• Scotland
is not special. Scotland is not unique. Scottish people are not uniquely
disposed to be progressive, welcoming, wealth-redistributing citizens in
solidarity. (Nor are Danes, Norwegians or Icelanders, by the way.) Every
victory for workers – from minimum wage to the weekend – has been fought for,
won, and defended by ongoing struggle. A struggle which has always been
threatened, and always will be threatened, by bosses and politicians. We live
in a part of the world with a terrifying degree of neoliberal consensus. We
shouldn’t be mistaken in thinking that the current Scottish government, and any
likely Scottish government in the near future, is anything but neoliberal.
[…]
The
current Government is at the soft and smiley end of neoliberalism, for sure,
and it’s trying hard to make itself look as progressive as possible to get your
votes, but things could be very different after the referendum. Now and after
the referendum, the Government is a government of bosses and the wealthy. Even
with their appealing promises, they are not your friends.
We
should also not be mistaken in thinking that Europe is a progressive political
organisation either. EU prosperity has relied on forcing brutal policies on
Greece and Spain. It just takes manufacturing a government debt crisis and the
same could happen to Scotland. Moreover, the open borders allowed within the EU
– preserving which is a goal of many progressives voting for independence – are
dependent on vicious and murderous immigration control on Europe’s borders. We
may be freer inside, but we’re a fortress.
[…]
Only ongoing campaigning can win us the victories
we’ve been promised. Only radical struggle will secure rights for workers, for
women, for migrants, for the disabled, for folk who are marginalised by gender,
sexuality, race and every other oppression. A vote guarantees nothing. Fighting
together can guarantee everything.
Class Matters: A Provocation
for Radical Campaigning Now - Harry Giles - Posted on July 21, 2014
http://nationalcollective.com/2014/07/21/class-matters-a-provocation-for-radical-campaigning-now/
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