The Wellbeing Economy, a concept built around prioritisation of people and the environment over gross domestic product and growth, has become a buzzword of the independence cause in Scotland. The Scottish government advocates this approach and activist groups, like Business for Scotland, have accepted the idea wholeheartedly. Screeds of words are written on the subject, but very little practical guidance is offered on how the nation is expected to work its way towards this promised land.
Few articles seem to recognise the dearth of real policy in all the ethereal wellbeing-speak. There are exceptions, however, with switched-on writers like Common Weal’s Robin McAlpine commenting in scathing terms on the subject, calling the proposals as they stand ‘a con.’ Scotonomics co-founder William Thomson has also provided useful information on what a wellbeing economy could look like.
The problem the government has with mapping the route is analogous to the old joke about the traveler asking directions of a local who replies, “well, I wouldn’t start from here.” For Scotland to achieve what constitutes a wellbeing economy, it would take a complete revolution of life as we know it.
Scottish Government economic proposals are inept
Change is widely accepted to be necessary, however, the Scottish government has offered no revolutionary policy proposals for the future UK or Scottish society. The proposed policy fails to match the rhetoric. The Scottish government appears to work on the assumption that a few tweaks to the current system will provide the ability to adapt the Scottish economy.
I am concerned that the SNP appear to be focusing too much on the responsibility for achieving independence that many Scots expect them to fulfil, and not enough on the quality of the outcome. Rather than meaningful independence, the economic proposals produced so far will result in an amplification of the colonial status of Scotland with respect to the UK. The plan then appears to be a switch of authoritarian masters to become, if permitted, a colony of the EU. The most likely outcome of such a policy is less wellbeing in the long run and possibly even less economic independence than is currently held within the UK.
I suspect the attempt to drive Scots over the EU membership cliff, could be a response to lobbying by the wealthy establishment desperate for security of a recognisable status quo. Alternatively, it could simply be the fact that the party leadership understand independence cannot work for ordinary Scots within the economic paradigm they inhabit.
When poverty increases and unemployment rises despite jumping on the EU bandwagon, the SNP politicians who devised the economic system will be responsible for the failure, no matter how well they try to pass the buck and blame the new authority in Brussels. These proposals cede Scotland’s hard-won sovereignty to London and then Brussels.
As I have tried to emphasise in previous articles, utilising the fiscal power of government at a local level, an economic paradigm-shift, workable and conducive to independence, is possible. Not only that, it is crucial for the survival of UK democracy. To save the foundations of what made Britain great, it may be necessary for Scotland to lead the way. This is only possible through independence due to the stagnation of political thinking at both Westminster and Holyrood.
UK democracy is stagnating through incompetence
The instability caused by a quick succession of prime ministers and cabinet ministers has resulted in a UK primed for revolution. Dominic Cummings, as just one example, appears to be orchestrating an anarchic movement geared up to capitalise on the continued destruction of UK society under what is expected to be a dismal Labour administration after a general election later this year.
Cummings writes:
“a subset of elites, already today desperate for something new but resigned to watching what happens with Starmer, look at the farce and are prepared to defect from Insider-world to build an alliance with voters (from existing parties and non-voters) and a broad coalition of soldiers, NHS, teachers etc.
This subset needs to watch Labour fail too before there’s a critical mass that will risk the fury of Insiders and openly support something new. I have very little doubt about the direction. We’re generally culturally downstream from San Francisco and you can see the direction clearly. The critical question is the scale and timing of defection: is it enough or too little to generate a critical mass for something new in 2025-6?”
This plea for revolutionary change is welcome, however, it may pay to be skeptical on the motivation for this ‘subset of elites’ to ‘defect.’ It may simply be recognition of the inevitable disruption of the status quo and a desperate attempt to retain some influence over the outcome. It does not infer a peoples’ revolution, no matter how many nurses or teachers sign up.
The wellbeing transition
However, this is the political environment the fledgling Scottish state will find itself in. The Scottish government must ensure an ordered strategic transition towards the society and lifestyle desired by Scots. If wellbeing is what the Scots desire then it is safe to assume that health, education and environmental stewardship are the primary factors and that these goals must be administered at the local level, to adapt to specific needs. A national framework can then be on hand to mitigate localised productivity shortfalls.
Instead of trying to shoehorn wellbeing into the current corporate economic paradigm, our leaders must look to avoid confronting obstacles constructed from ideological toxic waste. The whole economy should be pared back to the bones of necessity and re-imagined. The Scottish government should set out a list of goals that serve the most urgent needs of Scots.
Scotland does not need to tie itself to any trade group or Union to reset the economy. Both the UK and the EU are institutions that will reduce Scotland’s ability to run a true wellbeing system. These unions promote corporate benefit and GDP growth as the highest value in society and all the talking heads, news reports and metaphors surrounding our money system are framed to make us, the people, believe there is no alternative.
Before the Scottish people can analyse and design whatever lifestyle is best for the nation, we must act to build the foundations to construct society upon. To facilitate this perhaps we should invoke our common traits, described by Burns as a global brotherhood. Instead of perceiving our cause as one of national independence, evoking a sense of solitary striving for Scotland’s advancement in the world, we should seek internationalist interdependence.
The G20 is no aspirational goal for Scotland, rather let us join the ‘G200’ and use our institutions to help level up the ‘G150’, at the foot of the UN rankings on global poverty, in a spirit of reciprocity and friendship.
Part 2 attempts to flesh out the bones of what is possible.
More on economy
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