If You Want to Understand the Next 10 Years, Study Spain

Some of you may be confused as to why a U.S. citizen living in Colorado has become so completely obsessed with what’s going on in Spain. Bear with me, there’s a method to my madness.

I believe what’s currently happening in Spain represents a crucial microcosm for what we’ll see sweep across the entire planet over the next ten years. Some of you will want to have a discussion about who’s right and who’s wrong in this particular affair, but that’s besides the point. It doesn’t matter which side you favor, what matters is that Madrid/Catalonia is an example of the forces of centralization duking it out with forces of decentralization.

Madrid represents the nation-state as we know it, with its leaders claiming Spain is forever indivisible according to the constitution. Madrid has essentially proclaimed there’s no possible avenue to independence from a centralized Spain even if various regions decide in large number they wish to be independent. This sort of attitude will be seen as unacceptable and primitive by increasingly large numbers of humans in the years ahead. Catalonia should be seen as a canary in the coal mine. The forces of decentralization are rising, but entrenched centralized institutions and the bureaucrats running them will become increasingly terrified, panicked and oppressive.

As I’ve discussed, this isn’t coming out of nowhere. Humanity’s current established centralized institutions and nation-states have become clownishly corrupt, merely existing to protect and enrich the powerful/connected as opposed to benefiting the population at large. As such, legitimacy has been shattered and people have begun to demand a new way. Whether we see this with the rising popularity of Bitcoin, or the UK decision to leave the EU, evidence is everywhere and we’ve already passed the point of no return. This is precisely why EU leaders are rallying around Madrid. They’re scared to death and fear they might be next. They’re probably right.

Before we continue, I want to revisit something I pointed out in last week’s post, Surprisingly, I’m Quite Optimistic About the Future:

Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll see sufficient change in this regard without hardship. This hardship is likely to occur as the old paradigm becomes more authoritarian and paranoid as it lashes out in an attempt to solidify and expand control. Of course, we’re already seeing this all around us, but it’s likely to get even worse in the years ahead. Don’t be afraid of it, understand that it’s coming and accept that this is all part of the change process. Did you really think control-freak authoritarians would give up without a fight?

If you want to see how a control-freak authoritarian responds to a situation, just look at how Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy has responded to Catalonia. People like him simply can’t help themselves, it’s in their nature and all they know is the fist of violence. As I noted in last week’s post on the topic, those in favor of Catalan independence have thus far played the situation flawlessly. For this to turn out positively for the forces of decentralization, the Spanish authorities must be encouraged to act increasingly thuggish, which will in turn bolster more and more popular support for independence. This has already started to happen, and will likely accelerate in the weeks ahead as Rajoy is about to make the biggest mistake of all by activating Article 155.

It’s really important to understand how irresponsibly aggressive Madrid is about to become before moving on. Here’s some background courtesy of Bloomberg:

Rajoy on Saturday shocked many observers with plans to clear out the entire separatist administration in Barcelona and take control of key institutions including public media and the regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra. Spain’s chief prosecutor said that if Puigdemont declares independence he would face as much as 30 years in jail and signaled that he could be arrested immediately.

“Catalan government officials and many within the Mossos and Catalan media are not just going to stand down without a fight,” said Caroline Gray, a lecturer in politics and Spanish at Aston University in the U.K. who specializes in nationalist movements. “The big question for me, really, is how Madrid is actually going to implement its proposed actions in Catalonia.”

Rajoy is wielding the untested powers of Article 155 of Spain’s 1978 Constitution to try to impose central government control on Catalonia. The aim ultimately is to trigger regional elections within six months.

Madrid is making a mistake of enormous historical significance here. First, you don’t need to be a genius to see that him forcibly taking over control over key aspects of Catalan civil society will only make the independence movement grow in strength, passion and numbers. Second, does Rajoy really think he’s going to be able to make this happen without enormous amounts of civil unrest? Not a chance.

Here’s some of what’s already being planned, according to Bloomberg:

Catalan separatists are mobilizing a human shield to block efforts by the Spanish authorities to take control of the breakaway region as both sides prepare to escalate the political conflict.

