BIG BROTHER HAS HIGHLIGHTED BRITISH IMPERIAL RACISM

There is a connection (albeit a tenuous one) between the recent controversy in C4's 'celebrity Big Brother' and Scottish independence. What we have in Britain is a state that still thinks of themselves (delusionally) as a world power. This has been obvious from the actions of Tony Blair and also recent comments by him.

This is part of the historic attitudes of the British Empire which like all imperial nationalism was based upon the superiority of the home culture over the local natives who were exploited for their wealth and often raped, enslaved or sometimes incorporated into Britain's militarity might as soldiers (much like the Nazis and the Romans did as well).

The British Empire is over but the imperial attitudes which drove it still exist, particularly amongst the most poorly educated who rely on a right wing often racist tabloid press for their main news.

Despite winning a war against fascism Britain has seen the rise of Neo Nazi groups like the BNP with their overtly racist and anti-immigration agenda. The comments of certain individuals within the BB house were racist but they reflect the culture from which they sprang.

Racist opinions are ugly but they are even more ugly when they are voiced by political parties and both Labour and the Tories have been guilty of playing the race card when it suits their purposes.

Liberation type nationalism which led to the break up of the British Empire and the freedom of most countries from it is quite different in character, it is about equality of the country in question with others.

This is what Scottish nationalism represents and if we do become independent we will have the chance to put the imperial attitudes which were previously associated with the British Empire in the dustbin of history where they belong.

We can also force the rest of the remaining British state to re-evaluate their role more properly in the post imperial landscape. Britain's current foreign policy is absurd as it is reliant entirely on being the cats paw of the US. The sooner rump Britain is faced with the removal of (unusable and ridiculously expensive) nuclear weapons and an appropriate reduction in ambition the better.

www.scottishindependence.com