A bruising performance
last night from His Majesty Queen Alec Salmond, which is causing the
chattering pundits to predict a YES vote in the Scottish Independence
referendum next month.
There are always two
equal and opposite forces at work in geopolitics. On the one hand,
the centripetal force towards greater integration of elements: the
USSR, the USA, the European Union, for example. And on the other the
centrifugal force towards greater fragmentation of elements:
the balkanisation of
the former Yugoslavia, Catalan, Galician and Basque separatism, a
Kurdish state, for example. And, of course, an independent Scotland.
It is tempting to
indulge in a reductio ad absurdum argument here. If Scotland becomes
independent, then so should Wales. Then England will be an
independent country too. But wait. Yorkshire folk have always seen
themselves as different, separate. So why not an independent
Yorkshire? But wait. In that case, why not an independent Cornwall,
historically part of the Celtic fringe?
We are going
Appalachian here. Queen Alec's wish to be independent is partly
because he loves Scotland, but it's partly because he dislikes
England. Only a matter of time before the Highlands demand to be
separated from the Lowlands, which really do feel like two different
countries. Soon, every valley will have its clan that wishes to be
independent from all the other valley clans, and if there's any
argument, they will fight to defend their freedom. Clan feuds r Us.
In fact, if the village
of Haddenham where I live makes a UDI, I personally will ask for my
particular road to become independent of the rest of the village,
because some very weird folk live up there.
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