The dilemma people in Scotland face this autumn is given and well debated. Maybe not well understood but political issues never were set in black and white to be easy. Besides "politics is the art of the possible" and the definition of "possible" is related to aspirations, willingness to participate and personal choices. However in this referendum there is a group of people that genuinely face a "grey" dilemma. One that is not dominated either by nationalistic visions of grandeur or by the fear of the unknown. Besides most of us conquered the fear when 15 or 20 years ago made the choice and adopted a new country and later or turned away from any notion of nationalism accepting the integration in the Scottish society.
For this reason, because we did conquered the heights of the black and white dilemmas, and after much deliberation I came to conclude that my first approach to the Scottish independence referendum, the one of non-participation because I am a foreigner, was wrong.
That leave us with with the difficult task to cast a vote for a future of a country that some may claim it is not ours on the grounds of not understanding the 1000+ years of interrelations between Scotland and England. If however we consider the "better together" campaign argument, then automatically our vote dilemma is shifted to a future reference rather than a historical question. In that scenario our experience as cool headed foreigners that made successful choices, so long, contributing to the Scottish economy and accepting a new country, may be proven valuable along with our opinion to the yes/no question.
Yesterday, Greece "remembered" that it has been 10 years since the end of the Athens 2004 Olympics. The feelings in the country about this event may be compared with the feelings about the Scottish independence. Yes we can do it, or we could have done it (better), and NO, it is (was) going to be a disaster. It is and it was a question of pure economics, aspirations, willingness to participate and also bitter and utter denial to accept the reality. The Athens Olympics costed between 8 and 10 billion Euros without ever and anybody to perform a reliable analysis to the revenue generated by them. Even worst, right after the closing ceremony all infrastructure was locked and abandoned adding up to the cost and depriving the state from much needed funds that would have been generated should a proper usage plan of the Olympic heritage had been established. This "self-fulfilling prophecy of disaster" and the abandonment of the available options and tools to achieve success hoping then to be used as an argument for the prophesied failure is what is looming over the Scottish Highlands. Because independence or not is not about the voting procedure and the adrenaline rush of the elections night. It is not either an "us" and "them" confrontation based on questions of numbers and set in concrete arguments that will be forgotten next day in the office. It is what the Greeks forgot after the end of the Olympiad. A commitment of a nation into a future vision using the tools accumulated during the night or nights of the campaign. A future that no matter how difficult or how easy it is going to be, must fulfil for all the needs for freedom, self determination and/or unity and in which all must be part and participants.
And this is where the two futures may be compared as naked options of people's vision. As a choice that promotes a set of social ideas and wishful thoughts on where do we want to see our kids in 100 years rather than where do we want our mortgage to be in 25 years. If we take this view, our options then are not constrained by the "better together" argument and the non-obvious future of an independent Scotland and its dependency on a 50 years life span of oil reserves but are widened by the non-obvious future of the United Kingdom. The United kingdom of Farage's xenophobia, the Right wing Euroscepticism and the neocolonialism vision of the special relationship with a more and more disillusioned Christian fundamentalist USA.
People have the ability to forget and wrap the time dimension. They well enough expand the past to the vastness of "old times" but consider 100 future years as a contracted tomorrow. It is then that notions like 25 years of mortgage are equally identified as 100 years future for our kids and interpolation errors about eternal achieved peace are committed.
The question on Scottish independence is not about an insecure Scottish feature but also about an insecure UK feature. And it is then than the we may realise that a "better together UK" may be contested by an equally legit "better together Europe" argument.
For this reason, because we did conquered the heights of the black and white dilemmas, and after much deliberation I came to conclude that my first approach to the Scottish independence referendum, the one of non-participation because I am a foreigner, was wrong.
That leave us with with the difficult task to cast a vote for a future of a country that some may claim it is not ours on the grounds of not understanding the 1000+ years of interrelations between Scotland and England. If however we consider the "better together" campaign argument, then automatically our vote dilemma is shifted to a future reference rather than a historical question. In that scenario our experience as cool headed foreigners that made successful choices, so long, contributing to the Scottish economy and accepting a new country, may be proven valuable along with our opinion to the yes/no question.
Yesterday, Greece "remembered" that it has been 10 years since the end of the Athens 2004 Olympics. The feelings in the country about this event may be compared with the feelings about the Scottish independence. Yes we can do it, or we could have done it (better), and NO, it is (was) going to be a disaster. It is and it was a question of pure economics, aspirations, willingness to participate and also bitter and utter denial to accept the reality. The Athens Olympics costed between 8 and 10 billion Euros without ever and anybody to perform a reliable analysis to the revenue generated by them. Even worst, right after the closing ceremony all infrastructure was locked and abandoned adding up to the cost and depriving the state from much needed funds that would have been generated should a proper usage plan of the Olympic heritage had been established. This "self-fulfilling prophecy of disaster" and the abandonment of the available options and tools to achieve success hoping then to be used as an argument for the prophesied failure is what is looming over the Scottish Highlands. Because independence or not is not about the voting procedure and the adrenaline rush of the elections night. It is not either an "us" and "them" confrontation based on questions of numbers and set in concrete arguments that will be forgotten next day in the office. It is what the Greeks forgot after the end of the Olympiad. A commitment of a nation into a future vision using the tools accumulated during the night or nights of the campaign. A future that no matter how difficult or how easy it is going to be, must fulfil for all the needs for freedom, self determination and/or unity and in which all must be part and participants.
And this is where the two futures may be compared as naked options of people's vision. As a choice that promotes a set of social ideas and wishful thoughts on where do we want to see our kids in 100 years rather than where do we want our mortgage to be in 25 years. If we take this view, our options then are not constrained by the "better together" argument and the non-obvious future of an independent Scotland and its dependency on a 50 years life span of oil reserves but are widened by the non-obvious future of the United Kingdom. The United kingdom of Farage's xenophobia, the Right wing Euroscepticism and the neocolonialism vision of the special relationship with a more and more disillusioned Christian fundamentalist USA.
People have the ability to forget and wrap the time dimension. They well enough expand the past to the vastness of "old times" but consider 100 future years as a contracted tomorrow. It is then that notions like 25 years of mortgage are equally identified as 100 years future for our kids and interpolation errors about eternal achieved peace are committed.
The question on Scottish independence is not about an insecure Scottish feature but also about an insecure UK feature. And it is then than the we may realise that a "better together UK" may be contested by an equally legit "better together Europe" argument.
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