Detach and Distrust
The Erosion of Trust in Institutions
Our understanding of an abacus is simple. We know how it works and we know how it's made. There is no room for conspiracy or disagreement.
As technology advances and we begin to use calculators, our understanding of it is relatively simple. We know how it works but the construction of it is more complex at a personal level, even if at an engineering level it is simple. There is very little room for conspiracy or disagreement.
When we reach the technological advancement of quantum computing, most people don't know how it works or how it's made, and they have to rely on the expertise of engineers to explain and develop them.
The point in this is to explain that as technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, we become increasingly removed from the process of how technology works and is made. The lack of grounding makes it far easier to make assumptions.
An example of an assumption that we make is the widely held belief that your phone is always listening to you, and ads are being inserted based on the conversations you have.
However, numerous tech companies have conducted research, experiments, and studies to check the validity of this claim, yet none have ever confirmed its existence. Nonetheless, it persists as a widely held belief.
Our politics follows a similar trend, in that as we have become increasingly reliant on our political institutions, we have also become detached from our understanding of them. With this, it is far easier for assumptions and conspiracy to spread.
However, the human element of our political institutions - which I'm not opposed to - makes it far easier for there to be mistakes and failures, which feeds into these assumptions and conspiracies.
At its core, the primary job of our government and our institutions is to develop policy competently, implement it soundly and communicate it effectively.
Yet, the on-going failures of the Scottish Government - Highly Protected Marine Areas, Deposit Return Scheme, Hate Crime Act, and much more - none of it can be described as competent, implemented soundly or communicated effectively.
This feeds into a number of narratives about the Scottish Government, some of which may be sound, others may be outright conspiracy theories. Yet, it is their responsibility to ensure that a detached public are engaged with our political system and have trust in, albeit with skepticism, our political institutions.
For the independence movement, the argument is slightly different. Although there are a multitude of reasons why someone would support independence, it is important that we understand that at an institutional level we are saying that Scotland should run these institutions ourselves - that we believe the institution of the British state should be dismantled.
In place of the British state, we believe in creating an independent Scottish state, which necessitates Scottish institutions. The importance of breaking that detached feeling among the public and giving them confidence in our institutions remains vital.
The public needs to have a sense of direction. To make the arguments for independence, we need to have the leadership of the movement offering a positive vision for what Scotland can become.
The future of an independent Scotland could see the country engage in a process of developing a constitution. In comparison to the American Constitution, the Constitution of the Soviet Union guaranteed a greater number of rights. Yet, these were called “parchment guarantees”, meaning the Soviet Union didn't have the institutions in place to guarantee these rights.
Without concrete delivery on initiatives like the Hate Crime Act, references to freedoms in an independent Scotland risk being perceived as hollow promises likened to these parchment guarantees.
The Scottish Government must address this perception. The accumulation of failures contributes to a growing detachment from the government's political objectives. It is not coincidental that the SNP is experiencing electoral setbacks, with around 10% of their voter base deciding to stay home, not to mention the declining popularity of Yousaf.
An independent Scotland necessitates institutions that inspire public confidence. It is vital that we lay the groundwork now, as ongoing failures contribute to a culture of detachment. Effective political leadership capable of rebuilding trust is essential for steering Scotland in the right direction.