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Why we are where we are:- A thread...
In the last few days during all the twitter squabbles going on within the Yes movement I noticed the same thing being said again and again by those weary of the conflict. "Why are we all fighting when we all want the same thing?" /1
In the last few days during all the twitter squabbles going on within the Yes movement I noticed the same thing being said again and again by those weary of the conflict. "Why are we all fighting when we all want the same thing?" /1
People were saying versions of the above quote along side things like "there's long term friends blocking each other over one little disagreement". The reason for it is quite straightforward when you take a step back and look at the bigger picture of our movement. /2
We are a group of people who share a common goal. A common purpose but it does not mean we all agree. We come from different social classes, economic backgrounds, faiths and nonfaiths, political parties or none. We have different priorities, dreams, hopes and aspirations. /3
Therefore it is only logical that there are things we disagree on and whilst the push for Independence was fast paced and strong, we put those aside for our shared goal. However, in recent years as the SNP put governing a country at the forefront, fighting Brexit /4
and reforming Gender recognition laws and Hate crime Bills cracks appeared. Gradualism brought us here, to where there was downtime in campaigning and fighting together, to a point where we could discuss other topics amongst ourselves /5
In doing so, we found things to disagree on. We found that yes whilst our central goal of achieving Scottish Independence and restoring our nations dignity was important and a shared one, we weren't all always on the same page. This led of course to disagreements /6
Whilst the SNP continued not to push or even mention Independence we argued and challenged each other and gradualism saw divides happen. There is nothing inherently wrong in this, it would happen after Independence anyway but the topics on display /7
Particularly GRA and Hate crime legislation were emotive subjects and with little else to concentrate on as we locked down for a pandemic we have gotten deeper and deeper into the trenches of those debates. Friendships have frayed and ties have been cut. /8
When you add into that mix the recent accusations (and whether you believe them or not) against the leadership of the SNP you find that those already starting to divide will pick sides and sometimes only based on which side agrees with their views more. This is human nature. /9
Those sides have gone on to entrench and both believe they are solely in the right and fighting the best fight for our future. It's not true friends, not at all. We're all trying but we're all also failing. Failing to see the important points in this, failing to act on them /10
in the right ways. That failure is because we've ignored the real issues and turned inwards to fight amongst ourselves. We should be fighting those really responsible. The gradualists who let us get to this point in the first place. The ones who are sitting back throwing /11
insults from a safe place whilst we do the nasty work. We must fix the SNP it's our vehicle to independence sure, but the wheels are off and its careening down a steep embankment towards a ravine. We must be the safety barrier. /12
Together we've shown we can achieve so much, and whilst we wont always agree on everything, our fundamental desire for Scotland to be a better nation should keep us from despair. We fix the mess now, cut out the rot or watch the entire forest burn as the unionists use it /13
against us later during an election. So that friends (old and new) is where we are and why. Gradualism is the core problem and to fix it we must kick gradualism to the kerb and move on with out shared goal.
End /14
End /14
