Kenneth Roy
The vital clues
to Scotland’s
wretched health
Legal Briefs
The Dungavel contract
Jill Stephenson
We are in danger of
turning Scottish universities
into English ones
The Cafe
PPE
Michael Boulton-Jones
The three big threats
to mankind are about
to happen simultaneously
The Cafe 2
Let them exchange shirts
John Brown
What are we to make
of the Not Proven verdict
in the Wilson case?
The Cafe 3
Jeanette and me
Barbara Millar
The heroic sculptor
who refused to move
to London
John Cameron
Can’t Add, Doesn’t Even Try
22.09.11
No. 455
Dear Midgie
Had it not been in electronic form, I would have cut your article out (21 September
Richard Guest
The Midgie replies: A Mr Gus Skinner, with whom I am not personally familiar, takes a different and friendlier view.
for Mr Gus Skinner
Dear Midgie
‘A reporter appeared on the BBC 1 o’clock news yesterday talking about the weather. A few minutes later, on BBC Scotland news, there was the same view of waves pounding the Saltcoats prom, but a different reporter. The BBC economy drive continues apace.’
As chief bean counter for the BBC in London you obviously don’t understand the need for balance in news broadcasting. The incident you referred to in Saltcoats (13 September)
Last week we reported on the Forth Bridge’s final paint job for 25 years. Your insistence on local news meant that when we in London sent top political reporter Glenn Campbell to the apex of that edifice for the national news, no Scottish person would have believed him without then sending one of the team from Glasgow 10 minutes later to speak in the local language. At least they shared a camera crew.
Bill Fraser
SR accepts no advertising or corporate backing. We depend entirely on the generosity of our individual supporters. Help SR to flourish by becoming a Friend. [click here]
Our new address is Suite 216, Liberator House, Prestwick International Airport, Prestwick KA9 2PT. Our new telephone number is 01292 473777. Our editorial email address is unchanged: islay@scottishreview.net
Why do we condone
this disgraceful reek?
What can be done about it?
Eileen Reid’s new column
Scotland has wonderful traditions. And preserving the best of Scottish is something all of us, not simply the conservatives among us, can support with pride. But we Scots need to develop a better nose for distinguishing those traditions worth preserving from those that should never have been allowed to take root in the first place.
In his brilliant paper ‘The Dangers of Tolerance’ the philosopher and social scientist Ernest Gellner wrote: ‘…the blindly unselective conservative blithely takes for granted that the tradition, within which he indeed can be so blessedly complacent, is not one of those many unspeakably repellent traditions which are pervaded by oppression, superstition, brutality…for such is the stuff of most traditions. Traditional societies traditionally smell’.
As a Scottish tradition, the Rangers and Celtic match is a cultural practice as entrenched as eating haggis, neeps and tatties at Burns Suppers. Were it as harmless as naff biscuit tins and kilts. Truth is, the Old Firm doesn’t just smell, it stinks to high heaven. Some will argue that this is a harmless historical rivalry expressed in a game of football. Look at Leeds and Manchester United, or AC Siena and ACF Fiorentina. Fans of the latter rivalry still chant about the battle of Monteaperti in 1260. But unlike these Tuscan supporters whose fierce rivalry is residual, the Glaswegian version is an intolerable, living, cultural tradition. Domestic violence is the icing on the sordid cake of hatred, sectarianism and violence. Why do we tolerate this disgraceful reek? And what can be done about it?
Be not wroth, but understand, is Spinoza’s advice. A good start is to set aside righteous indignation. And clearly we do need to understand why being attached to a football team leads to disgraceful acts of sectarian hatred and domestic violence if we are to rid ourselves of this social stink. But the root of the problem is easily identified; stifling that root is the real problem.
That issues of personal identity and fear are the root cause of aggression is well established. Human beings become aggressive when fearful, and we become fearful when what is dear to us is under threat. What is most dear to us is ourselves, and what we believe we need to preserve is ourselves and our well-being. So beliefs about ourselves, about who we are, and what we need to preserve our well-being, are among the springs of human aggression. This analysis is outlined in detail by Lucretius in his De Rerum Natura. It is as old as the hills, but as fresh as the grass.
What good is the Old Firm to Scottish football? What would Glasgow lose without Rangers and Celtic? What about a truly revolutionary solution to a smelly conservative tradition: a merger of the two clubs?
