In What Way Is Scotland Subjugated?

 This is a question I am often asked. The automatic response is, in which way isn't Scotland subjugated? But that makes the assumption that folk know what subjugation is. So what is subjugation?

To Subjugate:

to bring under control and governance as a subject : CONQUER

to make submissive : SUBDUE

So which does Scotland fall under?  Well, it was never conquered. Garrisons were set up across Scotland in order to stop the Scottish civil wars at the bequest of the Scottish government and it had then as it does now its version of the Ross's, Davidson's, Blair's and Brown's. Scots who sought to endear themselves to their English counterparts by treating Scotland with utter disdain. Greed, corruption and a desire for power whether imagined or otherwise were their companions even to the detriment of the Scots who would have, given the chance, given them the Wallace treatment. 

The Scots then, as now, were not subjects. They were not below the monarch. They granted limited sovereignty to the crown and held the right to abolish the monarchy if it should seek to bring them under control of not only the English but any foreign country or ruler. The Scots sovereignty which lies with the people and not parliament nor crown was an ancient right and is enshrined in its constitution in perpetuity  under their ancient laws and customs.

So what of the second description?  Is Scotland made submissive and therefore subdued? 

Let me ask you this, when was the last time Scotland asserted its authority? Not merely took part in a vote but actually asserted its authority as the sovereign nation state and equal partner to the treaty that it is. When? For as long as I can remember Scotland never has. It has been governed primarily by English governments having been elected in to office as a consequence of the Scots having all things Scottish banned due to the civil wars and raised to believe that they were inferior. A mindset that continues to this day. So prevalent is this psychological trait that the Scots have a term for it, "the Scottish cringe". Only recently did the Scots replace the English government with a Scottish one only to have them act with the same inferiority complex which sees them beholden to the English government and treat them as the sole authority of the treaty. 

But how do they do that?

As an equal partner where should the Scottish government sit within the parliament of GB? At the back of the room or directly opposite the English government as the partner to the treaty? Should the Scottish government uphold English parliamentary rules, rules that governed the abolished English parliament? How should the Scottish government address the English government? As the English government viewing them as an equal and partner or as UK and viewing them as the sole authority of the state and treaty? Should the Scottish government be seeking approval for any matter from the English government no matter how big or small? Should the Scottish government describe itself as "devolved"? From whom do they believe they are devolved? Should the Scottish government be using English governmental departments? Permitting the English government to determine Scotland's budget or even how the treasury is used? Should the Scottish government adopt an inferior position in international relations permitting the English government to negotiate on Scotland's behalf? Should the Scottish government permit the English government and its establishment to draw up legislation on behalf of Scotland and then sign off on it? Should the Scottish government ignore the myriad breaches to the treaty? Let alone international laws, not least the removal of the Scottish nationality?  Should the Scottish government permit the English government to determine Scotland's policies including its media or lack thereof? And should the Scottish government be seeking permission to hold a referendum, a mere nationwide opinion poll with no legal standing, from the English government, their treaty partner?  

In parliament the Scottish government sits at the back of the room. In international organisations, if Scots attend, they assume an inferior position permitting the English representatives to take the chair, negotiate and make any and all deals even to the detriment of Scotland and the Scots. The Scottish government adopts an inferior position in all things and treats Scotland as an English region. They even refer to the English government as "UK" a descriptive term that the English establishment took to describe themselves when promoting themselves as the sole continuator state and which the Scottish government and all Scottish political parties including the mere months old Alba party partake in.

So sadly, yes, Scotland is subdued. It is subjugated not because the English government and its establishment impose their authority on Scotland but because the Scottish government, all of Scotland's representatives and the Scots themselves refuse to take responsibility for the governance of Scotland. The Scots failure to hold their own government and representatives to account has resulted in abject poverty across the country and the resultant problems caused by that both structurally and culturally, their natural resources and wealth to be raped and squandered by another country's government, their territorial border to be moved numerous times, to be used as political guinea pigs and to have their country lag behind in basic infrastructure. Not to mention being removed from international treaties. These things are not done to Scotland because the English government has a right to do so but because the Scots permit it. The Scots as a sovereign nation state in an international Agreement and equal partner should be asserting their authority in the exact same way their partner does. With no exceptions and if their partner disagrees then so be it. It may not be the best response from the partner but it is an irrelevance where the sovereign authority of the Scots is concerned just as Scotland's disagreeing response is an irrelevance to the English government. 

Scotland cannot hide behind excuses. They are not a de facto colony. They can exercise their authority right now. They simply choose not to do so. That is subjugation. A suppression of Scots authority and its sovereignty through willful application.