You think I'm curious about tomorrow and the Scottish vote? You bet I am! I have followed the 18th September vote with great interest. Although it's in the other hemisphere, it’s very much a humanity vote, and which way will it go?
Tomorrow has been compared by some here with the 27 April 1994 vote, a day which heralded democratic rule after centuries of colonialism and then apartheid. It’s as significant, of course. I'm not sure how far to take that comparison. Apartheid was sold, to the white population anyway (and some of the black elite), as self determination: "Here's some land for the Zulus, there's some land for the Xhosas, there's some land for the [etc] ... and here is our land. You may work here, but your own country is over there". On the 27 April 1994, the people living across South Africa (at least 11 "nations" as there are 11 official languages!) all expressed confidence in the very diverse mix that is this country. In many ways it was a "Better together" vote.
The human psyche loves the I-thou, us-them definition. We know who we are if we have drawn a line in the sand to separate us from the other. And we use these lines for far more than nationality (do some reading up if you are not familiar with Jung's idea of Shadow)!
What if we are all on the same side?
The clans of Scotland are its glory. The lines between them have also been its weakness. The land was kept in servitude, subjugated through a divide-and-rule strategy by outsiders. Clans and classes were turned against each other. What William Wallace had to contend with!
Some have taken cynical advantage of unity, of course, and people are drafted into wars which have nothing to do with them! What did the Scots have to do with Blair's Iraq or Cameron's adventure in Libya? How sincere is "Better together"?
Tomorrow raises interesting questions for various corners of the globe (sshh! and some discomfort). What about the Ukraine? Spain, Morocco and China? There are reports this evening that the Shetland Islands would consider their own independent future if Scotland secedes from the U.K. (so much for Scotland's dreams of wealth from oil!) My goodness, what about Lesotho? Some have suggested incorporating that country as the 10th province of South Africa. Remember also that the US fought its civil war to prevent the Southern States from going it alone.
It's understandable that we want boundaries, but what if the lines we draw are artificial and we are more than the human beings wanting to mark off our own caves? It might take centuries still for us to learn this but what if we are all actually on the same side?
Shucks! Until then, let's make our way as best as we can with the light that we have ...
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