Oddballs and Social Misfits

“An assortment of social misfits”, that’s us. That’s how supporters of Scottish independence were described yesterday by the Guardian columnist, Kevin McKenna.

I wasn’t offended by this, although I’m sure it was intended as an insult.

When the UK political establishment that governs Scotland is like the one we have now, perhaps it’s not so bad to be branded a non-conformist. After all, things rarely change in the world without the imaginations of misfits.

But is that who we are? Let’s be honest – the independence movement hasn’t exactly been lacking in a few unconventional characters over the years. The early National Party of Scotland candidates were largely from the artistic community in Scotland. Hugh MacDiarmid, Wendy Wood – we’ve had our fair share of eccentrics; poets, writers, thinkers, ordinary people with extraordinary vision. National Collective’s recent list of ‘50 artists and creatives who support independence‘ shows how this has continued over the generations. Being a social misfit doesn’t limit your influence or ability. Quite the opposite.

Artists and creatives perhaps tend not to care, but for the rest of the population being a “misfit” is something strange and undesirable. It’s a tactic that’s been used a lot so far; “Nobody supports independence”, the papers say, “Nobody wants it but Alex Salmond”.  It’s easy to feel isolated when you’re told nobody shares your view. And then it is easy to doubt what you believe.

I believe that Scotland is the misfit of the UK. We vote differently, we hold different social priorities. We have our own ways and write our own books and make our own art. It isn’t always appreciated but it’s ours. It’s okay to be a misfit. It’s okay to think and to dream of better things – someone has to.

So go on Scotland, embrace your inner misfit, vote Yes.

Be yourself; be whatever you choose to create.

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  1. I’ll wear the “misfit” tag as a badge of honour. With regards to McKenna’s article: they seem to be getting progressively worse each week. I seem to feel sullied each week I read his column.

  2. RE. Kenna. Balls. That’s odd coming from someone who works for the Gruniad. . .Gurnaid. . .Grinuad. Maybe there’ll still be a place for him in the IRA.

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  3. Paul Cochrane says:

    Badge of honour!

  4. Alasdair Frew-Bell says:

    The London 2012 britpropfest now history we have two years to shake and break the unionist cage. Then we’ll see who the real misfits are.

  5. megabreath2 says:

    “misfit
    n [ˈmɪsˌfɪt]
    1. a person not suited in behaviour or attitude to a particular social environment”

    “con·form·ist
    n.
    A person who uncritically or habitually conforms to the customs, rules, or styles of a group”.

    I know where I “fit”.Or dont.

  6. The Guardian are Westminster media-mentors; plying the masses with cringe-worthy pretentions. Their, Westminster msm), only premise is to denigrate Scots, Scotland, and Scottish independence. The Westminster msm (and that includes all the national press titles), only have one remit, to write whatever Westminster tell them to. So it’s not surprising to see the Westminster msm describe Scots-4-independence as misfits, eccentrics, and all the other negative connotations that has manifest itself in ‘the scotch cringe’; where we degenerate our own identity/self. Incidently, a well known but little understood psychological defence mechansim of the Westminster induced ‘scotch cringe’ is our ‘satirical irony’!

    Anyway, the Westminster msm media-mentoring tries to replicate the ‘negation’ of a ‘primacy of possiblity’; it’s basically a form of ‘philosophical ‘existentialist’ control, by a ruling class, Westminster), over the masses. Pat Kane once asked me how the SNp ‘managed’ their ‘landslide’ victory, and this was how it was done; by the unionist political parties using ‘negative existentialism’ to a degree it had a double-negative effect on the masses. Labour had ‘shot their own fox’!

  7. Iain Hill says:

    I am happy to be a misfit. I do not fit into the American slave mentality, nor the pro-banker sod-the-poor tendency, nor the authoritarian militarise-everything mentality. It’s a nice place to be, Kevin!

  8. Ray Bell says:

    It’s not as if British unionism doesn’t have its share of oddballs either.

    Just a small selection:

    George Galloway (miaow), Nicky Fairbairn (RIP), Lembit Opik (cheeky). a horse whisperer in UKIP, Margaret Thatcher (for a number of reasons), John Major (who ran away to get away from the circus), Wendy Alexander (hungry caterpillar anyone?), Ian Paisley (who runs a Presbyterian church, but is moderator for life) etc etc

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