This is a true story.
In 1698, the brain trust of Scotland hatched a bold plan to dominate global trade; they would raise money from everyone in the country and then they would send workers to Panama in order to dig a Canal to the Pacific through the isthmus at Darien.
Crazy? Perhaps. But it was a bold idea, and bold ideas capture the imagination.
The result was that almost as quick as you can say it, a vast sum of money was raised to fund the "Darien Scheme".
Suffice it to say that things did not go according to plan!
Though the Scheme was backed by between a quarter and half of all the money circulating in Scotland at the time, it floundered under poor planning, disease, food shortage, and a lack of any real desire for goods from the other side of the world.
Whoops!
When the whole thing went bust, nobles, landowners, town councils, and ordinary tradespeople were left ruined.
What to do?
Why, simple enough: sell yourself to the English for the price of a massive economic bailout!
That bailout was called the "Act of Union," and was completed in 1707, joining the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate states with separate legislatures and one monarch, but the potential for two monarchs) into a single, united kingdom called "Great Britain".
And what is the legacy of all this? What’s happening now?
Well, the latest is that a referendum on whether Scotland should be free again will take place on Thursday, December 12th.
The push behind this is Brexit. Scotland would just as soon be part of the EU. England and Wales continue to toy with the idea of economic suicide in order to keep out foreigners and the metric system.
So what will happen Thursday?
We shall see.
But if Scotland votes for freedom, what will happen at The Kennel Club?
Will Scotland dump Kennel Club affiliation and sign up for the FCI — the canine equivalent of Brexit?
Probably not, but who knows?
After the failure of the Scottish Panama Canal Company of 1698, anything is possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment