Having read your message as well as Hazel's, let me offer a few comments.

Tourism promotion is a good place to start. I've noticed in all the major U.S. bookstores that you can't get tourism centered on Wales the way you can on Ireland, for example. Wales is always advertised in conjunction, i.e., "England and Wales" or "The British Isles" or "England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales." Your information about how Welsh tourism is underfunded would explain why this is so.

In terms of government, my understanding is that the Welsh National Assembly was established in 1999. The Assembly provides official Welsh representation in Parliament as well as a limited amount of legislative power for Wales. But "limited" is the key term here. Wales does not have the autonomy that Scotland has, and so Hazel's perception that "The UK rules Wales from Westminster" is actually correct. While the establishment of the Welsh National Assembly is cause for great rejoicing and good hope, the battle for Welsh cultural survival and national identity remains a daily struggle. Welsh-speaking schools have to struggle to get decent funding and the Welsh economy flounders.

I don't have a good handle on the Welsh economy. I know the bulk of it seems to be farming and light manufacturing, and this is due to the desire for Wales to retain its beauty. A recent story about an airplane manufacturing plant near Cardiff was disappointing, however, and serves to prove a point about the subtle warfare over Welsh autonomy. The plant was struggling financially, so the English solution was to move the plant (and its Welsh workers) to England. This underscores my story from last week about the remark from an Englishman: "The Welsh come to England to work, and we go to Wales for our vacations."

Does England "help" Wales financially? Yes, because Wales has been conquered, colonized, and exploited for so long that her people have lost confidence in themselves and their country. A good analogy here is the image of domestic violence. When a woman has been abused physically, mentally, and emotionally for a long time, she loses her ability to express herself. Her natural capabilities are severely diminished -- not because they don't exist, but because she has been beaten down. In order to restore her, a team of people must help to uplift, encourage, and challenge her to be strong again.

As for skills, I understand Wales has an extremely good education system and place a high value on education. This includes not only the academic aspect, but practical life skills as well. So I would say yes, the Welsh people do have the skills to succeed.

In contrast to this, the Welsh may define "success" quite differently than the English or the Americans. I noticed a distinct lack of materialism because Welsh values are different. Their sense as a people is based in community and communitarian life, and therefore the siren call of capitalist materialism doesn't take very well. So, in terms of success, skills, economy, and self-government, they might be willing to be content with less "stuff."

Hazel's point about possible conflict between Welsh and non-Welsh (or Anglo-Welsh) is a valid one. I was told that there is some disparity in understanding between the north and the south, the rural and the urban regarding the Welsh language, especially the matter of dialect. This may include attitudes about lifestyle and direction of the nation as well. The matter comes down to the struggle for Welsh identity in the face of agressive anglicisation. And that's the bottom line: the Welsh COULD successfully support themselves, but will have difficulty doing so until two things happen. One, Wales must obtain full autonomy from England. This autonomy is framed in terms of "freedom" rather than "independence", much after the manner of Scotland. And two, Wales must regain a sense of pride in herself as a unified entity.

Theresa
> I have been asked by a reader of this message board: "Could Wales do without England?" I post my reply below to try to find out the opinions of other readers. Let me say that I am not anti English - I am only anti the English rule of Wales. Now in answer to your questions:
> First, do I think that Wales could survive without England?
> Yes, I have no doubt whatsoever that Wales could be very prosperous without England - if only we could get the English government off our backs!! It is a falacy put about by the system of English government that Wales could not survive when it is actually a direct result of English rule that Wales is in the position it's in today.
> Wales has been blessed with enormous reserves of mineral wealth. Wales supplied much the fossil fuel used for the industrial revolution over the past two hundred and fifty years. During the industrial revolution Cardiff was the largest coal exporting port in the World, Swansea was the largest copper exporting port in the world. Wales supplied the bulk of the world's tinplate, steel and aluminium; not for a short period but for generations. Contrast this with the wealth of the middle eastern countries who have been exporting oil for a mere 60 years or so. The difference is that they were not colonised, and they had control of their own country's wealth. The abundance of Wales was squandered by the English government in feathering the nests of the gentry of the south east of England while the country that produced that wealth remained colonised and poor. What could Wales be like if it only had the opportunity to invest in itself instead of having its wealth plundered. The Welsh are fed the line that it couldn't survive without England. I would make the point that it is despite the attempts of England to delete Wales it has still been strong enough to survive. Give us the opportunity and we will show the World what we can do!
> During the time when Wales was being cruelly culturaly and financially raped there were two universities founded in Wales; one at Bangor and one at Aberystwyth. Was it the benevolent government of England that gave these universities to raise the state of Wales? No chance. The miners and steel workers of Wales - some of the poorest workers in Europe saved tiny amounts of money despite being impoverished and set up these universities themselves so that future generations of Welsh children would get the education they deserved. Can Wales do without England? YES WE CAN. The rule of Wales by England has been cruel and secretive.
> I believe it is only because the truly great history of Wales has largely been deleted from the history books for the convenience of the English government that Wales lacks the confidence to demand that she rule herself. That is why I implore and encourage the people of Wales to get out and find their real history. It will make them proud. Around the tenth century it was written by many European travellers that Wales was a model of advanced culture in Europe, with fine literature and poetry. Do you realise that at the time of the Norman invasion hardly any Norman leaders - let alone the peasantry - could read or write in their own language. In Wales at that time almost everyone was able to read and write, even the commoners.
> To your second question. Why do you not hear much about Wales as a destination in travel shops outside of Wales and overseas.
> I once asked this question of the Welsh tourist board whom I accused of doing a shabby job because hardly anyone I was coming across on my travels had heard of Wales or at best (worst?) thought that it was merely a part of England !!!!!!
> In their reply to me the Tourist Board stated that they were funded not by Wales but that the Tourist Board of ENGLAND allocated some funds to them!! This was the arrangement under the English government. So as a result the Welsh tourist board got very little money to promote Wales overseas and the English tourist board made damn sure that they got the lions share of the money. How frustrating and sad is that????? Could Wales manage without England? It surely could.
> Et futue te ipsum !
> Owain