Readers' Letters: When did 'activism' become a career in itself?

Consider Martin Luther King Jr, who was a Baptist minister, and, in a previous generation, Mahatma Gandhi, who was a qualified barrister. Their activism was powerful precisely because it was grounded in experience, education and a deep engagement with their broader societal responsibilities. Activism was a response to injustice, not a job title.

Today many young people, shaped by a culture that seemingly values self-expression more highly than established knowledge, are drawn to causes that align with personal conviction, often setting aside conventional career paths to make advocacy their work. Greta Thunberg, for example, has become a global figure not through technical expertise or experience but through the force of her personal conviction and media visibility.

This is not just a matter of generational differences. When public discourse is dominated by the views expressed by activists, the result is a distortion of complex issues into emotionally charged campaigns. This trend is reflected in the quality of debate in our parliaments, where complex issues are often reduced to polarised talking points. Much of the media follows suit, offering “analysis” that fails to inform about the substance of an issue, rather, focusing on contrasting the opposing views and speculating as to which view will win out.

Society should, of course, respect and appreciate those who express their views with passion and conviction. But for these voices to be truly beneficial, they must be supported by credible authority and grounded in demonstrable expertise.

George Rennie, Inverness

Move on

The gender self-identification issue has not been politicised in England with calls for Tony Blair or other Labour and Conservative prime ministers to apologise for what could be poorly drafted UK legislation (Richard Allison, Letters, 18 April). If it's the Scottish Government's fault, why is the Equality and Human Rights Commission advising it will have to update its guidance?

This is a very difficult issue for Scottish Labour and Anas Sarwar, whose MSPs were whipped to support GRR and folk were sacked for not toeing the line. Also, Alex Cole-Hamilton and Patrick Harvie were enthusiastic supporters of the Bill.

Five nurses have taken County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust to court over sharing the women’s changing facilities with a trans male colleague yet the SNP is blamed over the similar case in Fife.

John Swinney has accepted the Supreme Court’s findings so it is time to move on and for MSPs to work together to ensure everyone’s human rights are respected.

Mary Thomas, Edinburgh

All together

It was profoundly comforting and in no sense triumphal to read the profusion of welcome letters for the ruling handed down by the UK Supreme Court on the issue of biological sex as it pertains to the Equality Act. I am hoping this piece of commonsense humanity will in future years be seen as a wonderful parting gift from a failing and disunited Union.

Once we get this constitutional controversy laid to rest finally in the court of public opinion next year I and many others are looking forward to the day that all people of good will and common sense can focus our national efforts to establish and develop our “common weal” on a range of social and economic themes as we secede from the “common steal” of Westminster and renegotiate an authentic and equitable union of the regions and nations in the British Isles.

Finally, let us reaffirm in no uncertain terms our loving and compassionate solidarity with our transgender and gender dysphoric brothers and sisters in our common transit through life's challenges.

(Dr) Andrew Docherty, Selkirk, Scottish Borders

Anybody there?

Never one to miss the chance of a soundbite or photo op, where is Nicola Sturgeon? We need clarity!

Brian Petrie, Edinburgh

Strange position

The Scottish Greens continue to be outraged at the Supreme Court ruling. Its spokesperson, Maggie Chapman, said trans people “are worried that people are coming after their right to exist”.

This is an interesting position to take considering that the Scottish Greens tried to get Hamas's terrorist status removed in the UK despite the fact that Hamas's goal is to kill not just Israelis but Jewish people too. The Greens have set themselves up as a defender of small minority rights. Perhaps the Greens have not noticed but the percentage of Scots claiming to be transgender in the recent census was 0.44 per cent whilst the figure for the Jewish community was 0.11 per cent. John Swinney wants to have a debate amongst Scottish political parties about squeezing out the “extreme right”. Has Mr Swinney missed noticing another extreme here?

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Sterling advice

Professor Ronald MacDonald is correct to say that sharing sterling was, and is, the wrong solution for Scottish independence (Letters, 17 April).

Alex Salmond also knew that long before he got advice from eminent economists. "The Great Debate” took place in February 1995, and was a head-to-head between Alex Salmond and Labour's shadow Scottish Secretary George Robertson. The debate saw Mr Salmond arguing for independence, and Mr Robertson for devolution.

One of the most hotly contested sections of the debate was on currency, where Mr Salmond proposed an independent Scottish currency. Sadly, this position was overtaken by external advice. In the lead-up to the 2014 referendum, the Scottish Government's fiscal working group, led by Nobel laureate economists Joseph Stiglitz and Sir James Mirrlees, set out the currency options for an independent Scotland and recommended that the best option was to be in the Sterling area. Mr Salmond took their advice. Can you imagine the uproar if he had rejected advice from Nobel laureates?

However, Professor Stiglitz has since reneged on that advice and he is now very clear that the correct option is for an independent Scotland to have its own currency.

More recently the SNP adopted a set of conditions that would have to be met before moving away from Sterling. This proposal was rejected at conference, and it's clear that our independent currency should be put in place as soon as possible after a Yes vote in the referendum. The necessary apparatus and institutions would be set up during the post-referendum negotiation period. Better still, this process should and could be started now.

I note that the referendum is solely on the question of independence, and not on joining the EU. It will be for the newly independent Scotland to decide on the latter. Clearly if joining entails being in the Eurozone, which is a shared currency area, we would lose the flexible exchange rate favoured by Prof MacDonald. As he said, Norway is outside the Eurozone and has a flexible exchange rate, as do many other sovereign countries outside the EU. Indeed, I’d say flexible exchange rates are normal.

I'd add that being in the Eurozone didn't help Greece, which was forced into austerity max by the Troika.

George S Gordon, Edinburgh

Look in mirror

John Swinney is quoted as saying, “[Nigel] Farage is only using Scotland as a platform to spread the type of hate and division that he spreads in other parts of the UK.”

Sorry, John, have you looked in the mirror recently? Isn't it your good self who calls for division from England? The world didn't stop turning when the SNP came to power, did it?

B Proctor, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

Brave souls

The Board of Deputies, arguably the most influential institution in British Jewry, has penned a letter condemning Israel's lethal warfare in Gaza and the West Bank. Once close friends and supporters of Israel, they now see it as being “stripped of its soul”.

The letter, sent on behalf of the Board as a whole, was signed by one in eight of its members, the rest opting to remain anonymous. It's hard to overestimate the courage of those who signed it, going right against the grain of their erstwhile support.

The tipping point seems to have been the horrendous execution of medical workers, and their mass burial, the latest in a series of atrocities in Gaza, which has been described as a “Palestinian graveyard”.

This move by the Board of Deputies has surely shamed those who blindly support Israel's far right government under an increasingly autocratic Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been given a free rein by Donald Trump and his cronies. It is to be hoped that that the sizeable minority in Israel, appalled by their government's continuing war crimes, gain the support of the wider world. The time is fast running out to recover their country's battered soul, and take up the challenge posed by the Board of Deputies, not least its courageous minority.

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

Best of friends

Thanks to Donald Trump the USA will soon only have one friend, Israel. They deserve each other, both are led by criminals

Colin McAllister, St Andrews, Fife

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