Nationalism

Nationalism and patriotism are two concepts i struggle a little bit with. I buy into things like supporting the national football team and people representing Scotland in sporting events and suchlike. Why their successes or failures should matter is not something i fully understand. At the same time i don't like jingoistic patriotism that seeks to label us and says you are different from such and such. Often we are, there are always cultural differences but i think people from different countries and cultures often share much in common.

So when i stumbled across this article i wasn't sure what to make of it. On many levels it is absolutely disgusting, not in the least suprising though. The thing is i'm neither a staunch exponent of Scotland becoming independent or remaining within the Union of Great Britain and NI. It is appalling the way people and information is manipulated, however as a great man once said, "all governments are lying cocksuckers" this is just a fact of life it seems.

In some ways i think Scotland should become independent, for better or worse we might get a government that more closely represented what the people want. Albeit that would have been Labour governments since pretty much the war going on voting records, certainly in my lifetime Scotland has voted Labour and suffered at the hands of Conservative governments over many years anyway.

Is it likely to have made the state of our country better or worse? Honest answer is we would only know if we try, though with increasing european intengration is it better to be a small nation with an independent voice or part of a bigger nation with more clout? Also given the ever increasing political union of European nations is it really worth the effort any longer?

So i guess the heart does say yes, the head say eh mibbe. Will i lose sleep on it, nope. I believe we live in one world and we are but only a very small part. Still you can't help hear the words of the bard himself, "We're bought and sold for English gold" and thinking what if?