Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir, – Hugh Laidlaw’s letter of May 10 illustrates how easily we can be fooled by the ”clever” use of words.
We all seem to accept the idea of independence currently being debated; an independence that logically cannot exist in our interdependent global society but on which millions of words and hours have already been wasted.
Throughout history a fight for independence has been a fight against tyranny and oppression for the fundamental rights to life and liberty.
We do not suffer any tyranny or oppression but enjoy democratic rights the equal of anywhere else in this world.
Scottish ”independence” will merely move the power of government from one cabal of politicians to another.
And if we argue that Scottish politicians are ”better” than other politicians we skirt close to racism.
Independence will give us no additional fundamental rights. There are none to gain.
There is only the smoke and mirrors presented and promoted by politicians seeking to enhance their power.
Should we expect anything else?
Andrew Lawson.9 MacLaren Gardens,Dundee.
Important that system should prevent bias
Sir, – I was pleased to see Hugh Laidlaw’s thoughts on removing possible bias in the referendum question (Letters, May 10).
If it is difficult to construct a question without bias, then it is important to construct a system which stops bias from affecting the result.
My own thoughts are similar to Mr Laidlaw’s and I suggest that the following system would ”cancel” any bias.
All odd-numbered ballot papers (or ones of one colour) would ask: ”Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?” and all even-numbered papers (or ones of a different colour) would ask: ”Do you agree that Scotland should be an integral member of the UK?”
To be absolutely precise (or perhaps a bit fussy), odd-numbered polling stations would issue their first voter with an ”odd” ballot paper, and even-numbered polling stations would commence with an ”even” paper, and then alternate.
In the light of your piece on spoiled papers in the local election, this would bring the further benefit of encouraging the voter to carefully read their particular paper before marking it.
Ken Welsh.299 Perth Road,Dundee.
When the going gets tough…
Sir, – Bowls of cherries and boxes of chocolates notwithstanding, while youth is full of possibilities, old age is full of impossibilities. At least, that was the way it was before the credit crunch. Now both our youth and our old are saddled with impossibilities.
Once Brazil was where the nuts came from. Now it’s where the nuts and bolts come from. Dundee was once replete with American companies, but, in the 80s and 90s, when things got tough over there, these companies returned their work home to aid their countrymen.
I see no evidence of this happening here. Indeed, even those home-based firms that do manage to survive in Britain, or Scotland for that matter, have the work they could have gained from government contracts farmed out to foreign lands time and time again.
Is the welfare cost of lost jobs ever taken into account by such purely economic reasoning? Obviously not!
It is the duty of any government to increase the possibilities of youth and decrease the impossibilities of old age. This can only be firmly funded by the economic growth of production.
Services, both personal and financial, are at best whimsical, or at the Monopoly end with silly money using statistical economics that takes no account of chaos theory.
A recipe for disaster and the credit crunch is proof.
Yet we continue to let these fat cats sit before their banks of computer monitors and juggle their collateralised debt obligations into tranches, while totally ignoring basic economics, and the now well-known tenets of chaos theory.
Leslie Isles Milligan.18B Myrtlehall Gardens,Dundee.
Need to work together
Sir, – Our newly-elected and re-elected councillors on Fife Council should be applauded, not only for their success at the polls, but also for their stated resolve to face up to the challenges in the tough years ahead. Like small businesses, the council may not have caused the economic crisis but they will have to adapt to the new realities it left behind.
However, the administration can only improve local service delivery and get a fair deal for our communities if we have a strong, growing Fife economy the bedrock of which are our local small businesses.
Quick-fix measures, which might look to solve a short-term problem but hurt Fife’s long-term economic interests, must be avoided.
Instead, if the small business community is going to create the jobs and growth the region needs, all council departments need to work together to develop and support the local economy.
Janet Torley.Branch Chair,The Federation of Small Businesses,Fife Branch.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL. Letters should be accompanied by an address and a daytime telephone number.