Groups will concentrate their activists around the regional government’s headquarters in Barcelona’s Gothic quarter and the nearby parliament building, according to two people familiar with the plans, asking not to be identified by name. They expect Spanish police to use force to try to shut down the administration and will put their bodies on the line, said one person.

“We are calling for a peaceful and democratic defense of the institutions,” Lluis Corominas, the leader of the main separatist group in the Catalan Parliament, said at a press conference in Barcelona. Regional President Carles Puigdemont has called for similar action.

The separatists have shown they can rally support. A crowd estimated by local police at around 450,000 joined him to protest in central Barcelona after Rajoy announced his plans. CUP, a pro-secessionist party, on Monday called for mass civil disobedience in Catalonia, Ara newspaper reported.

The keys dates this week will be on Thursday and Friday. Thursday’s when the Catalan assembly is set to meet to prepare a response to Spain taking over the region by force. Friday is when Spain’s national Senate will vote to implement direct rule. In my opinion, it would be a big mistake for the Catalan government to declare independence at this stage. Madrid needs to continue to be seen as the unreasonable aggressor, which is what will happen if article 155 is activated Friday. For Catalonia to succeed, the public must become even more outraged than it already is. Any attempt by Madrid at taking over Catalan civil society by force will achieve this in spades.

If I’m correct in my forecast, the entire world will be looking at similar forces of decentralization battling it out with discredited, entrenched centralized power structures over the next decade or so. I think this will result in virtually all of our current institutions collapsing and being replaced by a completely different paradigm. In my view, the new paradigm will be increasingly defined by decentralized structures. Terms like “peer-to-peer,” “distributed” and “direct democracy” will become increasingly ubiquitous as we begin to lay down the foundations for a far less top-down, centralized and authoritarian approach to human affairs.

This isn’t to say the process will be easy or smooth, but that’s where I think all of this is headed. The struggle between Madrid and Catalonia represents a high-profile and early example of this struggle and those of us who wish for a more decentralized world need to pay very close attention since many lessons can be learned from this historic crisis.

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In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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62 thoughts on “If You Want to Understand the Next 10 Years, Study Spain”

    • Hi mate. I’m sorry but you are getting all this situation completely wrong. It is so astonishing that international press is that far from reality… I’m going to give you true impartial facts: 1) when you get decentralization you get twice the amount of politicians. 2) Corruption is not in the nature of a politic party, it is in the nature of the human bein, the politician. Please apply point number 2 to point number 1.

      Second thing (you can skip this one if you think it is partial). The situation of Spain is not about centralization vs decentralization. It is about that real numbers say that proindependence population is between 35-48% of Catalonia population, but they are noisier. This is about defending the rights of the 52-65% of catalans that do want to remain a part of Spain and don’t want to take the route to self destruction.

      There are many arguments I could give you but honestly I don’t pretend to “sell” you my s###t, I’m sure you are clever enough to find it. But after seing how far is international media from the truth in Spain I started wondering how far can I be sometimes from the reality of other countries just because media, in general, sucks. I hardly read newspapers nowadays. I take people’s versions and after thinking about them with a critic mind you start seing who is telling the truth and who is manipulating the facts.

  1. We all warm to an underdog, but a point to consider: Maybe only 40 years into their democracy, the Spanish as a nation and a majority of Catalans, actually don’t want a revolution.

    As history has proven, democracy is the best example of a really bad idea, and the only way for a people to express itself is behind a politician. So here we are, Madrid central power is certainly clownishly corrupt as you say, and clearly acting in its own interests, very unstatesmanlike and unimaginative, not loved by millions. But support within Spain for the PP seems to not be waning.

    Reply
    • Despite what Spanish media keeps proclaiming, there are 2,5 milion Catalans who would vote Yes on a secession referendum. Unionist parties have never reached 2 milion votes (1,8mm in last regional elections with 77% turnout).

    • So,the Catalan people should not rule themselves,correct?
      Rather,they should allow themselves to be governed by political stooges of the EU which is a front for the NWO Central Bankers who are looting the world with their financial Pyramid Swindle,is that what is being prompted?
      The European Peoples signed on for prosperity but instead are getting austerity as they watch the Euro sink like a rock,and all with the help of the thieves in Madrid.