But the question of who we are is fraught with confusion. That part of our identity is tied up with various groups is undoubtedly the case: family, club, workplace, city, the nation. Problems, however, seem to emerge with over-identification with a group. For example, I have noticed that people of the far left and certain nationalists often absorb ideological or political criticism as deeply personal. When this identification is excessive, problems arise.
In the case of the Old Firm rivalry, Rangers and Celtic fans have come to identify their own wellbeing with the fortunes of their respective club. When Rangers lose, the Rangers fans have been harmed. When Celtic loses, the well-being of Celtic fans is compromised. When they lose to each other, each has been harmed by their greatest enemy. This causes extreme anxiety and frustration. Unable to assuage anxiety on the park, the desire for revenge on the aggressor is impossible to satisfy immediately, so they resort to violence at the first available opportunity – often in the safety of the home.
This kind of analysis of post-Old Firm match violence is commonplace. But I do think it is largely right. If so, solutions must focus on the mechanisms and triggers of Old Firm violence. The solution proposed by the Ancient Greeks is clear enough. Each individual has to re-assess their beliefs about their self-identity, and develop a rational detachment from their tribe. But this solution requires of fans a degree of self-awareness and moral seriousness that is not to be expected. We’re not dealing with ordinary decent rational people who accept there is a problem. We are dealing with profoundly ignorant, drunk men. So Scottish society needs to think of alternatives. It must make it more difficult for people to self-identify with the Old Firm in the first place, and, failing that, reduce the number of encounters – although in the latter case vicarious rivalry would likely emerge.
If you think about it, what use is Old Firm tribalism to contemporary Scottish society? What good is the Old Firm to Scottish football? What would Glasgow lose without Rangers and Celtic? What about a truly revolutionary solution to a smelly conservative tradition: a merger of the two clubs? We are merging universities and colleges, why not football clubs? Glasgow United – now wouldn’t that be something to be proud of?
Frankly, measures short of this rather drastic proposal will not address the problem. Clubs issuing anti-sectarian bromides are doomed to fail, and are too complacent because they do not distinguish aggressive tradition from destructive hatred. Mary Midgely in her book ‘Wickedness’ claims that there is a strong tendency for social scientists to hold that hatred and violence is not innate but a result of external forces. Well, if true, good: presumably then, these forces can be removed. But they won’t be removed. Scotland will have to tolerate this tradition for another few centuries. Hold your nose.
Eileen Reid is widening access officer at the Glasgow School of Art
to mankind are about
to happen simultaneously
The Cafe 2
Let them exchange shirts
John Brown
What are we to make
of the Not Proven verdict
in the Wilson case?
The Cafe 3
Jeanette and me
Barbara Millar
The heroic sculptor
who refused to move
to London
John Cameron
Can’t Add, Doesn’t Even Try
22.09.11
No. 455
Dear Midgie
Had it not been in electronic form, I would have cut your article out (21 September
Richard Guest
The Midgie replies: A Mr Gus Skinner, with whom I am not personally familiar, takes a different and friendlier view.
for Mr Gus Skinner
Dear Midgie
‘A reporter appeared on the BBC 1 o’clock news yesterday talking about the weather. A few minutes later, on BBC Scotland news, there was the same view of waves pounding the Saltcoats prom, but a different reporter. The BBC economy drive continues apace.’
As chief bean counter for the BBC in London you obviously don’t understand the need for balance in news broadcasting. The incident you referred to in Saltcoats (13 September)
Last week we reported on the Forth Bridge’s final paint job for 25 years. Your insistence on local news meant that when we in London sent top political reporter Glenn Campbell to the apex of that edifice for the national news, no Scottish person would have believed him without then sending one of the team from Glasgow 10 minutes later to speak in the local language. At least they shared a camera crew.
Bill Fraser
SR accepts no advertising or corporate backing. We depend entirely on the generosity of our individual supporters. Help SR to flourish by becoming a Friend. [click here]
Our new address is Suite 216, Liberator House, Prestwick International Airport, Prestwick KA9 2PT. Our new telephone number is 01292 473777. Our editorial email address is unchanged: islay@scottishreview.net
Why do we condone
this disgraceful reek?
What can be done about it?
Eileen Reid’s new column
Scotland has wonderful traditions. And preserving the best of Scottish is something all of us, not simply the conservatives among us, can support with pride. But we Scots need to develop a better nose for distinguishing those traditions worth preserving from those that should never have been allowed to take root in the first place.
