Our Friends In The North

[ShotgunGold]

No! Not the people of Lancashire and Yorkshire!

 

This is actually a BBC Scotland documentary that attempts to look at the similarities and differences between Scottish, and Finnish/Swedish/Norwegian, culture and politics.

 

It is a shame programmes like this are only shown on BBC Scotland and on BBC Parliament.

 

I must say my opinion of supposed "Nordic" culture has not changed. I am skeptical that the Finnish education system really is a good respresentation of real society without even the hint of competition, nor acceptance of academic hierarchy. However I think what the Norwegians did with their oil money is fantastic, and I think it's great that Sweden actually helps new mothers, putting babies first instead of the economy and $$$ (take note Osborne).

 

It's a shame immigration was not mentioned. Sweden's naivety in the acceptance of mass immigration has hit the country hard but I think they are finally seeing sense.

 

Strangely enough I completely disagree with the closing comments of the documentary. After interviewing a Swede who focuses on the uniqueness of Swedish culture, and a Norwegian who loves the friendly rivalry, it amazes me why he thinks a debate like this is about Europe.

 

It is not - it is about Scotland and the United Kingdom. If Scotland wants to go it alone as an INDEPENDENT SOVEREIGN NATION than they should go for it. No Scot I know of wants to become a province of Europe. Even in our modern age an independent Scotland will be completely different to a devolved Scotland. We should never forget the importance of self-determinism and natonal sovereignty.

 

iPLAYER LINK HERE

[Bleep1673]

I used to have a GF from Shetland and she told me a lot of Shetland culture is based on Nordic lines, and the fact that they were closer to Oslo than Edinburgh, geographically, and many of them have Scandanavian names, her family name was Polsen, and her mothers maiden name was Andersen