By Rab Bruce’s Spider

There’s an interesting article written by Loki on the Bella Caledonia website which is causing some consternation amongst Yessers because of the accusations he makes regarding what he views as their idealistic and misguided viewpoint. You can read it at :

http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2015/12/07/scotland-the-utopia-that-never-was/

Does he have a point? That’s probably a matter of opinion but the Yes movement certainly should not be afraid of this sort of criticism. It is far better than the tribal #SNPBad attacks made in the mainstream media on a daily basis which only serve to entrench views on both sides. Loki at least has considered his reasons and made a passionate argument. It cannot be denied that some of his observations are correct although I must admit that I disagree with him in his conclusions. That, however, is probably a reflection of our differing political views.

One thing I am not clear on is precisely who Loki is attacking. He may well have encountered far more political activists than I have but I must say that I have never come across any Yes advocate who expressed the belief that an independent Scotland would be some sort of Utopia. Having said that, if we disregard his rather hyperbolic comment about Braveheart, he does make one strong argument which certainly made me reflect on my own stance and is, I suspect, one of the reasons many Yes supporters are upset by his comments. This is his accusation about us adopting the moral high ground on matters of social justice as if those who voted Yes feel they are morally superior to Unionists.

There are a few observations I’d like to make on this. The first is that everyone attempts to justify their own stance on any topic and claiming moral superiority is a common trait no matter where you stand politically. George Osborne claims the moral high ground when cutting State Benefits because he says it is in the country’s best interests. I even met a supporter of Donald Trump who attempted to justify his anti-immigrant stance on moral grounds.

The second point is that, quite frankly, it doesn’t take much to feel morally superior to the Tories, whether they are of the Blue, Red or Yellow persuasion. The attacks on the poor and disabled, the rise in food banks, etc. are well documented and opposing those sorts of policies naturally makes one feel morally right.

Finally, and this does link to my first point, I detect that Loki’s writing reveals his own feelings of moral superiority over those he is attacking. Of course, he may well be justified in this since he has been a long-time supporter of the move for Scottish independence and may well feel justified in disliking the attitudes of later converts to the cause, especially if they express their support in idealistic and unrealistic ways.

Loki is certainly right when he says that the independent Scotland we would have voted for would not be all that different to the Scotland we have now and I think this is the main reason I disagree with his stance. What many of us who take an interest in politics can often forget is that the majority of people are not so enthralled by it. They want to live their lives in peace, to earn a decent wage and to do the best for themselves and their families while knowing that they have the State to fall back on if things go wrong at any time in their lives. These people tend to occupy the political centre ground, flitting between the right and left of this position. The trouble they now face is that the political centre has shifted to the right, leaving what used to be moderate views now derided as extremist by the UK media.

This is where the SNP have been very clever. They are not a very left wing Party at al, occupying a position which is perhaps slightly to the left of the old centre. They have just made a virtue of being seen as left wing on matters of social justice because the other Parties have lurched so far to the right. But occupying this ground is what caused the surge in support for Scottish independence. Most people were not hankering for dramatic change. They wanted their lives to go on pretty much the same but with the knowledge that their Government would be chosen by them and not imposed by a Westminster election in which Scottish votes do not count. They also wanted a Government which put Scotland first rather than one which runs down its industries and economy at virtually every turn.

It may well be that this sort of ambition is not radical enough for Loki and he is perfectly entitled to that opinion. I would suggest, however, that without appealing to the middle ground, the Yes movement would have died an early death. To gain a majority of votes, it is always necessary to appeal to the desires of the majority, not simply those who want radical change.

So, yes, the Scotland we might have found ourselves living in would probably be very similar to the Scotland we live in now except that some of the more draconian measures being implemented by westminster would not be coming into effect. The Scottish Government, whichever Party was in power, would still need to deal with multi-national corporations, with foreign powers who have vested interests, with climate change and with the EU. Those things will not go away and need to be dealt with. Anyone who thought Scotland would be an independent Utopia is indeed worthy of being corrected. Equally, though, those of us who would have been quite happy with that sort of Scotland, where we got the Government we voted for, the foreign policies and social policies we wanted, are perfectly entitled to that point of view, just as Loki is entitled to his.

So, while I think Loki’s recent contribution is welcome from the point of view of encouraging debate and reflection of our values, I think it would be better for him not to alienate those who were on the same side during the IndieRef. The time for such arguments is once Scotland is independent and all political perspectives can be put forward when we are selecting our own Government. From some of Loki’s comments, it appears he thinks the chance has gone and I tend to agree with him on that although recent events have suggested a widening gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK, so an independent Scotland may not be as far off as I had originally suspected.

Where I do agree with Loki is that anyone who expresses idealistic views of a Utopian Scotland is fooling themselves and would actually harm the movement by giving ammunition to those who wish Scotland to remain part of the UK. However, if and when a second IndieRef comes along, I believe more pragmatic voices will provide the stimulus the Yes movement needs and, if idealists and pragmatists come together, we can perhaps achieve independence so that Loki and others can put forward their more radical views when the country comes to elect its first truly independent Government in over three centuries.