Scotland remains a colony, despite being a 'partner' in this UK union

While he sees himself as a member of a tight local community, I view my community as being Scotland, I was even proud to be a European until that was stolen from me, and I consider myself a citizen of the global world – even a “child of the universe”. This offers hope for cooperation, camaraderie and an end to the division and conflict that artificial human created boundaries inflict on us.

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Royal burghs, imposed at the behest of feudal landlords and cemented by the unequal, archaic system of monarchy with its specious claim to divine right, were designed as an instrument of division, a bar on collective activism and a key instrument of control of the populace. Such division brought diversionary conflict within the populace and beyond that the overlords could control. Conquer, divide and rule.

Diversity is the modern equivalent. We are encouraged to divide society into myriad communities based on religion, ethnic minority, sex, gender fashion, political groupings, economic status and a whole host of other labels, all creating diversion from the over-riding political issues of the day – divert attention, divide and rule. And we’ve fallen for this. We’ve been conned into taking our eye off the ball of what’s really important.

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Derrick McClure claims fond memories of a sense of belonging to Ayr; surely more imagination than reality? Apart from the local gala day, common riding or other annual town event, the reality has long been that such communities barely exist. Indeed, his town of Ayr had so much local community spirit that ever since it was invented local football supporters have long decanted themselves to Glasgow of a Saturday afternoon to support the Old Firm teams rather than their local club. There is the same problem substantially throughout Scotland.

The reality is that in a society where people have scant relationships even with their near neighbours, most individuals’ community remains within their own hinterland of family and friends, which now can exist anywhere over the entire globe. Rather than converse with a neighbour, more prevalent is using WhatsApp, Skype and Facetime to talk in real time, face-to-face with one’s own global community.

So much so that many now care little about what happens outside their front door, ably reflected in the difficulties persuading folks to be involved politically in their own community – appallingly low turnouts for local elections – and illustrated by the difficulty in persuading 50% of Scots to rationalise the imperative for their own Scotland to be independent to their own benefit.

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Scotland remains a colony, despite supposedly being a partner in this UK union. Harking back to the divisive, failed structures of the past shows precisely how we have failed to change the mindset of subjugation. Of course the continual stream of British-government-controlled media and propaganda aids and abets this.

The current local government structure, within the community of Scots, needs a review. It needs modernised to maximise efficiency and reduce costs, to free up hard-pressed public money better spent on other things.

However, my interests are barely different to those in Shetland, Skye, Aberdeen, Glasgow or Dumfries. We’re all Scots, we’re a’ Jock Tamson’s bairns.

Sorry, Derick McClure and your ilk, we just shouldn’t be hiving ourselves off into cozy wee cliques to live differently to those with whom we share our country, same interests and future. That’s precisely what our control group wants us to do.

Jim Taylor
Edinburgh

THIS year marks the 40th anniversary of the Bhopal chemical disaster in India. Hundreds of thousands of people killed, unknown numbers injured, the injuries and illnesses continuing up to the present. The injuries are still going on because the American owners of the chemical factory, Union Carbide, refused to clean up the site. They left the chemicals to contaminate the water supply, and since the inhabitants have no other source of water, the people continue to suffer from horrendous birth defects.

Warnings were given to local government, to management in India and in the headquarters of the parent company in the United States. It would have cost the owners of the company money to train the operatives on the safe working practices required to keep them safe. The company bosses needed to make profit, and the shareholders needed to get a return on their investment. Same old, same old.

No proper, decent compensation given to the victims to this date. Yet there is money for American crackpots to send a private rocket to the Moon. There is money to investigate Mars. How come there is no money to give the inhabitants of planet Earth a decent life?

Margaret Forbes
Blanefield