Under a Scotland Nation...

#4 “You a Celt or a Ranger?”

This would determine if you are either an unpracticing Protestant or Catholic, which is initiated typically by a Ranger. It is the Ranger in blue and orange who waves the Union Jack and stands behind the beloved Queen, even though this is a sojourned battle championed by Northern Ireland, which seems to be getting on quite well sans Queen, me thinks. Yes some Saturday jubilees were not like the parades I knew. These were smaller in scale, and the audience was not receptive to their passage. Orange Marches are not uncommon to Glasgow, where Rangers and members of the Protestant club organize around major holidays or but once a month, decked out in uniform and run select streets. Those are the streets where Catholics live. It is utterly tacky, absolute nonsense.

Apart from the declared Celts, (who also suit up in track attire,) there is no underground separatist group. Independence is out on the bargaining block. Scots are notoriously serious and in a Hobbesian plea to Tony B., it would seem that someday is near. To be English is not the same pour as being Scottish. Of course, the English and the Scots are good company in their shared misery. They both put the pint down the same pipe with alacrity and endurance. From the noble beginnings though, on which the great William Wallace stood, to the present day, Scotland is uniquely different and prosperous in its own right.

To begin with, their higher educational system, is of the highest caliber. Secondly, unions are surviving in perhaps one of the last vestiges of a spirited working-class. Glasgow is still under a socialist framework with a small net-economy that was painfully difficult to crack as the city looks out for the welfare and (mental) health of their own first.

More remarkable, scholars and artists are well respected. The most dilettante of college kids studied art history with sincerity. Many of my friends were practicing artists, who lived in bohemian lore, but faired far better than those stateside.

Why?

The state supports public artists and uses them accordingly for public programs.
My friend Guyan, who started the artist union in Scotland, would howl to read this, but comparatively, there are a plethora of aptitudes and grants out there. At the very least, it demonstrates that there is no need giving inspirational speeches about the necessary good of art proliferation. It is understood.

In sum, there is richness in Scotland both figuratively and literally. From the oil empire in glum Aberdeen, to the real estate and design industry in the two major cities, not to mention the tourist economy in the Capital, the market is an attractive one.