Scottish Independence Vote

Personally, I am not one who is enthused by the idea of ‘nationhood,’ – I am more concerned to live in a peaceful, democratic society with a strong economy that can sustain our children and future generations. I am more concerned with the development of our cultural & historical heritage rather than distinct legal national borders. I suppose my feelings on this matter are partly rooted in my ancestry which is a combination of Welsh, German and English. Also, my wife’s father was born in Glasgow. I am happy seeing myself as a European and as Welsh, English and German with Scottish links. Now, I see myself as a ‘man of Sussex’ (where I have lived for over 30 years) as well as a citizen of the world where I wish to travel and understand other peoples and enjoy their culture and history!

I do not believe we should go back to the concept of ‘tribal like’ land disputes of the past dividing up this little planet but to seek co-operation between countries and regions for economic, ecological and future sustainability reasons; to protect ourselves and to have influence over other spheres of the world working towards world peace but at the same time to protect us from aggression, extremism and terrorists. As John F Kennedy said: “United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder. As the Greek philosopher, Aesop, tells us: “United we stand, divided we fall”.

We have to think how all the billions of people in our fast growing world population are going to live in peace and be fed; not who runs which little corner of the world.  

We can all regret the passing of nations for example the King of the Britons, the  great King Arthur, that great mythical British Monarch; the loss of the Welsh principality; the loss of the Kingdom of Wessex and the Kingdom of Northumbria and the like ……… but what remains and what we must cherish & nurture is the historical & cultural heritage. I do not believe that formal fixed borders will help us economically or culturally. In fact the more one divides up the geography of our planet the more likelihood there is for dispute and economic difficulties. For example I believe the federation of 52 American states in the form of the USA is far better than 52 separate countries!  As for Europe, before the formation of the EU the people of Europe had suffered from centuries of war and economic crisis.  

The vote in Scotland next month is a simple action, too easily taken but what will follow is a long period of economic uncertainty and to what benefit? The debate seems to have been inward looking and not outwards to the world where our destiny really lies.