OT: Scottish population

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 10:41 am

I watched this thing on tv that predicted in a few hundred years there will be no Scottish people, because the birth rate is low, and many people are aging, and the population is dwindling, and most Scottish kids head to London after they get out of school to work and live there. It seemed weird that they said 'there will be no more Scottish people' so I thought I'd bring it up here because a lot of people here are Scottish, and also because I'm bored.

FWIW, it also said the same thing about other countries in Europe but Scotland was the only one I remembered.

selkie · Post by **selkie** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 11:36 am

Certainly applies to our area where the local job market is the Salmon factory and Alhstrom. You have to travel on poor transport to find a decent job and the transport isn't cheap and the buses don't run after 8pm at night here.

lixnaw · Post by **lixnaw** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:46 pm

if it wasn't for the tourists, dingle might be the same picture. back in 87' i was so hard broken that i moved to dingle for a while, to work in the fishery. we were getting 2P/hour(the regulars were getting 3.50). after all, i saved a good bit, when your working 15 hours a day, 7 days a week, there's no time to spend your money.
but when i came back, i drank it all in a week or two...and still she was on my mind

pthouron · Post by **pthouron** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 2:43 pm

That'd be more of a tragedy than anything I can think of. Haven't been there in a long time (every year hoping next year will be the year...), but Scotland is one of my very favorite places on Earth. I shed a tear as I look at the "Complete Poems and Songs of Robert Burns" on my desk. Read one every morning when I get to work to get me going.

PhilO · Post by **PhilO** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 4:30 pm

I'm not Scottish but will never forget the 3-week honeymoon stay there 20 years ago. The people were wonderful throughout. It was a wierd time, because while in Inverness (jumping off point for the Highlands), the Russians shot down a Korean airliner; it's always strange when you're away from home and things like that happen. Anyway, I brought down (we were in a great B&B overlooking the City) a bottle of single malt to share with a group from the isle of Thurso - actually a competitive outdoor bowling team. They took us to the games and sort of adopted us with unbelievable kindness (it's the malt you say). To this day, I still wear the beautiful championship Thurso bowling pin given to me by the group upon our leaving to return to London.

Let's hope there will always be plenty of Scottish people.

Philo

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 4:30 pm

I'd like Scotland more if it was nearer to London.

Just a smidgen north of Watford would be about right.

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 5:14 pm

Although the economic landscape of Scotland, especially the rural parts, will likely see more changes and the population may swing, there will Scottish people in Scotland for centuries to come. The place just won't empty out in 300 years. It sounds like irresponsible journalism and/or irresponsible science to me.
Cheers,
Aaron

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 6:00 pm

There IS lot of talk lately about European countries and declining birth rate on the radio and in the news. I heard something like that about France, dwindling down to few natives, to be replaced by the imported workers, including Islamic ones. Smart, educated, environmentally-friendly and responsible people, who also want to enjoy life and things, reducing family size or even choosing not to have kids at all and/or going for early sterilization.

It's interesting, Cran.

Chuck_Clark · Post by **Chuck_Clark** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 9:28 pm

I just read an article on this - I want to say National Geographic but don't quote me. It's pretty much all of Europe, except (I think) Spain. The Baltics also (surprisingly, at least to me, in that they don't fit the well-educated and environmentally aware population mentioned above).

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 6:43 am

I wonder if the same applies to the US, Canada, and Australia too? Most of our populations are "European" by ancestry and educated...

I've heard Pat Buchannon going on and on about this before. It strikes me as a little odd that one day all the white people would dissapear, LOL.

trisha · Post by **trisha** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 9:07 am

Martin Milner wrote:I'd like Scotland more if it was nearer to London.

Just a smidgen north of Watford would be about right.

Hmmmm...then there'd be no heather moors (the most southerly is Long Mynd, Shropshire; no heather honey.

Come to think of it, no grouse, and the whisky would be gross (grotty water)...and no Grouse either (which would be no loss at all)...

Trisha

chas · Post by **chas** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 12:27 pm

It seems that a lot of densly populated countries are having this problem. Not so much the emigration, but still the low birth rate. Most of the Western European countries will be suffering much more from the baby-boom retirement than the US. Many of them, plus Japan, are projected have less than 1 worker per retiree by around 2020, along with declining populations. In the US the picture is much brighter since we have so much immigration, which is responsible for most of our population growth.

I'm not a big one on increasing population, but if you do have a system where retirees are largely or at least significantly supported by current workers, population growth is really necessary. I find it ironic that many of the countries that are bemoaning their soon-to-be declining populations are pretty restrictive about immigration.

Chuck_Clark · Post by **Chuck_Clark** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 12:01 pm

The other side of the coin, both in Western Europe and the US is shifting ethnic identity. Since natural population growth has been replaced by immigration as a way of increasing population, and since immigrants from poorer "brown" countries often have higher birth rates, the white populations' plurality is noticeably shrinking.

In the US, people of Hispanic descent are now the largest "minority" and in California there is no longer any ethnic "majority".

An interesting column by a conservative church columnist published in the local newspaper suggested that, if for no other reason, this natural ethnic replacement is a good reason why right wing Christians should not be so zealous about school prayer, getting creation "science" taught in school, or things like the ten commandments monument.

This year it's THEIR beliefs and idols. But if they succeed, how will they feel in twenty-five years when it's a crucifix or a madonna?

CHIFF FIPPLE · Post by **CHIFF FIPPLE** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 3:13 am

Martin Milner wrote:I'd like Scotland more if it was nearer to London.

Just a smidgen north of Watford would be about right.

Aye but we wouldner

in fact we would like it better ifn London were on the other side O Channel

Don't worry Cran Scotlands just fine, and will be here along time yet.

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 4:13 am

CHIFF FIPPLE wrote:
Martin Milner wrote:I'd like Scotland more if it was nearer to London.

Just a smidgen north of Watford would be about right.
Aye but we wouldner in fact we would like it better ifn London were on the other side O Channel

Now waitaminit!
1) It already tried to swim across. It took us one hundred years and wasting an excellent virgin to send it back on the Thames, and keep the claret for ourselves.
2) It wouldn't work. They'd have to stop driving on the wrong side of the road. And use Euros, too.