  2. Catalonia was also the canary in the coal mine for fascism (Spanish pre-Civil War years), and in 1714 fighting for parliamentarism against absolutism. We have a bad habit of losing our fights and then seeing everyone else win theirs and leave us behind. But hey, whatever. *sigh*

    Reply
    • Catalonia, as a whole, was did not fought in 1714 for parliamentarism against absolutims, Rather, some people in that region supported the Austria against the Borbons in the dispute for fiding a sucessor to the late Charles II, Barcelona itself changed its support two times during the war. That was somehow an european-wide war for the crown of one of a major european potency. In no case was a secession war, it was a sucession war.

      The fihgt of “Catalonia” aginst fascism is another myth. There were catalans fighting in both parts. Considering the Spanish Civil War just a fihgt between fascism and democracy is, just, a simple infantiloid view. It was, at the best, a fihgt between fascism and soviet comunism.

  3. Even if Catalonia became independent tomorrow nothing would truly change for the better. Why?
    1. The elites behind the the movement just like the scottish independence movement are corrupt and they just want more power for their own cabal group.
    2. The reason why they would not change anything better for the catalonian people is that they do not intend to leave the truly corrupt EU and NATO which are part of the NWO and Globalization.

    Actually, Leaving Spain would disintegrate the Nation state more rapidly in the long run, something that globalists would benefit from.(Globalism=no borders, no truly nation states.

    The Only way that people in spain can achieve real freedom, is to leave the EU and NATO, and go back to being a real sovereign nation.

    I suggest people read Takis Fotopoulos Book “The New World Order In Action Vol. 1: Globalization, the Brexit Revolution and the “Left”

    http://inclusivedemocracy.org/fotopoulos/english/brbooks/The_New_World_Order_In_Action_2016/The_New_World_Order_In_Action.htm

    Reply
    • As much as I tried to make it clear that I believe Spain should not be seen in isolation, perhaps I need to clarify it even further.

      Spain is just the leading edge of battles I believe will be fought all over the world, and not just in the political sphere, but in all aspects of life between the forces of centralization and decentralization.

      Further, I believe the world 25 years from now will look absolutely nothing like it does today and will be far more decentralized. As such, while I agree Catalonia becoming independent if the rest of the world stays the same wouldn’t be a huge deal, but that’s not what I see happening. The EU will crumble upon itself and disintegrate just as most powerful institutions we assume will be around forever will also do.

      Of course, I could be totally wrong, but that is my forecast. I’m not talking about small changes I’m talking about the world being almost completely unrecognizable in a couple of decades, and I think the changes will be generally for the better.

    • Dimitri- I agree 100% that the elites behind the independence movement are looking to enrich themselves.

      But here’s the real kicker. The EU is already a dead man walking. So something along these lines was going to happen sooner or later, and later is getting sooner, if you get my drift.

      Despite all of their “Braveheart” bravado, the Scots didn’t want to be independent from Mother England. But at least they got to really vote in an orderly and peaceful manner. That has not happened in Catalonia.

    • Dimitri I agree with you in many respects, but one. EU and Nato have been horrible to Greece (are you greek?), I agree, but we Catalan would be better outside Spain. I believe we would probably be better off if were not part of Europe either. And yes I am in favor of “denationalization” of Spain and probably other states that make Europe a non democratic union of States. A Europe of smaller states would work a lot better. And I believe might be more democratic.

  4. Author L. Neil Smith opined that “Voting will be outlawed if it really threatens to change anything.” Those in power are not about to give up that power easily. If your right the next 25 years or so is going to be a VERY BUMPY RIDE.

    Reply
    • Michael, I think your timeline may be optimistic. Never underestimate the ability of the PTB to kick the can down the road. Look how long they’ve staved off the inevitable next major credit crisis.

  5. Do you know and understand anything about Macroeconomics, specifically Modern Monetary Theory,and Monetarily sovereign Nations such the US,the UK,Japan,China and Australia,and how currency really works? Because in your case it would be good to know. #LearnMMT

    Reply
  6. If anyone wants to see a blueprint of how this turns out, just review what came out of the Protestant Reformation of the corruption of Holy Mother Church. These upheavals are periodic fevers that are humanity’s way to cleanse itself of the disease of centralized corruption, oppression and negativity that infects all sufficiently over-organized institutions.

