"Anarchists in Scotland ? and elsewhere in Britain ? will have their work cut out for
them. The positive vision of change, independence and autonomy which the ?yes? campaign
uncovered and pushed in a certain direction is still there and could blossom into a wider
social movement which aims for freedom in all aspects of life ? which could only be a
decentralised, federal, self-managed socialist system, or anarchism (to use the proper
name!). ---- Time will tell whether I suffer from ?nationalist illusions? or not, but
anarchism must be a popular movement, a movement of the people, and that means it must
reflect and develop the progressive wishes of the masses if it is to be relevant."
The extract below is from Anarcho's latest blog over on Anarchist Writers site
A few words on the Independence vote in Scotland. So it is over ? I remain, officially at
least, ?British? as the Scottish referendum was 45% ?yes? against 55% ?no?.
I have not mentioned the campaign very much over the two years since the independence
campaign was announced, in part due to being very bust but mostly because I am in exile
(which gives you a clue as to how I would have voted if I were in Scotland, namely the
same as my home city of Glasgow: ?aye?). I had expected a ?no? vote but a closer than
expected one ? which happened, although not as close as I hoped. Those claiming it was
?overwhelming? or ?decisively? a ?no? vote are deluding themselves ? it was close and
change is needed when 45% of a country wishes to leave a bigger country and most of the
55% of others had to be bribed with more devolution?
Looking at it from exile, the obvious panic the ?yes? campaign produced in the political
elite and ruling class was very amusing ? almost as amusing as seeing Tories saying nice
things about a union. The ?yes? campaign did involve people into something which raised
hopes that something better was possible ? it may have been wrapped around a Saltire but
it was wider than nationalist (illusional or not). Indeed, on Channel Four News a Labour
?no? campaigner grumbled that the ?yes? campaign had become a ?socialist movement? in all
but name and moaned that this was not the SNP?s politics ? true, but a desire for
independence (autonomy/decentralisation) does not equal nationalism. Still, it was nice
for him to confirm that, when in peril, the British ruling class can count on Labour to
save them from popular movements for change!
The elephant in the room was, of course, the unspoken British nationalism of the ?no?
position ? while berating the ?yes? campaign as being nationalistic and therefore bad, the
default position was that British nationalism was perfectly acceptable (indeed so natural
was this nationalism that it was not even mentioned). The Daily Mail likened Scottish
Nationalism to the rise of nationalist movements in the 1930s, that is fascism. Forgetting
for the moment that at the time that paper was pro-Nazi, I do need to say it was the
?British Union of Fascists? and like the ?no? campaign very much in favour of the benefits
of the Act of Union of 1707 alleged provided the world. Simply put, to portray the
independence campaign as a return to the 1930s is simply illiterate nonsense ? but what
can you expect from a paper which denounced everyone else as fascists while keeping its
own support for Mussolini, Hitler, Franco and Mosley unmentioned.
British nationalism is simply not nationalism, apparently ? talking of which, I wonder how
the members of the Orange Order voted? While obviously Unionists, the Pope came out in
favour of a ?no? vote... so I have to wonder if that caused some confusion...
Anyway, back to the subject. The ?yes? campaign obviously spooked the establishment ? so
there will be a backlash. We are already seeing it start in numerous nasty articles in a
host of right-wing papers (in London, the Evening Boris - the voice of the 1% given free
to the 99% - had articles which I could not finish due to the bile expressed). It will get
worse - particularly when the Tories hit their stride - so the people who live in Scotland
will pay for daring to challenge the status quo. The Tories are ruthless and will utilise
everything to secure power and impose their social engineering. Many ?no? voters won over,
to a large degree, by the vow for new powers being devolved, will be waking up to the cold
reality of what was left out of it ? the ?small print?, if you like (except that is being
too generous to the Tories as it was never placed anywhere anyone could read it). Things
will get nasty and promises will either be broken or conditions imposed which will make
many think ?we did not vote ?no? for that?.
Still, the whole ?we love you don?t leave us but if you do we will make you suffer?
campaign should have been a taste of what a ?no? vote would produce... particularly with
the Tories in office. To be fair to the likes of Gordon Brown, he seemed sincere in his
defence of the Union and the promises given but ?no? voters seemed to forget that he was
not able to grant them, only the Tories could and they should have known that those evil
numpties would twist anything to bolster their agenda. Still, rest assured when the
backlash gets going and the conditions announced they will proclaim it as all being done
in the name of ?fairness?...
So anarchists in Scotland ? and elsewhere in Britain ? will have their work cut out for
them. The positive vision of change, independence and autonomy which the ?yes? campaign
uncovered and pushed in a certain direction is still there and could blossom into a wider
social movement which aims for freedom in all aspects of life ? which could only be a
decentralised, federal, self-managed socialist system, or anarchism (to use the proper
name!). Time will tell whether I suffer from ?nationalist illusions? or not, but anarchism
must be a popular movement, a movement of the people, and that means it must reflect and
develop the progressive wishes of the masses if it is to be relevant. In Scotland that
means addressing the independence question ? and linking it wider issues, not least
decentralisation, federalism, self-management and socialisation of the economy (the only
real basis for meaningful individual and collective self-determination).
In short, as section D.7 of An Anarchist FAQ argued, libertarians must ?aim to turn
national liberation struggles into human liberation struggles?. As Kropotkin stressed in
the article below, where must anarchists be? ?Where the masses are!? Why? ?without the
masses, no revolution?. Is it a movement which is libertarian? No. Can it become such a
movement? Perhaps, but only if anarchists take part and push it beyond the national
question into the social question (also see this blog on the attitude of Kropotkin and
Bakunin to national liberation movements).
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» (en) Workers Solidarity Movement (Ireland) - Referendum: Anarchists in Scotland ? and elsewhere in Britain ? will have their work cut out for them.