I GOT A BIG LOAN FROM GIRLZONE
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Articles by Cat Boyd
The Strategic Dilemmas of Working Class Politics and Organization Today
Cat Boyd is a Glasgow-based writer, campaigner and trade unionist. She is assistant editor at Conter and host of Contercast. She writes mainly on Scottish and American politics, culture and work. Daniel Chavez works at the Transnational Institute (TNI) where he runs their New Politics Initiative.
After Trump: We Need to Move Beyond 'Panic Politics'
Cat Boyd argues that alliances with the ruling elite based on fear of the far right will lead to disaster. We need to oppose the Biden and Co with a distinctive socialist case. AS Donald Trump’s unrepentant army occupied America Inc for a few hours earlier this month, my customary disdain for US politics was replaced with ghoulish fascination. They were said to have been intent on bloody mayhem: kidnap, murder and hostages.
The Unreality of Labour's Devolution Politics
Is Labour’s vision for devolution the key to solving its problems? Cat Boyd says it is not. When Ed Miliband introduced the 2015 rule change in Labour, he couldn’t know it would worsen his fortunes. Designed to loosen the influence of those pesky trade union barons in Labour, Miliband’s one-member-one-vote fix ultimately led to the election of a man the PLP least wanted leading the party.
Why Unionists Shouldn't Lecture the Indy Movement on Child Poverty
In the last few weeks, a rusty old argument, which was always a little broken, has been repackaged and reheeled, peddled by the same old people as something shiny and new. Scottish Labour activist and Scotsman columnist Susan Dalgety’s article in the Herald typifies the talking point: with these levels of child poverty, how can anyone still talk about independence? Dalgety’s basic assertion, that Scotland pays too little attention to child poverty, is right, up to a point.
What Scotland Can Really Learn from the Israeli State
Cat Boyd responds to this recent piece, published in the Herald on 6th October 2020 On Tuesday, Herald readers were treated to a curious piece of pre-match propaganda ahead of Scotland’s tie with Israel last night. The article, written by Israeli ambassador Sharon Bar-Li, was a puff-piece rejoicing in the shared connections between the two nations. A more critical editor in a more critical news environment may have asked, where does shared connection start becoming complicity?
independence - self-determination - autonomy
“aafrug” – the back-surge of a wave after it has broken on the shore; a spent wave drawing down a strand; “the streaming-back of the water after the breaking of the billows”; also an off-shore ebb-tide. (Scots, esp. Northern Isles; cf Old Norse reka, “to drift”) There seems to be a back-surge as the Brexit wave crashes and streams back, sluicing constitutional change up the beach.
independence - self-determination - autonomy
I am critical of the Scottish Growth Commission Report, particularly on currency.
independence - self-determination - autonomy
Queen Victoria sits to the side, shifted some years ago from her central spot gazing up to the city. She was moved to accommodate the arrival of a metallic cone, a “whale’s tusk”, emblazed with New Kirkgate on it, a fitting upgrade taking the foot of Leith Walk into the 21st century. Sadly, the whale’s tusk didn’t have the staying power of the old monarch and was widely criticised by locals.
Beyond the normal: why the technocrats won’t set you free
“Stop the world, Scotland wants to get on” is an odd rallying cry for a national movement. It is not a “free or a desert” demand to cast off oppression, and it doesn’t contain anything of the claims to blood-right and purer heritage that have coloured the character of nationalisms the world over. It certainly does not imply a revolutionary moment of liberation. It is simply a claim to the right to be normal.
independence - self-determination - autonomy
Scotland is a nation full of contradictions. The Growth Commission report acknowledges some of them. The line: “Scotland is a wealthy nation, with 1 in 4 children living in poverty” exposes our national paradoxes. But Scotland’s fault lines don’t just manifest socially, they mark our political landscape too. And these are undoubtedly exposed in the report. Take Sterlingisation.
The Panama Papers and our rigged economy
In every clichéd popcorn movie, there’s a moment when the baddies are unmasked and reveal their true villainy. For us, the Panama Papers leak might just be that moment. The leak shows how Mossack Fonseca, a law firm catering to the super rich, helps clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax. It’s a small glimpse into the democratic crisis of our time. Unaccountable big money is corrupting parliaments and destroying public services. Big wealth buys big political influence.
No to RooshV in Scotland
Stop RooshV being allowed to promote his hateful violent views in our cities. Why is this important? RooshV, a militant pro-rape pick-up artist is holding gatherings for his followers in Glasgow and Edinburgh. This makes our cities unsafe for at least half the population. Promoting rape is hate speech, and should be treated as such.
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