Yesterday Scotland voted against independence. Today half the country are mourning, their
hopes of a new state and it?s social democratic promise dashed. The other half are
relieved, if perhaps not enthusiastically celebrating, the potential uncertainty removed;
things will persist as before. ---- We neither mourn nor celebrate. The scaremongering of
the No campaign would likely have proved largely unfounded. So too would the promises of
the Yes campaign. In reality our lives would have continued mostly as they did before in
either event. We will trudge to the same jobs we hate along the same roads, through the
same congestion on the same expensive transport. We?ll do so so we can pay our wages back
to the capitalist class in the same shops, to pay rent to the same landlords and mortgages
to the same banks. We?ll take our kids to the same schools with the same education system,
when we?re ill we?ll wait to use the same hospitals. We?ll escape our jobs to the same
parks, beaches, museums and pubs.
An independent Scotland would in most respects have resembled the Scotland of the UK, a
patriarchal, capitalist, environmentally destructive society. A country with the most
unequal land ownership in the developed world ? where 50% of the land is owned by just 432
individuals. A country dependent on North Sea oil for much of its exports ? oil that must
be left in the ground to prevent climate catastrophe. A country with huge poverty and huge
wealth and little in the way of organised working class action to change that dynamic.
And in so continuing to uphold the same institutions, the same structures of power, the
same business interests, and the same political configuration, our fight against the
state, capital and oppression continues.
Social movements
It has become popular amongst some on the pro-independence to claim that even in defeat
politics has been radically altered. People are engaged with politics for the first time,
turnout was 85%. A new broad popular social movement is born, the referendum was never
about a vote for the Nationalists (capital N1). The campaign they built to push for
independence will now re-orient itself against the Scottish and British governments and
push for material concessions, emboldened by how close they came and bringing newly
radicalised people with them. But a high turnout in itself tells us very little of what
will come next, the complacency that we have already changed politics is dangerous.
Leaving aside the tactical mistake of offering the SNP the support they wanted to pass the
referendum and then hoping to win concessions rather than making those concessions a
precondition of support, this seems at best an optimistic prediction, which is far from
certain to be realised. It is highly probable that the movement built to advance a radical
case for independence will fail to maintain the unity it has shown pre-referendum in a
post-referendum situation. A new left unity party (perhaps Left Unity itself) seems likely
to form out of the Radical Independence Campaign and will have to compete for votes with
the Scottish Green Party. The disintegration of the SSP last decade bodes ill for the
lasting chances of that configuration. If the parliamentary left can regain even the
position it held from 2003-2007 it will have done exceedingly well (in its own terms).
Undoubtedly many from the radical independence movement will want to maintain
extra-parliamentary organisation, though how much of it is truly independent of the
parliamentary parties will be an open question. But as with the referendum itself
elections have a tendency to draw activists away from direct struggle and towards
themselves however good peoples? intentions are. Perhaps the most debilitating effect of
the referendum campaign was its draw away from other, more meaningful, sites of struggle ?
the boycott workfare campaign, anti-deportations and pro migrant work, environmental
organising and so on. Of course, that is not to say that no independence campaigners
continued their engagement with these causes, but no one has unlimited time and energy to
contribute, and that expended on the referendum could have been better placed elsewhere.
Ecology
As the independence referendum moves into the past, other issues may start to regain their
prominence. Foremost must be the commitment of politicians in Westminster and Holyrood to
continuing extraction of Scotland?s share of North Sea oil.
The independence debate was consistently shaped by the prospects for oil production and
how the proceeds will be distributed. Even where criticism did exist and a call for a
?green new deal? was made, the focus was to argue for renewables. Whilst greater use of
renewable energy is to be welcomed, it is far from sufficient. As Jason Moore has
highlighted energy revolutions of the past have always been additive and substitutive.
Market logic plus intervention for renewables will only give us both renewables and fossil
fuels. As alternative grow fossil fuels prices will fall and maintain their use alongside.
Real decarbonisation of society requires the fuels be left in the ground and their value
written off.
