same time. But for those of us who voted Yes, the feeling was of anticipation that we stood on the precipice of enormous change. A frightening but exciting time. For those who voted No the feeling was of anticipation that absolutely nothing was going to change or get better, the best that one could hope for was more of the same as before. Of course we now know they were sold a lie.
In the days prior to the vote I spent a fair bit of time on various forums and, as is the case with any debate, some of the posts I read were nonsense, some were daft and some were divisive and scary. But one grabbed my attention. It was posted by someone who said their family member was in the military and they had been placed on standby, all leave was canceled. To them this indicated that UK was on the brink of another war. This didn't seem to make the news though, one wonders what effect that would have had on the outcome of the vote.
We now know that the UK indeed, was on the brink of another war. Interestingly I have seen two articles on how much this military action might cost the UK, one was conservative (with a small "c") and the other was a little larger. What was interesting to me was that both figures were more than the 2 figures quoted as the cost for setting up an independent Scotland. The conservative (with a small "c") and the Conservative estimate.
Funny how the cost of setting up an independent nation with the power to make its own decisions; decisions that affect the people who live there and would therefore be made by people who live there; was seen as a ridiculously expensive, catastrophic, economy destroying amount and yet it's money that we can easily afford when it comes to a bit of bombing!
Well I say funny!
One thing we can look forward to is the new powers that are heading our way of course, we have that to reassure us. Of course we now know they have sold us a lie.
But hey, at least we now have 120 years worth of oil, that's 100 years more than what we had to look forward to if we had voted Yes! Of course we now know they have sold us a lie.
But division is one thing we don't need, whether it be Yes vs No, 45% vs 55%, BritNats vs ScotNats or the massive big dividing fault lines that fracking will open up! We do need to accept what has happened, realise that those who voted No did so because they believed what they were told by people they should be able to believe. We need to move on, we need to work together. We need to start building bridges instead of walls and we need to start thinking about what happens next. The only way we can possibly achieve independence for our country is if we work together, we need the 55% who voted No, they are our brothers, sisters, friends, fathers. After the 2 year campaign of fear and lies through the mass media it's hardly surprising that 55% of the population said No, they feared for their pensions, they feared for their pound, they feared for their jobs, they feared that they wouldn't be able to provide for their families in the third world conditions of an Indy Scotland, can you blame them? Every fear they had was put there by a lying media and reinforced over a 2 year period, you can hardly blame anyone for making that decision. The worst that would happen is nothing, according to the press, more of the same if you voted No. If you voted Yes you might be malled by tigers!
Of course we now know they have sold us a lie. Don't we? And it only took 10 days.
In the meantime it's back to business for our Tory leaders. And to think 11 days ago I was debating and discussing what we should include in our new constitution!
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