    It was the church then. Later, government–or political theory of government–reformed the excesses of the corporate sphere. Now, government itself is the bloated, rotting parasite that needs to expelled. The wheel turns, and it is the current model of governing institutions’ turn to be sent to the trash bin of history.

    I agree 100% that humanity is going to have a rocky road to travel to get there but it is an undeniable historical imperative that is being fulfilled. What we have been resigned to as inevitable will soon be seen to be unacceptable. It is already tottering…it is a one-way trip for these institutions as we have come to know them.

    Good bye and good riddance. It is time for humanity to grow up, and to give up the mirage of need for the Great Man to lead us. That road has very nearly brought us to ruin. It is well past time to take another road.

    Reply
  7. Surprised to see that a U.S. citizen living in Colorado but obsessed with what’s going on in Spain doesn’t know that Spain is already one of the most decentralized countries in the world, and is not investigating further in an attempt to find the actual forces behind this illegal and supremacist separatist movement.

    Reply
    • I was going to comment along these same lines. Genobebo hit a major flaw in the author’s thesis. Maybe the author should wonder why this is happening in such a decentralized nation-country.
      Actually, imho “centralized” power in Spain represents, even in the hands of Mariano Rajoy, totally the oppossite;: a struggle for the prevalence of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
      We Spaniards endured one of the worst ever civil wars. Most of us consider our current constitution (1978) the end of such war and the beginning of a new period of reconciliation which, despite corruption and many other problems that siege our young democracy, has also brought prosperity and development in these last 40 years. Moreover, grandparents dying nowadays are the first to have lived a full life without wars. Our democracy was strong enough to respond to basque terrorism only with the rule of law. Now we intend to do the same, a separatist movement.

      Yes, Rajoy bit the hook, sent police (following court orders) and gave separatists great chance to take a few ugly images and subsequently tell the world how oppresive the Spanish Central Government is. Well, as you are american and JFK is also well known by most around the world I’d like to remind you how he sent the National Guard to Alabama to protect first those few black students’ civil rights and subsequently the rights of all americans. had thay had to use the force they would have done it.

      Finally, let me correct you about another flaw in your argument. Most of us in Spain don’t want Catalonia to separate as we feel it part of our home. Much like you may feel New York City is part of yours or someone from Iowa may not like the thought of the Grand Canyon not being part of his.Yet, in the same line of what I said above, if the separatist and/or other political movements ever reached a qualified majority to change the definition of sovereignity (currently “we, the people” in Spain means the entire population, not portions of it) nothing would stop that change in the law and the consequences (independence of current regions) this may bring. Let me insist, Spain is a democracy. With all its flaws, with all its corruption with all its tensions. Indeed, ours is not the best around but it’s totally comparable to any other.

      I hope that, to your surprise and to a certain extent to mine as well, what is happening in Spain these days is going to give the world a lesson regarding the nature of how democracy has tools to fight against populism and demagogy. Just as the Spanish transition is a world model on how to peacefully go from an authoritative system to a democracy, the reaction of the nation-state Spain, backed by millions of citizens including several million catalans may become a great example of how modern democracies can handle the strikes of the iron fist of those interested in pushing for an unbalanced globalization where we, the citizens of the world, don’t count. The world globalizing and nothing can stop that. Our task as citizens is to humanize it.

      That said, I really liked your article and the comments. Have a nice day!

    • We are so decentralized that we can’t decide on opening and closing times of shops, we cannot decide that people who are poor cannot be left without electricity, we cannot have a special tax for keeping an empty house,…. there are 32 laws of the Catalan parliament , from 2012 , that have been cancelled by the Spanish Court. And do you know why? because before that, the Catalan Parliament only ruled on what Madrid permitted. Since 2012 the catalan Government have decided to follow the requests of Catalan people and Catalan representatives.

  8. Which I think is going to happen Michael. I see both Alaska and Hawaii going their own way. Since Texas when it was a republic had parts of 4 other states those states might join up with them as well. I expect that Montana, Wyoming and Idaho will leave and form a “Jefferson Republic” modeled after the beliefs of Thomas Jefferson. The final straw of then all of this happens IMHO is going to be when the federal government no longer provides any more tax money to the various states after the American dollar tanks because of the national debt. Sooner or later it’s going to happen and all the Fed Gov can do then is try to force the states back into the fold. But it will not have the money to do so.