You cannot build a ?green? capitalism. You certainly cannot create it in time. There is
too much money invested in fossil fuels? in drilling, in mining, in fracking. The ruling
class will never voluntarily give up this wealth, or allow it to be simply voted away. ?To
survive we must act now? and ?couple bleak reality with the utopian impulse? to demand a
complete transformation of our society2.
An independent Scotland would have relied heavily on fossil fuels ? not least to maintain
currency reserves and a positive balance of trade. The extraction of North Sea oil will
instead continue to prop up the UK?s trade deficit. As part of a larger economy that
dependence may now not be brought as clearly to the fore. But that reliance must be
exposed, and it must be broken. That will be an expensive and difficult task, but one
which we have no choice but to take up ? there will be no future for Scotland or the UK if
we do nothing. We must create the movement which makes that possible. Too much time has
been spent on bourgeois constitutional questions while the rich consolidate their wealth
and power, impose austerity and hardship and leave the planet to burn safe that adaptation
will be good enough for them.
So tonight, drown your sorrows. Take time to regain your energy and when you?re ready come
back to join us. The better society that had been pinned on independence doesn?t need a
new state. Keep talking to your neighbours and your workmates. We have a world to win and
only our own working class self-activity and organisation will secure it.
1. We?ve discussed previously the obfuscation of ?good? and ?bad? nationalism and the
left?s claim that independence has nothing to do with nationalism. In our opinion both yes
and no campaigns de facto represent competing nationalisms, whatever their intentions to
the contrary.
2. Goodbye to the Future ? Out of the Woods.
| Tagged climate change, Edinburgh, independence, referendum | Leave a comment
Referendum rant from an immigrant
Posted on September 18, 2014 by afedscotland
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Re-blogged from Edinburgh Anarchist Federation.
This is going to be a bit of a rant rather than a carefully crafted piece because I
desperately need to get it off my chest. I haven?t written anything about the referendum
yet and I haven?t weighed in much on lots of the discussions that friends and people
around me are having (although I have been listening), because my frame of reference is
different since I became an anarchist. I?m also not eligible to vote, because I?m not a UK
citizen yet and am from the US, which isn?t a Commonwealth or EU country. If I were still
a progressive Democrat like I was when I grew up, I would be excited about setting up a
new capitalist representative democracy, which is of course what the actual question of
the referendum asks if we want to do. It wasn?t until I started reading more and more
about anarchist communism some years ago now that I decided that I thought they were right
about representative capitalist democracy ? that we can?t use this system to change this
system. Growing up and participating in election campaigns was like banging my head
against a wall ? even if we won, the damn politicians we elected never seemed to be able
to eliminate poverty or stop environmental exploitation. Now I think that?s because Lucy
Parsons was right; we should ?never be deceived that the rich will permit you to vote away
their wealth.? Poverty and white supremacy and patriarchy and environmental exploitation
are about power. The people who control power are not going to relinquish it because we
asked them politely. They never have previously and they aren?t suddenly going to start
tomorrow. If we want change, we have to use methods that aren?t built into the system,
methods that are directly democratic and collective and that threaten power.
A friend of mine involved in the Radical Independence Campaign last night was giddily
excited about the referendum today. She talked about how amazing it is that all these
people in Scotland are engaging in this discussion about what kind of society we want to
live in, about a more equal society, a different system ? and I didn?t speak, because
she?s so happy and I feel so frustrated. Because she?s very right about that in a way ? it
is impressive that so many people in Scotland are having political discussions with their
friends, are getting to know new people and talking to them about politics. It?s very
frustrating that very little of that discussion is actually about what kind of society
people want to live in ? it is mostly about what kind of state people want to live in. To
me, as an anarchist communist, that?s a pretty big difference, a pretty serious boundary
to the conversation. The discussion about independence has been about what kind of state
people want to create. I don?t want to create a state and I?m not sure what to say when
people ask me what kind of state I want to create. I see the possibilities of
state-creation as limited, not unlimited. I?m not just anti-capitalist ? I?m also
anti-representative-democracy and anti-state-socialism. I?m for direct democracy and
libertarian socialism, and I don?t believe that we?re going to get either of those things
by setting up capitalist states.
