the BBC<\/a>\u2018s report. \u00a0In the same way as the referendum had an overwhelming majority in favor, but low participation, so, too, there were 70 yeses, 10 noes, and 2 abstentions, but there were 53 other legislators out of the 135 members who boycotted the vote entirely. \u00a0Supporters say that independence is the only way to preserve Catalan language and culture.\u00a0The Spanish government has reacted swiftly: \u00a0the upper house voted almost immediately to\u00a0impose direct rule on the region, which had operated semi-autonomously.<\/p>\nNow, presumably, this independence bid will be squashed pretty quickly, and I don\u2019t think there\u2019s enough determination on the part of the Catalans to actually go to war, or even put their economy at risk. \u00a0I presume that they don\u2019t feel so mistreated by the Spanish government as to be willing to make particularly many sacrifices. \u00a0(Though, at the same time, one could make the case that the American revolutionary leaders\u2019 list of complaints was not really all that long, in the grand scheme of things, either.) \u00a0But in a democracy, is the central government acting unjustly in rejecting this bid for independence, if this is truly the will of the people?<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s about all I have to say; this post is primarily an invitation for readers to get on their own soapboxes in the comments.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Image: \u00a0https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ACatalan_National_Day.png; By Ivan McClellan (Flickr: Catalan National Day) [CC BY 2.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Actually, this is something about which I have no strong opinion. The Catalonian parliament has declared independence from Spain. \u00a0Here\u2019s the BBC\u2018s report. \u00a0In the same way as the referendum had an overwhelming majority in favor, but low participation, so, too, there were 70 yeses, 10 noes, and 2 abstentions, but there were 53 other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":7570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[764,767,766,765],"class_list":["post-7569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-catalonia","tag-janetheactuary","tag-secessionist-movements","tag-spain"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/p>\n