    Reply
    • I can see Alaska wanting to leave due to its distance from the lower 48, vast geography & natural resources. Hawaii — despite the cool “Last In, First Out” battlecry — relies A LOT on the mainland: tourism, postal service, defense.

  9. It’s not a mistake to declare independence now. Otherwise, the spanish government wil destroy catalan institutions. They have finance controls now and catalonia would struggle in case of long battle

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  10. In the English Bible, Jesus says that in the last days, “nation shall rise against nation”. The literal Greek is, “ethnos against ethnos”. It’s coming.

    Reply
  11. “Humanity’s current established centralized institutions and nation-states have become clownishly corrupt, merely existing to protect and enrich the powerful/connected as opposed to benefiting the population at large.”

    This is true. In the United States 1% of the population controls at least 30% of the wealth and 10% of the population control at least 60% of the wealth.

    Six corporations (owned by the 1%) control almost all the Media in America. The 1% elite also controls Wall St, the Big banks, Big Pharma, Big oil, the MIC and Hollywood.

    Now Trump wants a tax cut for these super-rich individuals, at the expense of the American people.

    According to Speaker Ryan: “50% of Americans now live from paychecks to paychecks”, not counting the 45 million who are living on food stamps.

    How could all this happen to the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave? This is all explained below.

    When the American people realize that the Federal Reserve Bank (FED) is the biggest scam created in 1913, they will demand that it be nationalized and that the US Treasury starts to print US dollars, without any usury, to benefit the people of America. JFK tried and see what happened to him.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mejOviGyok

    If this fraudulent system is not changed, the US National Debt will soar to US$25 trillion by the time Trump leaves office in January 2021. If he is re-elected (Heavens forbid) the National Debt could soar to over US$30 trillion by the time he completes his second term.

    Then there is the unfunded long-term fiscal gap with respect to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare which was US$222 trillion in 2013. The money is gone. This is hard to believe? Watch this:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFdYT8OI6b0

    The author is right. There is now more reasons for fiscally prudent states to break away from the United States.

    Reply
  12. …….The typical American of right-wing “cowboy” mentality (“my F-150, my gun, my money”) being a nominalist, detests both formulations of “order”, cannot distinguish between the differing intentions behind them (slavery vs freedom), and basically shuts down in confusion and fear of being tricked.

    In so doing, these dupes fall victim to age old “divide and conquer” tactics of the Empire and are basically rendered a non-factor …..or worse (a battering ram against positive forces in the world) by virtue of their epistemological and cultural backwardness, as evidenced by their pathologically entrenched mental disability…..of which nominalism is a key component.

    So, working toward NO conscious particular “order” of either desirable or evil intent….such dupes by being a either a non-thinking non-factor OR an error-prone radical activist (racist, terrorist, religious fanatic or some other form of dementia) a rage-filled instrument of chaos and DIS-order become tools of the very New World Order of slavery and Empire they say they oppose.

    But they don’t know how to oppose it. Because they can’t think straight. Which muddleheadedness starts with being mesmerized and brainwashed by mere names of things (nominalism) rather than being more perceptive about the inner reality of things………..

    http://thesaker.is/whats-in-a-name/

    Reply
  13. Here’s the problem with that supposition, Arioch.

    There is no “typical American of right-wing “cowboy” mentality” anymore.

    That is a gross oversimplification of a much more complex social construct in America that has been emerging over the past 9 years since the “financial crisis” in 2008.

    In addition, it fails to grasp the intelligence and common sense of this “my F-150, my gun, my money” group that in reality has become much more aware that they’ve been had.

    So their awareness of that reality is actually greater than many people understand.

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  14. I should also add that they are also waking up to the fact that they got conned by Trump, the same way as a lot of people got conned by Obama.

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  15. Robert, that’s not the reason that Kennedy was murdered. Ten days before his assassination JFK ordered the CIA to release all of its UFO files to the USSR to help prove to them that those flying disks hovering over their military installations were not American spy planes. Shortly after that a internal CIA memo said that “Lancer” which was JFK’s code name is meddling in “their” affairs and that “they” couldn’t tolerate that no matter what the cost.

