A Man's a Man for a' that

As I said yesterday, I think Scottish independence is a terrible idea for Scotland.

By inclination I am not a nationalist. I look at the world and I see people. And people need to band together to do things that an individual cannot do. Once that would be catching prey. Later it became building a temple big enough to please the gods who were going to guarantee the rains or the sun. And, normally, the bigger the challenge, the more people need to get together to solve it. Small groupings can make for small thinking. Parochial thinking. Selfish thinking.

And we have come to accept that. It took two brothers to build the first aeroplane. It took the American government 65 years later to put a man on the moon.

And, by the way, this doesn't make me some sort of state-ist either. Just because we all need to act together for somethings doesn't mean the government needs to do everything. That way lies Albania in the 1980s, and you don't want to go there. John Major, bless his grey nylon Y-fronts talked about 'Subsidiarity'. A horrid word, but the idea was that the best level at which to take decisions is the lowest one at which the decision can appropriately be taken.

As I write today, September 15th 2014, this country has got some big issues. And so has Europe, and so has the world. The UK can't solve its problems on its own. Why not? Because they are global problems. Caused by the interconnectedness of banks, economies etc (This isn't an anti-globalisation rant at all. That isn't what I am trying to do.) The UK can't put up trade barriers to the outside world. Legally - it can't. But even if it did, we'd end up with much more expensive imports. And we import a lot of what we all rely upon. So it would be a stupid thing to do. Europe can't solve its economic crisis if policies elsewhere undermine its strategy.

So, how can it be right, with problems of population aging, deficits, big infrastructure weaknesses, big unemployment issues, climate change etc etc etc, to go back to your village, build a stockade and forget about the rest of the world? The mammoths aren't there anymore.

And that is what Scotland is in danger of doing. If Independent Scotland tries to tax itself out of its problems it will see capital flying South like crazy. It can't borrow if it doesn't have currency as security so it's hard to see how it can inflate out of where it is (though I'd have my doubts about that anyway - look how well Quantitative Easing has worked). So what - cut services?

Yes there are things that could be decided at a Scottish level. But if they can be devolved there, why not further? Do the crofters of the Western Isles share much interest with the city dwellers of Edinburgh? This applies everywhere. Put power down to the local levels where you can. Restore the power of counties (or regions in Scotland). Bring back incentives to put real jobs into the areas that need them. Not government jobs - jobs that make things and add wealth. But to run a proper railway, that joins up in terms of track and pricing, you need to do it centrally for a network - so in practice that means Great Britain. As for Defence, and for Health and so on.

So the Yes campaign is economically wrong. Wrong for Scotland. This is not an English "please stay" message. Yes would be wrong for the Scottish people. And sadly, so is what the UK main parties are now proposing in the event of a 'No'. The Devo-max proposals will guarantee Scotland's dependence on the UK for money, and from the look of them gives them little else. A few sparkly beads in return for a Trident base. But at least in that, and perhaps however they vote they will just be like the rest of the UK - poorly served by a government that fewer and fewer bother each time to elect.

So that's the economics. The head. But isn't it all about the heart? Isn't nationality a blood thing?

I spent much of last night reading Robert Burns. I was looking for my inner Scot. Looking for something that allowed me to embrace 'Yes' despite my massive economic misgivings. Some sense that there could be pride in a modern social democratic nation forging its identity afresh and grasping the challenges of the 21st century.

I found this - if you are interested it's the last verse of the poem usually known as "A Man's a Man for a' that"

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.

Brothers - the world over. Sorry Mr Salmond - that'll be a No.