Octavia's News Offerings

0ctavias0fferings is my selling handle (the 'o's are zeros) and you'll find me under that name on both Squidoo and Zazzle.
I'm a Scottish Grandmother, living the quiet life in the Cairngorm National Park area of the Scottish Highlands.
I've been here on Tumblr for a while now and I still keep saying 'I must blog more'.

Feb 7, 2012 12:46am
Sentiments I wholeheartedly agree with - othernotebooksareavailable: Now Hear This! I’m getting fed up with constantly reading articles in the Guardian (my favourite newspaper by the way) and comments at their foot about the possible horror of Scottish independence, if it comes. So I just wanted to make a few points to counteract certain sentiments. I am for Scottish independence. I’m not a typical SNP voter (I favour the green party). I have lived in many different parts of Scotland, have lived in England too, and Australia and America, taught in Italy and Spain, married an American. So perhaps not everything I say will fit in with the picture being painted of the typical ‘Nat’. To my points - it seems as though there are still people who believe Nationalism is synonymous with Nazism. That it is a right-wing, ethnocentric notion based in hatred. Provincialism. Closed-mindedness in all facets of existence. We’ll take care of our own isolationism. Historically, in other countries this has often been the case, and there are examples. But NOT in the case of Scottish nationalism. Please, please, believe me.  The nationalism movement in Scotland is about improving Scotland. About allowing the country to prioritise its particular desires for social justice - Scotland is a left-of-centre country, unlike great swaths of England. Prescription medicines are free here. Our legal system is separate except in a few cases where the appeals are judged by the supreme court in London. There are a lot of problems with deprivation and early death in Scotland. Some parts of Glasgow are home to the sickest people in Europe, and this needs to change. A targeted, generations-long effort needs to be put in place to rip out the cancer of poverty, and a smaller nation would work better at focusing on this. Better that than engaging in damaging wars of aggression, or pouring money down the drain in keeping useless, but threatening nuclear armaments in Scottish waters. On the matter of immigration - despite there being racists and xenophobes in Scotland (as there are in any country) I would argue most Scots want to welcome New Scots, from all over, and find the tightening of restrictions against Non-EU citizens infuriating. Without immigration, Scotland has a declining population. We need people, and as the saying goes ‘we are all Jock Tamson’s bairns’ - that is, we are all members of the human race, deserving of comfort, consideration, respect. A Scotland that stood on its own two feet would not care any the less about the working class in other parts of the UK and the world - solidarity does not depend on borders. Perhaps we would be able to contribute more than we do, through think tank work, better structured charities, grants, our free universities being made available to all (even our English neighbours, currently, shamefully excluded from this gift) Nationalism is about a desire for peace, prosperity and development. For me, it is about allowing the nation to look outward, find and communicate in its own many voices. It is about tackling Scotland’s many social problems in an intelligent way. It is about turning the educated minds of engineers, the land and the weather to the task of producing our energy and inventing new technologies that will improve life around the world.  And whatever happens, whatever you believe, even if you have only been living here a few years, if you live in Scotland, take an interest in the referendum in 2014. Scotland needs your vote, either way! ***If you agree with this, if you want to spread the message that Scottish nationalism isn’t a scary thing, but a movement hopeful of a progressive Scotland, please reblog.***

Sentiments I wholeheartedly agree with -

othernotebooksareavailable:

Now Hear This!

I’m getting fed up with constantly reading articles in the Guardian (my favourite newspaper by the way) and comments at their foot about the possible horror of Scottish independence, if it comes.

So I just wanted to make a few points to counteract certain sentiments.

I am for Scottish independence. I’m not a typical SNP voter (I favour the green party). I have lived in many different parts of Scotland, have lived in England too, and Australia and America, taught in Italy and Spain, married an American. So perhaps not everything I say will fit in with the picture being painted of the typical ‘Nat’.

To my points - it seems as though there are still people who believe Nationalism is synonymous with Nazism. That it is a right-wing, ethnocentric notion based in hatred. Provincialism. Closed-mindedness in all facets of existence. We’ll take care of our own isolationism. Historically, in other countries this has often been the case, and there are examples. But NOT in the case of Scottish nationalism. Please, please, believe me. 

The nationalism movement in Scotland is about improving Scotland. About allowing the country to prioritise its particular desires for social justice - Scotland is a left-of-centre country, unlike great swaths of England. Prescription medicines are free here. Our legal system is separate except in a few cases where the appeals are judged by the supreme court in London.

There are a lot of problems with deprivation and early death in Scotland. Some parts of Glasgow are home to the sickest people in Europe, and this needs to change. A targeted, generations-long effort needs to be put in place to rip out the cancer of poverty, and a smaller nation would work better at focusing on this. Better that than engaging in damaging wars of aggression, or pouring money down the drain in keeping useless, but threatening nuclear armaments in Scottish waters.

On the matter of immigration - despite there being racists and xenophobes in Scotland (as there are in any country) I would argue most Scots want to welcome New Scots, from all over, and find the tightening of restrictions against Non-EU citizens infuriating. Without immigration, Scotland has a declining population. We need people, and as the saying goes ‘we are all Jock Tamson’s bairns’ - that is, we are all members of the human race, deserving of comfort, consideration, respect.

A Scotland that stood on its own two feet would not care any the less about the working class in other parts of the UK and the world - solidarity does not depend on borders. Perhaps we would be able to contribute more than we do, through think tank work, better structured charities, grants, our free universities being made available to all (even our English neighbours, currently, shamefully excluded from this gift)

Nationalism is about a desire for peace, prosperity and development. For me, it is about allowing the nation to look outward, find and communicate in its own many voices. It is about tackling Scotland’s many social problems in an intelligent way. It is about turning the educated minds of engineers, the land and the weather to the task of producing our energy and inventing new technologies that will improve life around the world. 

And whatever happens, whatever you believe, even if you have only been living here a few years, if you live in Scotland, take an interest in the referendum in 2014. Scotland needs your vote, either way!

***If you agree with this, if you want to spread the message that Scottish nationalism isn’t a scary thing, but a movement hopeful of a progressive Scotland, please reblog.***
Page 1 of 1