    Reply
    • But the USSR already knew about UFOs in the 1940s and 50s so it was not telling them anything new. This is a quote from the Daily Star:

      “Soviet-born UFO researcher and author Paul Stonehill told Daily Star Online: “The Soviets were shocked so many UFOs could penetrate their borders and basically just do what they wanted without any control from the Kremlin.

      “There were many more cases of direct encounters than in the United States, and anything which was flying over the Soviet Union was very interested in secret military installations.”

      If that was not the reason JFK was assassinated then it must have been his EO 11110 to print US Notes by the US Treasury backed by silver, and unlike the FRN, no interest was charged.

      About $4 billion of such notes were printed to challenge the Federal Reserve Note (FRN). That, according to Jim Marrs, sealed JFK’s fate a few months later in Dallas.

      In any case, why should the United States allow a private entity, owned by 8 private banking families, to issue its dollars and charging interest for it when the US Constitution clearly states that only the Congress can coin money? And why is that no president after JFK dared to stop this scam on the American people perpetrated by the Federal Reserve Bank, which is as federal as Federal Express?

  16. You are a silly guy. You do not know nothing at all nor about Spain neither about Catalonia. Probably you still belive in Santa Claus.

    It is a colour revolution. The question that arises is why just now and why in Spain.

    The only true you tell is: “If you want understand the next 10 years, study Spain”.

    Reply
  17. Julie, I’m trying to figure out why a self-proclaimed “former right wing activist” from Buffalo, living in Russia, would want California to secede?!

    BTW, if you could get me your contact info I would really like to purchase some of that off the charts chronic you and the other stoners at KQED are apparently smoking way too much of next time I’m in northern Cali.

    Thanks in advance,

    Your Friend.

    Don Genaro Flores

    P.S- Those crazy Russians are somethin’ ain’t they. I can see Bad Vlad right now chillin at the EnVy Lounge in Newport Beach drinking Iordanov on the rocks while he plucks the eyes out of live baby Sea Otters just for sport.

    Reply
  18. Hello my old friend. As you know our pupil Carlitos went over to the darker side towards the end.

    So I don’t take his calls anymore.

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    • Genaro you surprise me with your hatred towards us. Yes in Catalonia there has been corruption, mostly in the form of nepotism they granted good contracts to companies belonging to the family of the former president Pujol (who had 5 children) CONVERGENCIA i UNIO ; but it is also true that the corruption could only be stopped when the Spanish government decided to stop protecting the Pujol family; and that happened when the Pujol family became pro independence. We had often complained about that corruption, but all complaints and allegation had no follow up by Spanish judiciary.
      And it was small corruption if you compare with the Spanish Government.
      Spain has the most corrupt government in Europe. The present president himself is involved in serious corruption The corruption of the PP popular party in Spain is massive, and what is more, there have been more that 10 people who have died in mysterious circumstances in connection with the cases of corruption of the party. (For this reason they created Ciudadanos that is a new right wing party who is “clean”) What is more dramatic is that people continue supporting the Popular Party with their vote.

  19. One missed point: Catalonia is one of the richest regions in Spain. The independetist leaders just do not want to contribute to the developement of poorer regions in Spain. It is a selfish movement. It all began with the motto ‘Spain robes us’. It is the same issue as in Padania (ITA) some years ago. The richmen revolt.

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    • I happen to be half Catalan half Italian, from the Padania region. I happen also to be against the independence of the Padania and in favor of the independence of Catalonia. Why?
      At least two essential differences:
      The unification process in Italy was mostly a war against foreign occupation. Reunification started precisely in the Kingdom of Sardegna which is where the Padania is located. Reunification came as a revolutionary movement connected with the French revolution. In Italy I would understand a movement for independence of Sicily, Veneto or Trentino Alto Adige, or even Val d’Aosta which had an independent government before reunification and never actually wanted to be Italian. The Padania movement has to do with wanting to get rid of that part of Italy that cannot be easily improved, a getting rid of the poor. Italy at present has two capitals Rome and Milano. Milano is the capital of business. Moreover, actually Padania does not seriously want to be independent.

