Cracks that cannot be papered over

Despite the result being in favor of things remaining as they are, Scotland's referendum again highlights the growing divide between the rich and poor

Was it a failure of vision or a lack of nerve?

Probably both, since there was nothing in the no campaign's portentous pronouncements that offered a clear vision of a better tomorrow, rather the opposite as they relied on scaremongering a picture of disaster if Scotland voted to go its own way.

It seemed for a time the yes camp had the wind in its sails with its bottom-up message of hope and optimism, buoyed up by the predictions of the 24 billion barrels of oil that would fund the newly independent country's course through dangerous waters and the promise that it was worth leaving a safe harbor for the rewards on offer at journey's end. However, the wind was taken out of its sails and the ship of dreams lay sluggish in the water after those buoyancy barrels shrank to just 15 billion and the no-gain-without-pain reality of a life below deck, even if just for the short time, proved ultimately less than appealing to the cautious undecided, who chose in the end not to follow the plaid pipers to a promised land, if not of milk and honey, at least of a protected national health service and higher education without the burden of debt on students.

Instead, it was the doom-and-gloom, top-down message of the no camp - be afraid, be very afraid, for you are sailing into unknown seas where terrible monsters of uncertainty prey on those naive or foolish enough to seek what lies beyond the horizon - that won the day. Perhaps not that surprising in a country where it is drummed into people even before they are able to hold a glass that it will always be half empty, never half full.

Especially since the warnings that it was a fool's errand were backed up by the hastily cobbled together promises of more powers proposed by the political heavyweights of the union and the threats of big business to evacuate, with their jobs, a country that they claimed would clearly descend into chaos and ruin without the solid backing of its more populous and prosperous neighbor to support it.

Such polarized visions are not unique to Scotland, of course, the growing divide between those exploited or discarded by the globalized pursuit of profit and the cozy collusion of vested interests and power are evident throughout the world as the tectonic plates of the haves and have-nots continue to move further and further apart, the fault lines more clearly exposed by the global financial crisis. The UK charity Oxfam released a report in January, that highlighted the 85 richest people in the world now have as much money as the 3.5 billion poorest, with the top 1 percent of earners worth 46 percent of the world's wealth.

That 70 percent of the global population lives in countries where economic inequality has widened over the past three decades proves the global economy is run by the rules laid down by the multinationals, which most governments seem more than happy to serve. Waiting for a change of heart by those who benefit from the existing order means waiting in vain without more efforts to change that order.

In Scotland there will be some attempt to heal the rift between those who voted to stay in the embrace of the familiar and those who wanted something new. And efforts will be made to pressure the three big unionist parties to take concrete steps to deliver on their pledge to devolve more powers on tax, spending and welfare to the Scottish parliament.

Under the timetable drawn up before the referendum by former UK prime minister Gordon Brown, a "command paper" setting out all the proposals is to be published by the current UK government by the end of October, and a white paper setting out the proposed powers by the end of November. After consultations, a new Scotland Act will then be published before Jan 25 for MPs to vote on. However, the vote will not take place until after the general election in May.

The no vote was a victory for the status quo; and with no real change there is really little cause for optimism as Scotland does have problems that will persist if things remain the same. Whichever party wins in May, it should bear in mind there is a growing disenchantment with the things as they are. A disenchantment evident not only within the union, but also beyond.

The author is a writer with China Daily. hannayrichards@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/20/2014 page5)