Telling it like it isn't

A democracy is functional only to the extent that electors are able to make informed choices. The forces manipulating public perceptions have never been better equipped. We spend our lives immersed in a sea of mediated messages, only a small percentage of which serve to inform. A proportion which is almost certainly shrinking at an accelerating rate as technology provides ever more effective means to deceive, and the informative sector comes under increasing commercial and political pressure. It is questionable whether informed choice is even a possibility now. If it is, it's doubtful whether it can remain so as the sea of mediated messages becomes ever more polluted with misinformation, disinformation, and information-free noise.

Such were the cheerless thoughts which darkened my Sunday morning as I read the headline on the Sunday National's Sara Salyers interview inviting us to "Meet the woman pushing to have Scotland 'decolonised' by the UN". I don't suppose Sara herself was much enamoured of that headline. Read on and you find her stressing the fact that the Salvo/Liberation initiative is merely a step on the route to a democratic event. It is that democratic event which will decolonise Scotland, not the United Nations.

The deceptiveness of the article is illustrated by the assertion that having Scotland recognised by the UN as a non-self-governing territory (NSGT) "would open the door to a UN-mandated referendum, in which neither the Scottish Parliament nor Westminster would have any say". A claim which conjures images of a UN delegation swooping into Scotland to organise a proper constitutional referendum over the heads of both governments. A notion that many find appealing and some will surely find horrifying. In fact, it is just ridiculous. It's just not how things work in the real world.

The UN cannot create the democratic event which will provide the people of Scotland with an opportunity to exercise our right of self-determination. The UN can help ensure the event is impeccably democratic. But the event itself must be made and managed in Scotland by Scotland's democratic institutions. A political and parliamentary process must be in place before the UN can become involved.

That political/parliamentary process would have to be brought into existence regardless of any involvement of the UN. It is that process which is essential. UN involvement would be helpful. Maybe very helpful. But the Salvo/Liberation initiative can only bring the UN into play as an adjunct to a pre-existing process here in Scotland.

The approach to the UN is going ahead. It is happening. But the political/parliamentary process doesn't yet exist. It has yet to be created. It should have been in place a decade and more ago. Nothing happened. The Scottish Government made no attempt to identify a process by which Scotland's independence might be restored. More precisely, the Scottish Government has failed to settle on a process by which the people of Scotland can exercise our right of self-determination. The UN can hardly help ensure we exercise our right of self-determination freely and without external interference if nothing has been done to create the necessary democratic event. And nothing has been done.

Headlines such as the one in the Sunday National will tend to make people suppose the UN will helicopter that constitutional referendum into Scotland. That will not happen! The best that can be said about that headline is that it is misleading.

I know I bang on a bit about this whole business of the need to establish a political/parliamentary process by which to bring about the democratic event Sara Salyers stresses is vital.

In every single case of independence, decolonisation requires a democratic event

The reason I persist in writing about the need for a process which will create this democratic event is that people have to be informed. All too evidently, the mainstream media cannot be relied on to equip people to make informed choices. There's little chance that these articles can hold back the flood of falsity. But I am compelled to make the effort.

The reality is that the 2026 election cannot be the democratic event Sara Salyers refers to. But it can be used to initiate the process which leads there. That will only happen if people are informed regarding what they need to do in order to make the election work for Scotland's cause. The nominally pro-independence parties will tell you that all you have to do is vote for them. That is almost as ridiculous as the notion that Scotland will be decolonised by the UN. Numerous groups are presenting a variety of cunning plans which they claim will do all manner of wonderful things for Scotland's cause. None of these cunning plans withstands proper scrutiny. People just aren't getting the information needed to make informed choices.

I'm at a bit of a loss how to end this article. It would seem to be leading to yet another 1,000-word explanation of the #ScottishUDI process. But that can be found on the Manifesto for Independence website. The difficulty is getting this information to people. I don't know how much more can be done in this regard. Apart from writing an endless series of articles, I'm not sure what more can be done to increase awareness of Scotland's true predicament and how liberation is to be achieved. The best I've come up with is the idea of a special conference to discuss the practicalities of restoring Scotland's independence. If anybody has any other ideas, I wish they'd let me know.