      The history of Spain is quite different. As I simplified the history of Italy I will simplify too: In Spain there were two reigns that formed a confederation each with separate laws. Those were Castlille and Catalonia (kingdom of Aragon, then) Castille imposed its laws over Catalonia (the Kigdom of Aragon) in 17014. Catalonia had by far a more progressive and democratic tradition which was undermined by the Castilian laws. An example is the fact that women could inherit and become land owners in case there was no male heir in Catalonia.
      Those laws were suppressed and Catalans have always fought to regain control of its sovereignty. Spain ever since has treated Catalonia as an occupied territory. Examples: Spain voted against the mediterranean corridor which aimed at connecting all the mediterranean coast, because it is not in the interest of Spain to have a prosperous Catalonia, instead all the money has been spent in building railroads that connect all the periphery to Madrid. Those trains that have costed a fortune run empty.
      Another example. Catalan is a widely spoken language in spite of the effort by Franco to suppress it. Yes Spanish is spoken, its an older language and we refuse to stop using it. Well in Spain all the attention is paid to Spanish and Catalan is diminished. The 4 languages of Spain ought to have same status, like they do in Switzerland.
      And you are right Catalonia is rich, it’s the second richest region in Spain, but after taxation it becomes the 5th richest region, that is, it is a lot poorer than the regions that are in theory poorer. Other regions have a lot better services than we do. Why? Because political economy of the Kingdom of Spain is directed at impoverishing and damaging us in order to make Madrid more powerful and other regions, not as rebellious, richer. They even boicot our manufactured goods.

      Imagine California after taxes becoming poorer that Arkansas? This is what happens to us.

  20. Excuse me but do you know anything about Spain. Spanish State is the most decentralized one in EU. The question here is not centralization versus decentralization, but nationalism against a legal system based on freedom and equality of all citizens under the laws. Freedom in Catalonia has vanished many years ago. Catalonia ruled by nationalists won`t be a free country, but a dictatorship. You’are going to check it very soon.

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    • Spain is not decentralized Susana, it is a fake decentralization. The proof is that they suppressed out government and put them all they could in jail. Imagine doing so in the US. Imagine Trump deciding to put in jail all California government because they threaten to become independent?
      Sorry I use California but I have lived there for quite while and it’s the only part of the States I know well.

  21. Dear citizens of Catalonia, If you are successful, please don’t reform as a Democracy. Reform as a Republic like the US. Then you have about 200 years as a cushion of time before the people can turn it into one.

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  22. It is amazing the sheer ignorance expressed on this queston – this article is a prime example of somebody who knows abosolutely nothing about the situation deciding to express his opinion. At first he pretends to be neutral but soon gives that up and then decides to side one hundred and ten per cent with the Catalan separatists – a minority in Catalonia. He criticises the Spanish government and all EU governments for being corrupt – for sure he knows absoluely nothing about the corrupton – MASSIVE – of the Convergencia party which has ruled Catalonia for decades For God’s sake man – if you know nothig about a subject then shut your mouth.

    Reply
    • “He criticises the Spanish government and all EU governments for being corrupt – for sure he knows absoluely nothing about the corrupton – MASSIVE – of the Convergencia party which has ruled Catalonia for decades”

      Partisanship and political parties always breed corruption, Martin.That’s because they are essentially gangs that attract gangsters.

      So are you saying that it’s OK if your side is corrupt?

    • We are not a minority in Catalonia, we are in Spain and an abused one. How do you explain that we should have a absolute majority in the government, and have won a referendum with a 90% majority?

  23. why should your readers trust your predictions? what’s your track record? how many erroneous formats have you made in the last 10 years?

    Reply
    • I’m not interested in convincing anyone that I’m worth listening to. That should be up to every individual to come to their own conclusion.

      I’ve had some very bad predictions when it comes to financial markets and gold, and I’ve had some very good predictions when it has come to Bitcoin and the 2016 election, forecasting that Trump would beat Hillary from the very beginning.

      Like anyone, I’m flawed and will be wrong plenty of times. I’m just sharing thoughts, I do not claim to be Nostradamus.

    • Hey, you’re the self-proclaimed “Xpert”.

      So how is your track record on predictions?

      After you provide that info, feel free to also share your predictions for the future.

