Lesley Riddoch: Yessers must reject old machismo and build a peaceful society

The report assesses how people evaluate their own lives in more than 150 countries using six criteria – only one is GDP.

American wellbeing academic Jeffrey Sachs said: “The lesson of the World Happiness Report over the years is that social support, generosity to one another, and honesty in government are crucial for well-being.”

Well, well.

At a glance, we can see how Britain fails and how Scotland’s determination to mitigate cruel welfare cuts, extend generosity and get through Covid with a respected “partygate-free” government all mean that an independent Scotland would start higher in the happiness stakes than “mothership” UK – no matter how much Rishi Sunak attacks Holyrood’s determination to equalise incomes with “his” tax-cutting cash.

While we’re at it, the happiest countries also have the strongest economies and the highest GDP. All the Nordics are triple A-rated economies because of their welfare states – not despite them. Iceland is the exception, still working its way back from banking collapse in 2008. But today, the sub-Arctic nation of 355,000 people sits just one point behind the mighty UK.

How things have changed.

READ MORE: Douglas Ross's claims GERS shows 'record Union dividend' branded 'fiction'

The Happiness Index isn’t just a measure of state generosity but also how spontaneously generous we are towards one another. You could call it solidarity. Here, indy Scotland would also score well – see the defence of New Scots neighbours threatened with deportation in Kenmure Street last year and Nicolson Square this year.

Actually, Scots go even further with unprompted acts of generosity towards total strangers – take the Tartan Army whose members regularly fundraise for kids’ charities in the cities they visit. Or the thoughtful behaviour of Dundee United fans in the Netherlands playing AZ earlier this month which prompted a local paper to report: “Supporters of the Scottish club Dundee United … made an impression on the Nieuwmarkt yesterday. Thousands of fans threw a party and then left the square spotless. Employees of the surrounding cafes are happy with it: ‘It’s always fun with those Scots’.”

And whilst I realise Scotland’s unofficial foreign embassy is not entirely peopled by Yessers, it’s a measure of the country’s increasing confidence that fans represent their country by unprovoked acts of kindness. Years ago, a poll found the happiest people in Britain were the folk who had lost both referendums – Remain-voting Scots. Why? Because we’ve still got hope of a better life and a better country – and we’ve got one another.

Liz Truss talks of a family of nations. Aye, whatever.

Belonging to the Yes family knocks the “thrill” of belonging to Britain’s woefully patriarchal and dysfunctional “family” into a cocked hat. Indeed, if the UK was an actual family of nations, someone would have called social services years ago on our heavy-handed, autocratic Westminster “parents”.

But there’s another measure of national maturity indirectly measured by the World Happiness Index – how generous folk are towards political opponents.

Once again – despite all propaganda to the contrary – Scotland actually scores well. Over the long years of the indyref there were only a couple of eggs thrown at Jim Murphy. During all the AUOB marches that followed, there was hardly a single arrest or even angry words chucked at the small Unionist group that gathered each time, hoping to provoke confrontation, so the old, weary, confidence-sapping tropes about Scots as aggressive bams could get trotted out again.

Yessers didn’t fall for it – partly due to the near-constant presence of the gallus Silent Clansman, Paul Jamieson. Standing tall with headphones and sunglasses, in a bright jacket, trainers and kilt, Paul reminded passing Yessers to ignore the taunts, keep the heid and walk on. It must take a lot to stand for hours alone with your back to folk who despise you – but Paul does it. His message filters through the whole crowd: ignore them, sing, be happy and remember you represent the new Scotland, so don’t hand your opponents any opportunity to drag the country down.

That didn’t seem to happen at the now infamous Perth hustings.

The James Cook confrontation was just one moment in a spirited but calm protest as the BBC reporter himself was commenting before he was accosted, accused of being a traitor and asked if he was Scottish.

Now, never mind if the questioner was a core indy supporter or not – what happened on our watch was a moment of aggression that’s entirely out of step with the direction of travel Yessers have worked hard to create. A direction that’s taking us slowly but surely away from the no-holds barred, unrestrained behaviour that marks the most hopeless and disempowered and towards a self-regulated movement with Jimmy Reid’s “keep the heid” exhortation ringing constantly in our ears.

That's not to say folk can’t get angry. Quite the opposite. The ONLY way to display emotions safely and powerfully is to stay calm and disciplined.

It’s also not to say that breaking rules or laws in acts of civil disobedience aren’t powerful and – given the current economic and democratic meltdown – highly likely. But if the future does mean sit-ins, occupations or other acts of non-violent direct action, then self-discipline is MORE important, not less.

Back in the 1980s, during protests against the first Thatcher cuts, I was in a group of students who met every week to practice the art of civil disobedience – acting decisively but without rudeness, confrontation, physical aggression or belittling other people.

Maybe those practice sessions – much mocked by our critics on the left and right – have shaped me.

Maybe the example of Northern Ireland was also powerful – where angry people who couldn’t reach the army, took their anger out on folk doing their jobs but seen as representing hated and distant authorities by dint of their bus driver uniforms. The image of those terrified drivers stays with me still.

Let me be clear. Scotland is completely different.

Completely.

Yes, there are violent acts of savagery here as there are even in those countries that top the Happiness Index. And smugness is the enemy of self-awareness – granted.

But Yessers constitute half the Scottish population and we must ensure our domain is a peaceful one where the old machismo has been ditched and long overdue lessons about diversity and equality have been taken to heart.

Our country – despite all provocations – is a progressive one and a generous one, marked out by our own gold standard – hospitality to strangers and generosity to folk who think differently.

Let’s build on that.

And hope the example of the Silent Clansman is in our minds, even when he isn’t on our streets, in the tumultuous years ahead.