People are people, y’know?
Now, I’m not sure how much the major news item in the UK seeps out into the world at large, but in a few weeks’ time one of the most important days in our political history will come to pass. It is the referendum on independence for Scotland, wherein the Scottish people choose whether or not to remain as a constituent part of the United Kingdom, or to strike out on its own as an autonomous nation for the first time in three centuries.
You’ll probably see me mentioning this a few times in the run-up; I’m a Yes voter, convinced of the opportunities offered by seceding from the union. However, in this post, I want to address an overarching topic before going on later to my arguments as to voting Yes.
While, by and large, it has been a reasonably politely conducted run-up, as we get closer to the day nerves are beginning to fray under the tensions. People are now finding themselves at odds with friends and family, and understandably this is causing a fair bit of upset.
It’s gotten to the point now where things are beginning to turn nasty, where politics and personality are getting mixed up to a frightening degree. What I want is for everyone to remember that behind the politics and the opinions, there are people. People who genuinely believe that whatever it is they are voting for is the best route for their country, their families, their communities. These are your countrymen, your fellows, your peers, no matter what ideology they follow. Yes, you may disagree, you may even find what they are voting for reprehensible – But the fact of the matter is, unless they deliberately intend to do ill by harming or restricting others, they are not ‘evil ones’ to be hated. They are the people with whom you share a nation, and will continue to share a nation with after the referendum, no matter the outcome.
So, when you discuss independence and the pros and cons thereof, just remember; you’re talking to an equal, somebody who wants what’s best for the country as they see it just as much as you do.
M.
I think you may be assigning motivation to people incorrectly – I’m sure some will be thinking of what’s best for the country, but I suspect many will be thinking of what’s best for them personally, which is not the same thing. An example of the prisoner’s dilemma in action?
Not my circus, not my monkeys. BUT, play nice you silly kids. 🙂 The polyglot called America is giving me a headache…really want to take some of these fools and chain them to an old car at the bottom of the abyssal plain, then start drinking heavily. :\
I hope the vote goes well, and people are able to keep things in perspective. I’ve lost that hope with my own country, the USA seems hosed politically.