Discursive Essay

Since the SNP came to power four years ago there has been a wave of nationalistic fever sweeping the country. Independence is on their agenda. Sooner or later there will be a referendum. But why exactly should we be independent? Would our tiny, economically challenged country really be able to stand on its own two feet against the big players in the global market? For over 300 years we have been part of Great Britain’s success but now in a time of economic hardship, people have a growing desire for independence! Increasingly people see autonomy as a panacea for all our difficulties. This is something I do not understand or agree with.
To begin with let’s see why our country can’t afford independence. The credit crunch emerged when our flagship banks were forced to write off bad debts after their reckless handouts to people who could not repay their loans. This forced the government to use public money, our money, to keep the banking system afloat and resulted in decreasing our budget by billions of pounds. So what is our tax money going towards now? Instead of paying for continuous improvements in healthcare, housing and education we are now investing in unstable banks. Is self-government really what we should be thinking of when it is clear to me that a £3.6 billion debt is something that a six million population can never support? Our country feels the effects of the recession massively and would be swallowed in debt if we decided to reject the help of Britain.
It is not only the recession but also our decreasing oil which we must be concerned with. Our country heavily relies on the oil industry to make most of its profits but when that’s gone independence won’t be easy. For the last forty years the oil industry has made up a large portion of British income but with supplies decreasing what will we do then? In 2007 our oil industry had an estimated net worth of £250 billion but with this income depleting we could not possibly look at self-rule as a serious