In his brilliant paper ‘The Dangers of Tolerance’ the philosopher and social scientist Ernest Gellner wrote: ‘…the blindly unselective conservative blithely takes for granted that the tradition, within which he indeed can be so blessedly complacent, is not one of those many unspeakably repellent traditions which are pervaded by oppression, superstition, brutality…for such is the stuff of most traditions. Traditional societies traditionally smell’.
As a Scottish tradition, the Rangers and Celtic match is a cultural practice as entrenched as eating haggis, neeps and tatties at Burns Suppers. Were it as harmless as naff biscuit tins and kilts. Truth is, the Old Firm doesn’t just smell, it stinks to high heaven. Some will argue that this is a harmless historical rivalry expressed in a game of football. Look at Leeds and Manchester United, or AC Siena and ACF Fiorentina. Fans of the latter rivalry still chant about the battle of Monteaperti in 1260. But unlike these Tuscan supporters whose fierce rivalry is residual, the Glaswegian version is an intolerable, living, cultural tradition. Domestic violence is the icing on the sordid cake of hatred, sectarianism and violence. Why do we tolerate this disgraceful reek? And what can be done about it?
Be not wroth, but understand, is Spinoza’s advice. A good start is to set aside righteous indignation. And clearly we do need to understand why being attached to a football team leads to disgraceful acts of sectarian hatred and domestic violence if we are to rid ourselves of this social stink. But the root of the problem is easily identified; stifling that root is the real problem.
That issues of personal identity and fear are the root cause of aggression is well established. Human beings become aggressive when fearful, and we become fearful when what is dear to us is under threat. What is most dear to us is ourselves, and what we believe we need to preserve is ourselves and our well-being. So beliefs about ourselves, about who we are, and what we need to preserve our well-being, are among the springs of human aggression. This analysis is outlined in detail by Lucretius in his De Rerum Natura. It is as old as the hills, but as fresh as the grass.
What good is the Old Firm to Scottish football? What would Glasgow lose without Rangers and Celtic? What about a truly revolutionary solution to a smelly conservative tradition: a merger of the two clubs?
But the question of who we are is fraught with confusion. That part of our identity is tied up with various groups is undoubtedly the case: family, club, workplace, city, the nation. Problems, however, seem to emerge with over-identification with a group. For example, I have noticed that people of the far left and certain nationalists often absorb ideological or political criticism as deeply personal. When this identification is excessive, problems arise.
In the case of the Old Firm rivalry, Rangers and Celtic fans have come to identify their own wellbeing with the fortunes of their respective club. When Rangers lose, the Rangers fans have been harmed. When Celtic loses, the well-being of Celtic fans is compromised. When they lose to each other, each has been harmed by their greatest enemy. This causes extreme anxiety and frustration. Unable to assuage anxiety on the park, the desire for revenge on the aggressor is impossible to satisfy immediately, so they resort to violence at the first available opportunity – often in the safety of the home.
This kind of analysis of post-Old Firm match violence is commonplace. But I do think it is largely right. If so, solutions must focus on the mechanisms and triggers of Old Firm violence. The solution proposed by the Ancient Greeks is clear enough. Each individual has to re-assess their beliefs about their self-identity, and develop a rational detachment from their tribe. But this solution requires of fans a degree of self-awareness and moral seriousness that is not to be expected. We’re not dealing with ordinary decent rational people who accept there is a problem. We are dealing with profoundly ignorant, drunk men. So Scottish society needs to think of alternatives. It must make it more difficult for people to self-identify with the Old Firm in the first place, and, failing that, reduce the number of encounters – although in the latter case vicarious rivalry would likely emerge.
If you think about it, what use is Old Firm tribalism to contemporary Scottish society? What good is the Old Firm to Scottish football? What would Glasgow lose without Rangers and Celtic? What about a truly revolutionary solution to a smelly conservative tradition: a merger of the two clubs? We are merging universities and colleges, why not football clubs? Glasgow United – now wouldn’t that be something to be proud of?
Frankly, measures short of this rather drastic proposal will not address the problem. Clubs issuing anti-sectarian bromides are doomed to fail, and are too complacent because they do not distinguish aggressive tradition from destructive hatred. Mary Midgely in her book ‘Wickedness’ claims that there is a strong tendency for social scientists to hold that hatred and violence is not innate but a result of external forces. Well, if true, good: presumably then, these forces can be removed. But they won’t be removed. Scotland will have to tolerate this tradition for another few centuries. Hold your nose.
