You have probably all seen this already, but it made me laugh so much I just had to post it. The Labour Party brings up Jack Straw and 100 fellow troughers from Westminster to make a grand demonstration for the Union, and their efforts are negated by the brilliant mockery of two lads on a rickshaw.
A great example of the nimbleness and popular authenticity of the Yes campaign on the street, outwitting the Noes ponderous and expensive efforts.
Interesting to compare this to yesterday’s genuinely spontaneous scenes in precisely the same location yesterday. See the last thirty seconds of the first video – that No “demonstration” was given massive coverage by the BBC. Now look at this yesterday, which was not shown on the BBC at all.
Finally that full Jim Sillars interview on the BBC. I agree with every single word he said. The BBC only showed a 30 second extract after the live interview, and presented it as a “blunder”. Plainly not only were the BBC shocked at Sillars’ lack of neo-con orthodoxy, they could not understand that others might actually agree with him too.
While I certainly don’t buy into the Coalition’s economic strategy such as it exists, that doesn’t mean that I buy into the incoherent witterings of a former oil company economist or the former head of strategy of a failed Scottish insurance company. Look how the thinking on the currency was destroyed by Krugman in a couple of paragraphs. The reality is that in such a vacuum that the divide and conquer games of the City will become a lot easier (like it or not the connections between the English and Scottish economies and the souces of finance will still be pretty deep going forward – as single coherent opposition is really the only hope going forward.
A defensible position, RD. But ca 50% of Scots think enough is bloody enough, and have considerable faith in Salmond, not least because his administration has resisted some of the worst excesses of UK plc, and because, however irrelevant you may think a practised oil economist may be to the question, he has shown himself to be a more than effective leader of the SNP as well as a pragmatic First Minister.
I haven’t seen any more detail from the corporates threatening to leave than from the Yes campaign, btw. There is a reason for this, I think. After a yes vote (may celestial choirs attend it) there’s going to be a hell of a lot of negotiation of terms. Even currently fixed positions like ‘thou shalt not have a currency union’ and ‘we aren’t going to pay UK debts’
will have to be reviewed, modified and traded. There’s no point in stating inalienable positions in advance. Most of what has been advanced by either side consists of unsupported threats (No) and promises (Yes)
I’m encouraged to see you’re not happy about the City’s activities either. My partial response is to suggest that as the globalising agenda wishes to create a single world economy on a minimum wage/maximum profit basis, with all decisions being taken by the profiteers, the separation of dissident states is the piss in the corporates’ porridge. I’m for diversity in this context, and self-determination.
Just incidentally, I’m currently involved in a building and refurbishment project on a fixed budget. Half of this will be spent on building, refurbishment and capital equipment- tangibles. The other half will go to Crapita and a consultancy -suits. I might add that cutting a 1′ hole in a breezeblock wall will require planning permission in this particular case.
Cutting the crap starts here, but it can’t be done within UK plc.
RD
“Look how the thinking on the currency was destroyed by Krugman in a couple of paragraphs.”
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Yes, I remember seeing that and being impressed. But I can’t find it anywhere – could you possibly post the link, RD? Thx!
Perhaps you would also like to read this reply to Krugman’s piece?
http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-opinion/9725-paul-krugman-what-the-heck
Habba
Link to the original Krugman piece
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/08/opinion/paul-krugman-scots-what-the-heck.html?_r=0
Ba’al Zevul
I’m afraid a slight irritant in the City’s porridge is all that it would be – all of which would divert attention away from the more important activity of designing and getting support for a coherent and thought through alternative.
BTW I would expect consultsnts to flourish in an independent Scotland – take my word they look for situations where naivety exists (remember the building of the Scottish parliament) as that is where they have the best opportunity to get away with complex and over priced solutions. I can see them queueing up outside the new ministries already.
David Park
Strangely enough Mr Kerevan is somewhat silent as to why the Gold standard fell out of use as a common currency – a little something called the Great Depression was the result.
BTW I would expect consultsnts to flourish in an independent Scotland – take my word they look for situations where naivety exists…
…and cash is unlimited. Which it isn’t, as I happily concede, in Scotland. I think the Scottish policy of not farming the NHS out to profiteers while paying rather more to them for the services provided than would have been the case with an unprivatised service provides a useful precedent in the field of fiscal responsibility.
I cannot personally recall either than anyone foresaw the following –
The fall of the Evil Empire (Soviet Union and Communist block)
This man did; he was out by 7 years, and sadly didn’t live to see the the actual demise of the USSR-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Amalrik
I want to like Jim Sillars, shame about his climate change denial and pro-fracking position. Oil and gas under the Clyde? Great, let it stay there if you care about the climate.
An independent Scotland would presumably see better union rights for fast food workers, which could have beneficial consequences for others South of the border, although it would mean burgers costing a little more. There’s an interesting article in this in the New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/15/dignity-4)
So the plight of fast food workers is an argument for an independent Scotland, since it would probably lend itself to implementing socialist principles.
On the other hand, it might go the way of Argentina or Chile if it’s not careful.
Strikes me that an Independent Scotland should be deploying fast food workers else where given the general health of the populace.
@Vronsky
Indeed. I was at one here in Dundee. The Labour No bus had disgorged bussed in activists in the centre, we convened up the pedestrianised road by the Burns statue. Had speeches etc. A mass photo on the steps of the Gallery then we formed up behind the piper and flags waving proceeded to, illegally (we had not sought permission) marched down to the centre and past a wall of Labour people (chanting ‘you’r the Tories in disguise’ at them as we did so We then reconvened on the other side of their bus and stole their crowd with more speeches and generally happiness.
Best quote from the speeches? ‘rUK have only 4 days of oil left’.
One of the preppy looking Labour people walked in amongst us holding a stack of tracts and listened to a speech then left making no attempt to distribute his material. Which cowardice I called him on. After all some of us might have offered to swap for a Wee Blue Book and such a horror cannot be contemplated.
@Muscleguy
I almost feel sorry for the No campaigners on the street when I see them. They look so sad and lonely. After I think about what they represent I snap out of it pretty quickly though!
Old Mark
“I cannot personally recall either than anyone foresaw the following –
The fall of the Evil Empire (Soviet Union and Communist block)
This man did; he was out by 7 years, and sadly didn’t live to see the the actual demise of the USSR-”
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Thank you for that. A prophet before his time and a courageous man.
I know this blog didn’t exist at the time, but as a hypothetical, can you imagine the shit that would have been thrown over any commenter who would have dared to mention him or quote from his writings on here? Mr Goss, for example…..
“Habba
Link to the original Krugman piece
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/08/opinion/paul-krugman-scots-what-the-heck.html?_r=0”
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Thank you, RD.
Is the “rebuttal” piece mentioned by the commenter just before you worth reading? I’ll take youer word for it either way. Thx.
Is the “rebuttal” piece mentioned by the commenter just before you worth reading?
By all means do – it isn’t a line of argument that impresses me, but the it does demonstrate that among the Nats there is a strain of economic thinking that is quite Thatcherite/Hayekian (Craig and John Swinney have both been known to veer in a similar direction from time to time), I appreciate that this is more likely to appeal to you than myself, but it is perhaps not surprising that some of our pretend “socialist” lets jump on anti UK/US etc. bandwagon street theatre types haven’t picked up on this trned within SNP thinking.