Perhaps these particular Scots are not the "Norm" or perhaps they have many socialist agendas they just didn't mention but judging from the article I fully support the reason they gave for voting YES for independence.
This Scottish Island is nearly free of fossil fuels
Of course it's only home to 83 people (and a few thousand sheep) but it looks like my kinda place from what I see in the pictures.
One Eigg resident, Ailidh Morrison, told Scotland's Sunday Post last month that she would be voting Yes, because "...if you look at Eigg as a microcosm of how you can come from nothing, having no infrastructure, no power, no homes, and in 17 years to almost double your population, have infrastructure, have your own independent power system, have houses for people to live in an have an economy that is thriving—not just existing or surviving but thriving—I think you can see what you can do if you give people freedom and responsibility."
I also liked the picture of the guy burning trash in a barrel. Try that in any given out of control Socialist stronghold will ya. They don't appear to be out of control greenies just common people who want to keep their home clean and orderly.
Here is another quote from the article I cannot disagree with.
Nationalists felt that having more control over Scotland's own resources would have meant an easier path to harnessing its own energy potential.
Just from what I saw and read here my bet would be that island and it's people could ride out any storm. Perhaps some of their views might seem a bit socialist to some of us but they are a tribe my friends, or I guess a mini-clan fit's better for them. Some things are different when you are a tribe and not a Multi Death Cult.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!
Good for them.
ReplyDeleteRob - I think so. Perhaps many of their ideas go against my own ideology but then again they don't suffer under the constant strain of the Multi-Cult. I bet I would be a bit more lax on some issues if that particular problem was removed from the mix.
DeleteEigg was bought by the islanders themselves nearly a quarter of whom are English incomers, one family of whom are Muslims.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Padraig
Interesting. I thought it was more than likely something like that from a couple of the quotes. They formed their own tribe which makes things a bit easier I imagine.
DeleteRead soil and soul by alistairr macintosh. Gives the whole story.
ReplyDeleteThanks I will look for that.
DeleteYou need to dig a canal around your place and all of your rain would turn it into a moat part of the year,
ReplyDeleteSf - No man is an island... but some are Peninsulas :)
DeleteEnergy independence & self-control are two of the reasons most-often quoted for Alaskan independence. But not enough folks are stirred up about it, these days.
ReplyDeleteRP - I do kinda wonder how much of the Eigg story is financed by the government though. From the article they implied not much and if that is true I would be really impressed.
DeleteThe Island was bought with money raised from donations of the people of the UK. Until then it had absentee landlords who did little improvement as the rents didn't raise enough to cover the running costs. The Eigg trust is a three way partnership in which the residents own a third.
ReplyDeleteThe Eigg electric company produces 98 percent renewable, however islanders have to agree that all houses run on a maximum of 5kw and businesses 10kw. The cost of the infrastructure were covered by the Highland Commision and the UKs National Lottery Fund on a 50/50 basis.
The highland commision is a government body and the national lottery fund a charity.
Anon - Interesting. 5KW and their Northern location would tend to imply to me that they use some type of non-electric heating and possibly traditional lighting of some type.
DeleteSo since you obviously know more about their actual circumstances than I do you suppose they could survive without a steady income coming in from the government?
I do not know whether you know what tax credits are in the UK, but essentially wrking people under a certain level of income receive working tax credits and child tax credits. The cut off point for tax cresits is 35k per year and it is a sliding scale. A person, married with 3 children on 10k per year would pay no income tax and would get £70 pw working tax credit and 150 per week child tax credit as well as 190 per month child benefit.
ReplyDeleteMost of the island work is seasonal with tourism being a huge part of the economy. So the income fluctuates wildly but most receive some tax credits. Even the ferry service is part funded.
Without this the economy would be a true subsistence lifestyle. The introduction of the renewables has though boosted incomes as most now pay around £30 per month for electric where as it used to be 10 times that and for only 5 or 6 hours per day. Everyone has auxiliary lighting of some sort and most UK houses do not need AC using a boiler heating radiators instead. On Eigg oil fired boilers are the main with many woodburners as well.
Without government help the island would eventually revert to its pre 97 condition. Though the people there would fight hard to stop that its income and resources do not support that standards of living.
Anon - Thanks for that. Yes we have similar type of tax credits here. I will readily admit that until my son turned 18 I paid zero tax because of the credits which are called many things but Earned Income Tax Credits is the major one.
DeleteAs a side note I find in interesting that many people claim they pay taxes but fail to do the actual math. It is spread out enough to make it confusing though.
I find it interesting that they seem to take a enviro-freak stance on a few things but then allow open burning and wood heating. The US is in the process of trying to eliminate wood burning as fast as possible.
I see your point about the tourism economy and I believe you are correct they are more than likely in a much more artificially sustained bubble then they claim. Prolly more than they even know themselves.
Yes, I thought anon was very much on point.
DeleteOn a second note. It was older folks, likely trying to protect their pension, that appear to have been the most solid block of "no" votes.