I think it?s pretty cool that 97% of Scotland is now registered to vote and that most
eligible voters will be voting today. I think it demonstrates that people like to be asked
questions directly. Lots of people get that representative democracy sucks and that it
doesn?t make a difference who they vote for in elections, so they don?t vote. But when
they?re asked directly what they think should happen, they show up. People occasionally
claim that a more democratic society wouldn?t work because people don?t like constantly
having to make decisions, but I think that?s rubbish. Decision-making is hard, but not
having control of your own life is harder. A referendum isn?t direct democracy ? it?s a
question framed by those in power offering a choice they are willing to give, which of
course is why it?s a question I don?t even particularly want to answer, because what
they?re willing to offer is another capitalist state. But I think it illustrates something
about our potential for political engagement anyway.
What would be even better than 88% voter turnout is if all of the people who vote today
because they want a better society, all of the people who voted yes for change, all of the
people who spent hours campaigning for independence, were all out again on Friday, and
Saturday, and Sunday, and all of the days after that, fighting for change. Because no
change is actually going to happen unless we fight for it. Imagine if all of the people
involved in the Yes campaign sat down with their colleagues and workmates and agreed a
list of demands to present to the boss of things they want changed where they work. In
fact, imagine if they confronted all the bosses who are part of the Yes campaign right
now! Imagine if all of the people involved in the Yes campaign picketed every business
and charity in Scotland still using workfare. Imagine if all of the people involved in the
Yes campaign blockaded the UKBA/Home Office in Glasgow every time they wanted to take
their van out to arrest and detain an asylum seeker during the next two years in which
we?ll still be in the UK even if the Yes campaign wins. Tomorrow I hope everyone who has
so far been happy to campaign alongside the viciously cissexist Wings over Scotland
because independence was more important than trans people will publicly demand that WOS
publicly apologize for its previous cissexist comments. I hope that all of the people
with Green Yes in their profile picture on facebook posting about how Scotland can make
millions of pounds from oil in the North Sea will stop being selfish idiots. If all of
those people stepped outside of the system, outside of charity and letters to your MSP and
being politely consulted and then ignored, not to drop out but to fight, then an
independent Scottish government would be quaking in its boots. Change happens because we
make them change, because they?re worried about what will happen if they don?t change. I
would be happy to see some of the reforms that people are talking about happen in an
independent Scotland. But I know that they won?t happen unless we make society
ungovernable without them.
Lots of people voting today in Scotland want a more equal society. How much more equal?
How much inequality is okay? How many children in poverty is okay? How many adults? How
many people sleeping rough? How many people on poverty wages? How many people working
stupid, pointless, soul-crushing jobs, selling disposable crap? How many racist comments?
How many hotels refusing black people beds for the night? How many catcalls on the street
are okay? Do we want a society like Sweden or Norway? People are still poor and miserable
there. Not as many people, maybe. But some people still are. Are we okay with that? Do we
think that?s as good as it can get? I don?t. And today I won?t be voting for change, but I
will still be organizing for it. And I hope that tomorrow, everyone who voted will be
joining me, will be pouring their hopeful words into direct action, because that would be
something to get excited about.
(and to the woman at the teachers? strike rally I went to a few years ago who asked me
which politician I would be voting for, and when I said that I wouldn?t be voting, said to
me that her grandmother had gone to prison for the vote and that she hopes I never teach
her children ? while we stood together with our placards taking industrial action ? and in
fact to everyone else who has ever ridden the high horse of a hollow bourgeois vote over
direct action to try to make people who don?t care what colour tie their boss wears and
who aren?t even allowed to vote feel guilty ? fuck you thoroughly.)
ps My image editing skills are a bit who-cares this morning but images are good for
blogposts, so sorry about that.
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» (en) Britain, Don?t Mourn. Organise - Edinburgh anarchist statement on the referendum result by afedscotland