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by Michael Krieger
October 17,
2017
from
LibertyBlitzkrieg Website
While I've touched on the
Catalan independence movement in several recent posts, I want to
make one thing clear from the start.
I don't have a strong
opinion on whether or not independence is the right move for the
region and its people. It would be completely inappropriate for me,
a U.S. citizen living in Colorado, to lecture people 5,000 miles
away on how they should organize their political lives.
While I don't have an opinion on how Catalans should vote, I
unwaveringly support their right to decide the issue for themselves.
When it comes to the
issue of voting and referendums, we've entered a topic far bigger
than Catalonia, Spain, or even Europe itself. When it comes to the
issue of political self-determination, we're talking about an
essential human right which should be seen as inherent to all of us,
everywhere.
The Catalan push for a right for vote on independence should be seen
as part of a much larger push toward greater self-determination that
humans will demand in increasingly large numbers in the years ahead.
The time is ripe for us
as a species to insist on a transition toward a more voluntary,
sane, peaceful and decentralized process of political organization.
This is an idea whose time has come, and I thank the Catalan people
from the bottom of my heart for brining it to the fore, and also for
conducting themselves in such a noble, courageous and thoughtful
manner.
You are leading the way
for the rest of us.
The key reason Madrid is wrong on this issue relates to its
insistence
that Spain must sustain itself in its current form
forever.
Since Spain is a manmade political creation, this is the
modern equivalent of claiming a "divine right of kings," but rather
than bestowing this archaic conception on individual rulers, it's
bestowed upon a nation-state.
This is not just an
absurd position, it's patently anti-human.
As discussed in the
post, 'It's
Time to Question the Modern Nation-State Model of Governance':
As things stand
today, humans essentially have two choices when it comes to
political life:
The only way to
really shatter existing political power structures and form new
ones is through violent revolution or war, which is an insane
way of reorganizing matters of human governance.
One of Spanish Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy's key arguments in casting the Catalan
referendum as illegal is that Spain is an indivisible nation
under the 1978 constitution.
Let's think about what this means
in practice...
Anyone who's spent any time in Spain understands how culturally
and linguistically distinct many of the regions are when
compared to Madrid.
These are differences
that go back centuries and can't be brushed off by a
constitution created a few decades ago.
The idea that these
various regions must be part of a centralized Spain even if the
people within the regions want political autonomy is ethically
preposterous, as well as authoritarian and evil in every sense
of the word.
If done properly,
human governance should always be a voluntary arrangement. If an
overwhelming majority of culturally distinct people within any
nation-state decide the super state is no longer working for
them, they should have every right to leave.
Anything else is
bondage...
If humans are going to
evolve into better forms of political organization rooted in
voluntary associations, we must first reject the clear authoritarian
nature of our current political environments.
All of us are randomly
born into nation-states which we never chose in the first place and
told to accept them as eternal structures.
The people of Catalonia
have realized the absurdity of this and are taking a brave stand on
the issue. Anyone who genuinely believes in human rights must stand
with the people of Catalonia and support their right to a referendum
should they choose to have one.
With political philosophy out of the way, I want to move on to a
discussion of strategy and why I think those leading the push for
Catalan independence have played their hand brilliantly thus far.
First, leadership's emphasis on a peaceful movement in the face of
thuggish violence and aggression by the Spanish state is of the
utmost importance. For an independence movement to succeed and
create a better, more free society afterwards, things must be done
in a conscious way.
As I've said many times
before, ends never justify the means. The means are everything...
Moreover, by exposing the
opposition as goons, you foster increased solidarity amongst your
neighbors who may have been on the fence when it comes to
independence. You also create passionate allies across the world.
The Catalan people have
succeeded remarkably on all these fronts.
Immediately following the October 1st referendum, I was
concerned that Catalan President Carles Puigdemont would make
a mistake by prematurely declaring independence.
This would've been
a huge error since while 90% voted for independence, only 40% or so
voted.
While such a lopsided
result certainly makes the case that Catalans deserve a vote for
self-determination, it's not a clear mandate given the low turnout.
If the people of Catalonia want to succeed in their push, Madrid
must be seen as the unreasonable - and very public - aggressor in
virtually every move on the chessboard.
By not prematurely
declaring independence Catalonia pushed the move back into Madrid's
court, which is wise since the government there has a habit of
making really stupid decisions.
Unsurprisingly, it didn't take long for Spain to make yet another
blunder with yesterday's imprisonment without bail of two of
Catalonia's independence leaders.
Reuters
reported:
Spain's biggest
political crisis in decades worsened on Monday night when
Madrid's High Court jailed the heads of Catalonia's two main
separatist groups pending an investigation for alleged sedition.
The Catalan government accused Madrid of taking "political
prisoners" and one of the groups has called for peaceful
demonstrations around Catalonia on Tuesday, with the biggest
expected to begin in Barcelona in the evening.
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, in a tweet following the
detentions, said:
"Sadly, we have political prisoners again."
The phrase was an allusion to the military
dictatorship under
Francisco Franco, when Catalan culture and language were
systematically suppressed.
It carries an emotional resonance
given fascism is still a living memory for many Spaniards.
Knowing that jail was a
possibility,
Omnium chief Jordi Cuixart had prerecorded a
video message.
It's short, powerful and
inspiring...
If you think you've seen enough, brace yourselves because it may get
far more chaotic in the days ahead.
If Spain's Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy goes through with his threat to invoke Article
155 on Thursday should Catalonia refuse to clarify its position on
independence (it won't), it'll be the equivalent of a political
nuclear bomb going off in Europe.
From
the AP:
Spain's deputy prime
minister says that Catalonia's leader didn't give an adequate
response in his letter about the region's independence and has
until Thursday to comply with the country's laws.
Carles Puigdemont's letter, issued two hours before a Monday
deadline, didn't clarify whether he in fact declared Catalonia's
independence from Spain. He called for talks with Spain's
government.
Spain's central government wanted a simple "yes" or "no" answer
from Puigdemont, something that Spanish Deputy Prime Minister
Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said that he didn't provide.
Saenz de Santamaria said in an address to reporters that,
"it
wasn't very difficult to say yes or no. That was the question
that was asked and the response shouldn't be complicated."
She said he has until Thursday morning to fall in line, or faces
the possibility of Spain activating Article 155 of the
Constitution which would allow the central government to take
over parts of Catalonia's self-governance.
Should the Spanish
government activate Article 155, it'll mark the culmination of a
perfectly played independence movement by the Catalans.
This isn't to say that
the road to independence, or more autonomy, will be smooth or easy
from that point forward, but it will create a sense of increased
solidarity amongst the Catalan people that wasn't as widespread
before October 1st.
Many of those who opposed
independence before, or were on the fence, will come around to
standing with their friends and neighbors in the face of
unacceptable aggression from Madrid.
The road may be a long one, but
invoking Article 155 will mark the beginning of the end for Madrid.
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, the issue of political
self-determination is much bigger than Catalonia and Madrid.
The
Catalan struggle represents just one battle in an overall human push
for freedom and voluntary associations. It's a fight in a much
larger war that absolutely must be won for liberty and progress to
blossom on this planet.
A battle between,
decentralization, freedom and voluntary action, against
centralization, authoritarianism and coercion.
You know where I stand...
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