Eileen Reid is widening access officer at the Glasgow School of Art
22.09.11
No. 455
Dear Midgie‘A reporter appeared on the BBC 1 o’clock news yesterday talking about the weather. A few minutes later, on BBC Scotland news, there was the same view of waves pounding the Saltcoats prom, but a different reporter. The BBC economy drive continues apace.’
As chief bean counter for the BBC in London you obviously don’t understand the need for balance in news broadcasting. The incident you referred to in Saltcoats (13 September)
Our new address is Suite 216, Liberator House, Prestwick International Airport, Prestwick KA9 2PT. Our new telephone number is 01292 473777. Our editorial email address is unchanged: islay@scottishreview.net
Eileen Reid’s new column
As a Scottish tradition, the Rangers and Celtic match is a cultural practice as entrenched as eating haggis, neeps and tatties at Burns Suppers. Were it as harmless as naff biscuit tins and kilts. Truth is, the Old Firm doesn’t just smell, it stinks to high heaven. Some will argue that this is a harmless historical rivalry expressed in a game of football. Look at Leeds and Manchester United, or AC Siena and ACF Fiorentina. Fans of the latter rivalry still chant about the battle of Monteaperti in 1260. But unlike these Tuscan supporters whose fierce rivalry is residual, the Glaswegian version is an intolerable, living, cultural tradition. Domestic violence is the icing on the sordid cake of hatred, sectarianism and violence. Why do we tolerate this disgraceful reek? And what can be done about it?
Be not wroth, but understand, is Spinoza’s advice. A good start is to set aside righteous indignation. And clearly we do need to understand why being attached to a football team leads to disgraceful acts of sectarian hatred and domestic violence if we are to rid ourselves of this social stink. But the root of the problem is easily identified; stifling that root is the real problem.
That issues of personal identity and fear are the root cause of aggression is well established. Human beings become aggressive when fearful, and we become fearful when what is dear to us is under threat. What is most dear to us is ourselves, and what we believe we need to preserve is ourselves and our well-being. So beliefs about ourselves, about who we are, and what we need to preserve our well-being, are among the springs of human aggression. This analysis is outlined in detail by Lucretius in his De Rerum Natura. It is as old as the hills, but as fresh as the grass.
In the case of the Old Firm rivalry, Rangers and Celtic fans have come to identify their own wellbeing with the fortunes of their respective club. When Rangers lose, the Rangers fans have been harmed. When Celtic loses, the well-being of Celtic fans is compromised. When they lose to each other, each has been harmed by their greatest enemy. This causes extreme anxiety and frustration. Unable to assuage anxiety on the park, the desire for revenge on the aggressor is impossible to satisfy immediately, so they resort to violence at the first available opportunity – often in the safety of the home.
This kind of analysis of post-Old Firm match violence is commonplace. But I do think it is largely right. If so, solutions must focus on the mechanisms and triggers of Old Firm violence. The solution proposed by the Ancient Greeks is clear enough. Each individual has to re-assess their beliefs about their self-identity, and develop a rational detachment from their tribe. But this solution requires of fans a degree of self-awareness and moral seriousness that is not to be expected. We’re not dealing with ordinary decent rational people who accept there is a problem. We are dealing with profoundly ignorant, drunk men. So Scottish society needs to think of alternatives. It must make it more difficult for people to self-identify with the Old Firm in the first place, and, failing that, reduce the number of encounters – although in the latter case vicarious rivalry would likely emerge.
If you think about it, what use is Old Firm tribalism to contemporary Scottish society? What good is the Old Firm to Scottish football? What would Glasgow lose without Rangers and Celtic? What about a truly revolutionary solution to a smelly conservative tradition: a merger of the two clubs? We are merging universities and colleges, why not football clubs? Glasgow United – now wouldn’t that be something to be proud of?
Frankly, measures short of this rather drastic proposal will not address the problem. Clubs issuing anti-sectarian bromides are doomed to fail, and are too complacent because they do not distinguish aggressive tradition from destructive hatred. Mary Midgely in her book ‘Wickedness’ claims that there is a strong tendency for social scientists to hold that hatred and violence is not innate but a result of external forces. Well, if true, good: presumably then, these forces can be removed. But they won’t be removed. Scotland will have to tolerate this tradition for another few centuries. Hold your nose.