      Personally, “I shiver with antici….pation”.

  24. I love your article about Catalonia, thank you for your deep insight. Our independence process has the traits described by the article and some others: in the first place it is not a nationalist movement, it is a movement away from nationalism, it is a process of denationalization from Spain. I was born from non Catalan parents I am 68 and I support it. I was never a nationalist, but feel asphyxiated by Spanish nationalism.
    It is also a bottom up movement. The government represent us. The did what we wanted.
    It is a transversal movement there is moderate conservative party, a social-democratic party and an anarchist party.
    It is altogether a challenge for the establishment.
    By the way the conservative party represents a productive bourgeoisie, more that 50% start ups in Spain are in Catalonia, small or middle workshops and land owners. I do not vote them but I respect them.
    Now our government is in jail. We must be more dangerous than we thought. Please help. Write to your representatives and ask for freedom for the Catalan government and Catalan popular leaders Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart. Thank you

    Reply
  25. Catalans are a repressed minority, this has to do with the following:

    – despise and lack of respect for the values and beliefs we hold. Despise and discrimination in regards to Catalan people. Most of those who are against our independence, simply feel we have no right to be different. We tend to be pacifist, we are humble we don’t like to show off, we are merchants and industrious (more than 50% of stat ups are in Catalonia and the smallest number of civil servants) , we love animals and hate cruelty towards them ( this is why we are against bullfighting). We have a very long tradition for democratic government and love for peace. Our first parliament dates the 1214 Parliament which limited the power of the king, in that Parliament the peaceful solution to conflict was called for. We are science and the arts lovers, especially music and design and architecture. Spain has other values: they are proud, great warriors (remember they conquered South and Central America and part of North America, and have specialized in extractive economy. I respect them. Why should they not accept me as I am?
    When we were voting on October 1st, illegally of course, old and young, men women, and even a dog, were beaten. They called that even use of force, when we were just trying to vote. Pulling a woman by the hair, squeezing a girl’s fingers and breasts, throwing a woman down the stairs, …
    Our democratic elected leaders have been arrested on November 2 and put in jail for carrying on our demands, demands that had not been declared illegal, by Spain. Their detention was humiliating and full of insults, women threatened of rape, men starved and deprived of clothes while insulted. And not granted basic justice, their lawyers were not informed of what they were being accused of. A lot of people in Spain and some in Catalonia are celebrating. Their slogan “go and get them”

    – minimize our numbers and importance. We wan the previous election with an absolute majority. The opposition was formed by a 20% of people who are partly in favor, some against independence. The people who opposed a referendum were approximately a 20%. So we are not a minority in Catalonia. And even if we were we would still deserve respect. In Catalonia there is a small region “Vall d’Aran” with a population of 2500 people appox. In Catalonia they are respected and granted their rights. Even if Catalans were not the majority in Catalonia, partly because big numbers of people from Spain come to work here, this is originally our land and it has been for centuries. And we are a majority because a lot of the people who have come to live in Catalonia have become part of us.

    – abuse us, by imposing a taxation system that discriminates our economy which is productive rather than extractive. People are almost exclusively taxed for what they produce, not for what they own. By making it difficult for us to hace access to grants, posts in the administration, and almost impossible to occupy important responsibilities of government in Spain. (there has never been a Catalan prime Minister, for example because people would not accept him/her).

    By the way Spain still celebrate the “conquest of the Americas” on October 12, and civil servants who do not want to celebrate risk being arrested.

    Reply
  26. perahsp the underlyign truth most people don’t want to accept is that in the long run, there is only one real vote that a human being can cast, and that is the vote that is accomplished by using whatever means he has to violently destroy the system he opposes.

    mike, youre on here all the time talking against violence. if violence is so wrong, why is history so full of violence?

    is the unaccepted truth that socially organized violence is a necessary reality for human beings to vote their conscience? is it all the politically correct bullshit that steers us away from accepting violence?

    was it not jefferson that said the tree of liberty must be watered with blood now and then?

    if you are unwilling to defend against corruption with violence, then it is as if you are silently approving of a series of continued thefts of property, of all the social property represented by the goods that are brough to us via the social contract.

    if not for violence and revolt, perhaps the entire world would be one giant slave factory?

    Reply

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