EVER DECREASING CIRCLES ?
So, Chancellor George Osborne has ruled out the Scots keeping the pound in the event that they vote to leave the United Kingdom. I imagine they`ll now have to come up with an independent currency of their own - quite possibly The Jock?
But this episode again highlights the consequences of change and it leads me to wonder where all this might lead to. For example, if the Scots do leave the UK, I wonder how long it will be before Cymru, Kernow and even Kent, where the Cantii have their stronghold, all vote to leave as well, resulting in Northern Ireland remaining in an increasingly fragile wedlock with what will then truly be a Little England. All the hallmarks of history, with yet another dominating world empire crumbling into final obscurity. We shouldn`t be surprised - it`s happened before, time and again.
I`m guessing of course but I imagine any reduced United Kingdom could well come to pass before any promised referendum about the UK`s continued membership of the European Union, given that successive governments have reneged on their manifesto promises of a referendum for half a century. So what if UKIP wins a sizeable and growing representation in forthcoming elections? The logical conclusion must surely be that the United Kingdom will eventually leave Europe or be booted out by the new European Empire.
It all reminds me of other changes - those brought about not by politics or the inevitability of history but by the sheer pace and complexity of man made change. I`m not talking about climate change here - that`s a whole different debate - but about the ever increasing speed of technological change and communication. Life in the so-called developed world becomes yet more `advanced` to the point where it`s impossible (at least for duffers like me) to keep pace with it.
And I wonder again where all this speed of change is leading. Surely there must come a tipping point where further `advancement` becomes impossible, leading to another logical conclusion that, at that point, things may not only stand still but, like Portsmouth Football Club, actually go backwards in a relentless decline, perhaps inevitably leading to a return to a kind of League Two existence.
I really don`t want to get off just yet, but it might be a good idea to stop the world so we might come to our senses?
I`m guessing of course but I imagine any reduced United Kingdom could well come to pass before any promised referendum about the UK`s continued membership of the European Union, given that successive governments have reneged on their manifesto promises of a referendum for half a century. So what if UKIP wins a sizeable and growing representation in forthcoming elections? The logical conclusion must surely be that the United Kingdom will eventually leave Europe or be booted out by the new European Empire.
It all reminds me of other changes - those brought about not by politics or the inevitability of history but by the sheer pace and complexity of man made change. I`m not talking about climate change here - that`s a whole different debate - but about the ever increasing speed of technological change and communication. Life in the so-called developed world becomes yet more `advanced` to the point where it`s impossible (at least for duffers like me) to keep pace with it.
And I wonder again where all this speed of change is leading. Surely there must come a tipping point where further `advancement` becomes impossible, leading to another logical conclusion that, at that point, things may not only stand still but, like Portsmouth Football Club, actually go backwards in a relentless decline, perhaps inevitably leading to a return to a kind of League Two existence.
I really don`t want to get off just yet, but it might be a good idea to stop the world so we might come to our senses?
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