Red area: Catalonia (Wikipedia)
Posted on 09/14/2013 6:35:33 AM PDT by Kaslin
On Wednesday, 1.5 million Catalonians formed a 250 mile human chain demanding independence. It was an amazing display of peaceful but harden resolve to finally break away from Spain which has more or less held the region hostage for centuries. While the roots for secession run deep into history, this is a movement that's really comes to life only recently.
The reason is simple ... hard working people feel over-taxed, underrepresented and doomed in a system that rewards their neighbors for not working while taxing Catalonians. Protestors point out the region sends Madrid €16.0 billion more than it gets back in government spending. It's not unlike rich states or even rich counties and towns in the United States.
Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is an international hub of business, sports, and fun. Created by Charlemagne in the ninth century as a buffer between Muslim-controlled Spain and his Frankish empire, the city and later the surrounding region has always been stuck in the middle of power struggles.
Through it all, the people reinvented themselves and now they want freedom: economic freedom and freedom of self determination. The narrative around the world is attack the 1%, but the real causalities are successful people, not billionaires, but hard workers that sacrificed a lot, risked a lot and still keep at it to maintain and maybe edge even higher in life. They should be admired, but are scorned, which is fine until that envy is manifested into tax policy. It's not just Catalonia, it's Belgium, it's Italy, it's northern California.
Recently, a county in California voted to secede from the country and form its own perfect union. It's maybe not a big deal because of its improbability, but it's a mood sweeping the nation.
Cascadia
"The germ of a great, free, and independent empire on that side of our continent, and that liberty and self-government spreading from that as well as from this side, will insure their complete establishment over the whole." Thomas Jefferson congratulated John Jacob Astor for the creation of Fort Astoria. John Quincy Adams went on to call the Northwest region "the empire of Astoria" saying it was "destined by Divine Providence to be peopled by one nation" and later James Monroe chimed in that the entire region west of the Rockies would be an independent nation. This was the seeds of a proposed nation that would be called Cascadia and draw from British Columbia, Oregon, and parts of northern California, Idaho and Wyoming. Such a combination would cobble together 15 million people and produce a GDP of $675 billion.
A week ago, the governing board of Siskiyou county California voted 4-1 to secede, citing excessive regulations, restriction of right, and lack of representation, regionalism and the need for restoration of limited government. There are only 45,000 people in the county, which would have the same legal rights and representations as its former home of California with 38 million people. The county made the statement not unlike its kindred spirit in Catalonia; they're working too hard, paying too much taxes and only getting grief from their neighbors whose appetite for government largess can't be sated.
The 1% isn't going to fade into the background. In the aftermath of the 2008-2009 meltdown, people in New York used plain brown paper bags to disguise that they had shopped at high end retailers but that was a period of panic and turmoil-this is a period of greed. Around the world, lefty's governments (I include the United States) are creating a modern day land grab except the land, money and other assets are owned already by people that worked hard to attain them. They're not going out without a fight. A world without these people would be a disaster. It would be leaderless, directionless and chaotic.
I can see why Catalonians want their own nations where success is encouraged and celebrated, and if you are trying to keep up with the Jones you stay in school, work a second job and take risks.
wild-Catalan...
Too bad the US has gotten so discombobulated. This might be an opportunity to pick up a 51st state... if freedom minded Catalonians would be willing to swallow that. (They might not like that barbarian English, though. There is something about Catalan that is very charming.)
Such is the cancer of big cities in the US—the primary cancer module that sucks the life-blood from others.
It’s obvious that a political divorce is wanted by an increasing number of Americans. The problem, though, is that it would likely result in a lot of dead Americans.
We’ve seen in recent days that our congress is willing to consider starting a war so that dear leader can save face. Imagine what would be on the table if some bunch of uppity seceshers actually challenged their dominance.
Without looking at the source first, that’s in Spain, correct?
Yes, it’s in Spain.
I knew it, but wanted to make sure
Awesome! I wish there was a way to arm those people with everything they need.
This isn't 1861. The political and societal will to murder fellow citizens over a question of secession just isn't there.
Obama couldn't get Congress or the American people to go along with a 'pinprick' attack on a country known to harbor our avowed enemies, yet some here honestly believe he'd send B-52s to drop bombs on Texas if she decides to go it alone.
“...yet some here honestly believe he’d send B-52s to drop bombs on Texas if she decides to go it alone.”
Oh, that’s just crazy talk. I think we can all agree that B52s are not going to bomb Texas.
I might add, though, that I wouldn’t want to be living in Houston or Dallas if the seceshers start getting some traction. Unfortunate terrorist attacks can really put a crimp in your style.
Thanks Kaslin. Catalan and Basque separatist movements got started at least as far back as Franco.
Spain: Jihadists Threaten Catalonia over Burqa Ban
Gatestone Institute | September 13, 2013 | Soeren Kern
Posted on 09/14/2013 9:41:50 AM PDT by george76
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3066773/posts
Stephen Maturin would be pleased.
I wouldn't want to be a terrorist in Houston or Dallas if secession gets going here. When our 'inner Texan' comes to the surface.....well, let's just say it won't be pretty for anyone who threatens us.
The native language in Catalonia is not what we call Spanish (Castilian) but Catalan, which is also spoken in some nearby areas like the Balearic Islands, Andorra, and a small part of France. It is a Romance language, spoken by twice as many people as speak Danish.
“I might add, though, that I wouldn’t want to be living in Houston or Dallas if the seceshers start getting some traction. Unfortunate terrorist attacks can really put a crimp in your style.”
Hi RKBA! Should we sign you up for flight school so you can learn how to fly a plane into AT&T Stadium during the next sold-out Texans vs. Cowboys game?
“Hi RKBA! Should we sign you up for flight school so you can learn how to fly a plane into AT&T Stadium during the next sold-out Texans vs. Cowboys game?”
Good Lord! If there was an award for leaps of logic, you’d be the hands down winner.
Assuming that I should dignify a question like that with an answer, that would be a NO. And in case you didn’t get it the first time, here it is again: NO.
I like Texas. Why in God’s name would I want any harm to come to it? Did I indicate that I’m a mohammedan? Did I indicate that I wanted to see any Texans hurt or killed? Quite the contrary.
Interesting. I remember crossing over from France into Spain via the Mediterranean coast and trying to get directions from a local farmer. I spoke to him in French and Spanish, and the replies sounded familiar, but not the same in either language. We asked how many kilometers to such and such a point and I remember he said, "doe" -- not "deux" or "dos."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.