Sunday was the day “Silent Catalonia” finally found its voice. After months of looking on as separatist forces dominated public debate, the majority of Catalans who oppose independence from Spain took back the streets of Barcelona, reports The Guardian.
According to the Guardian, secessionist leader and Catalan's President Carles Pugdemont’s party and its allies have consistently failed to win majority support. In both the disrupted 1 October referendum and an earlier, non-binding vote in 2014, the percentage of voters backing independence was
in the low to mid 40s.
Given the current mood in Barcelona, fresh elections could result in the pro-independence coalition losing control of the Catalan assembly, says The Guardian.
Meanwhile, Puigdemont’s evolving narrative portrays the crisis as a fight to uphold universal principles.
In his speech on Saturday night rejecting the move of Spain's President Rajoy to take back full control of Catalan, he purposefully pitched his remarks at a Europe-wide audience.
Speaking in English, Puigdemont went over the heads of EU governments, appealing directly to the “citizens of Europe”. The independence struggle was less a local rebellion and more an exemplary defense of shared democratic values, including self-determination, as embodied in the European charter of fundamental rights, he said.
But there is little discussion of what a secession would lead to for the Catalonian people and greater Europe. The Guardian provides a clue:
There is also an important ideological aspect to the battle for Catalonia.
Puigdemont’s ruling coalition has a strong leftist bent, influenced by the hardline, anti-capitalist CUP party. If he can successfully portray the crisis as a fight against the repressive authoritarianism of an uncaring rightwing establishment elite – his view of Rajoy’s conservative People’s party – Puigdemont could yet emerge as a Corbyn-max standard bearer for radical [leftist] European renewal.Bottom line, secession is a tool. It can be used for good or bad. In this case, a Puigdemon-led secession is very bad.
-RW
Perhaps Robert needs to revisit Hoppe...
ReplyDelete"Even if as a result of a secessionist tendency a new government, whether
democratic or not, should spring up, territorially smaller governments
and increased political competition will tend to encourage moderation
as regards exploitation." (Democracy: The God that Failed)
...and Hoppe's entire chapter on secession in the above mentioned book.
...and Hoppe's entire chapter on secession in David Gordon's edited "Secession, State and Liberty."
We do not need a libertarian litmus test to judge the value of secessionist movements. Secession and decentralization in and of themselves can be supported as they tend to encourage, over time, more liberal(in the classical sense) policies and peaceful societies.
Why would someone in SF care what the Catalans do? Hilarious mental busybodying if you ask me.
We can't get to 1000, 1 million or 7 billion secessions without the next ONE, right in front of us.
Bob, would you agree that, even though you think they shouldn't and it will result in a negative outcome if they do, Catalans have the right to secede?
ReplyDeleteJustin Raimondo weighs in:
ReplyDeleteGetting It Right On Catalonia
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2017/10/22/getting-right-catalonia/
Secede!