NPR had some discussion of Scottish secession tonight. I'm sure it's a serious subject and all that, but my first thought was "Haven't they been saying this for 300 years?"
When the Scottish Parliament reopened 12 years ago, they opened with a folksong...
Okay, some Guinness and Hard Cider came out my nose when I heard that. Really. Protests should have folksongs. I've always thought "The Times They Are A-Changing" would have been good for the Tea Party, though it's too late now. But you don't open congress with This Land Is Your Land*.
I know they've got North Sea oil - hell, we own a piddling tens shares of some o' that. (Our company seems to keep finding more natural gas, not oil. But that's nice too.) But Scotland is currently high welfare, high services, low paying back into the UK coffers. That's a pattern that repeats across Europe. Flemish and Walloons, Northern and Southern Italy, Western and Eastern Germany. It's not stable.
* I take that back. I want to see videos of Maxine Waters singing that.
"Parcel of Rogues" has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. I particularly like the Steeleye Span version.
ReplyDeleteI agree it's a little rich to listen to a modern Scotsman complaining about English gold having been their bane.
But I'm from Scots-Irish stock, and inclined to take Scotland's side against the evil English.
I am both, but fairly remote in both cases.
ReplyDeleteAs even "Wallace" originally means "Welshman," it's all pretty mixed.