Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? But this prospect is actually a very real possibility, even if very few consider it an issue, not even our elected representatives.
I’m talking about having enough food, fuel and electricity for everyone, as well as all the other services including adequate healthcare.
Because for the first time in Shetland’s (human) history everything we are dependant on is being imported, and that reliance will be our undoing. Especially at a time when multinationals are taking an unhealthy interest in exploiting our remote location and unique natural resources. There are certainly enough signs. We’ve already witnessed how the changes in the weather are affecting the lifeline ferries and flights. How global politics have made it more and more expensive to live here. If you’ve ever tried to get a medical appointment, it is patently clear that Holyrood and Westminster don’t care a hoot if we don’t have anywhere near enough doctors, dentists or opticians. We’ve also watched the government ignore common-sense and public opinion, and allow vast tracts of our islands and oceans to be plundered to make them quick profits. And if all that wasn’t bad enough, a speculative satellite launching business on Unst has also been a cover for developing a strategic military base.
There’s nothing radical in any of this. Island dwellers have always been well-prepared for the vagaries of weather, making sure they are as self-sufficient as possible. They were also aware they could be invaded at any moment. The problem right now is we have forgotten those skills, in favour of enjoying a different kind of life. One which the oil & gas boom of the 1970s and now renewable energy, has made possible. Which gave everyone far more money. Allowed the fishermen to buy bigger and bigger (pelagic) vessels, crofters to farm more and more land intensively, and tourism to become a multi-million pound business for a select few.
All well and good you might say. Except this extremely short period of plentifulness (just 50 years, out of thousands) has come at a huge price to the precious ecology, which has been plundered to extinction in many cases, and made the possibility of returning to a more sustainable and self-sufficient way of living far more difficult. We have also seen the general health of the population decline, along with community cohesiveness.
The last 50 years have therefore not been a positive development for Shetland, and the future even more frightening. In the past five years alone, we’ve already witnessed how the renewable energy industry has destroyed yet more of our natural habitat. We’ve also seen how those companies have taken over the available space on our lifeline ferries, making it harder and harder for the shops and supermarkets to keep stocked up as before, leading to an increase in online purchasing from elsewhere. The changing weather has also made ferries and flights more erratic, so much so that it would only take a permanent hike in fuel prices to render them too unprofitable to continue. Meanwhile the cost of living has risen dramatically, making Shetland one of the most expensive places to live in the UK, yet without any significant increase in salaries, benefits or pensions.
The future really does look incredibly bleak. But it doesn’t have to be like this. Not if we collectively wake-up and assert our rights (if Trump can get away with it I am sure SIC could), become true islanders again. Focussing not on what we want, that new brand of selfishness, but on the needs of everyone, including the ecology.
I don’t have the answers as to how we can achieve that, nor am I for one moment suggesting a return to the past. All I want is for people to be aware that the way we are living now is not sustainable, and that by continuing like this we are heading towards eventually being forced to leave.
So, to get the ball rolling, here are some of my ideas (in no particular order):
We need to halt all further industrialisation.
Stop the current degradation of the ecology from intensive sheep ranching.
Ban fish farms.
Ban trawling the seas with pelagic boats.
Plant lots of trees, with edible and other uses, and grow as much other food as we can, starting with at least 2 hectares per person.
Take over the energy infrastructure on the islands and distribute electricity (and gas) at cost to islanders.
Instead of paying taxes only to watch most of that revenue wasted on corruption, inefficiency, vanity projects and services we don’t need, we redefine the role of Shetland Islands Council to simply provide what is essential, nothing more.
We get rid of all the Shetland charitable community trusts, who have proved they only serve themselves.
No more public money spent on sports, arts and entertainment.
No more public money for promoting tourism.
Build and run nursing homes (shamefully there is not one in Shetland), to be free for anyone who needs them.
Make meals-on-wheels nutritious and filling, and free to anyone who needs them.
Care homes and home care should also be free to anyone who needs them.
We need a proper healthcare provision. Not the NHS we have now, with too many vastly-overpaid managers and woefully few practitioners, including optical and dental care. Free for anyone who needs it.
Recycle all out-of-date food into nutritious meals, free to those that need them.
Compost all organic waste.
Recycle and repair everything else.
Ban the disposal of products that aren’t biodegradable.
No more new building on countryside or at sea.
Ban cruise ships and coach tours.
Stop promoting an increase in the population, and instead encourage sterilisation to those who want it, as well as make it easier to access contraception.
Create proper training/ apprenticeships for the essential trades.
Decentralise services, so there is no longer a need to travel to Lerwick for everything.
Increase the ferry and air discounts, for up to 3 trips per person a year, after which no discount.
Zero tolerance for misogyny, homophobia and attacks on individual choices.
Free neutering of cats/ dogs and a not-for-profit veterinary service.
At which point I’ll stop. Obviously there are a lot more things that can be done, if common-sense prevails and there’s a will to make them happen. First though, we have to make a choice. Either as a community we take back control and becomes self-sufficient and sustainable again, or let the islands get totally taken over by corporate and political self-interest, and eventually end up joining the growing tide of migrants around the world looking for a new home.
How to live off-grid 