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Separation Anxiety

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Catalunya and Euskadi (Basque Country) want to leave the dominion of the state of Spain. This is as well known as the time of day.

What is not as settled is the “why”.

There are of course your classic reasons:

The Basques pre-date God and speak a language so indecipherable and littered with enough X’s to seem like an adult fantasy video store curated by David Lynch. They were also treated pretty much like human garbage during the Spanish Civil War and the Franco Dictatorship.

The Catalans, are the only people to truly take team-building shenanigans seriously (castellers link), do all public education in Català, and have long had a culture entirely distinct from that of their neighbors in the Castillian west.

Yet somehow nationalism, which if ever a reasonable proposition has to be the case with these guys, isn’t the end of the argument.

Why?

Since these days, the economy is the only thing that exists (nationalism is just a FEELING, for god’s sakes!), you’ve got to appeal to the master when pleading your case. A good argument has got to make Dollars and SENSE. All three of the players here (Jordi, Igor, and José) know this.

The thing is both of these separatist units are economic powerhouses. This makes things a little more complicated (though some may pretend this isn’t the case).

I will dangerously skip over elaborating this statement (have at it readers) to get to the heart of matter. Indeed, the question practically raises itself:

tumblr_m4lv4zFXP71r2syj2o1_500Is Madrid’s Nacionalista claim for “Spanish” unity really a cultural-aesthetic call? Or is it about the economic relevance of these two Autonomous Communities?

A telling recent incident involves the recent bailout of the Autonomous Community of Catalunya by the central government in Madrid. The bailout came after Catalunya paid its taxes to Madrid only to receive a lesser proportion than their contribution in allotments, thus forcing a supposedly “humiliating” maneuvering for a handout

I have an easier time buying the Basque and Catalunyan claims for nationalism leading to separatism than the Spanish claim for nationalism leading to unity. After all, this notion of “Spanishness” has long been suspect. Though it cannot be entirely attributed to Franco, el generalissimo very much made this his main cultural modus operandi. Of course, part of this was the violent suppression of Catalunyan and Basque country. The history will be for another time though.

Just getting thoughts on the table. This may all be wrong. Or not.

About the Author

Benjamin Davidson is a junior concentrating in political theory, with an emphasis on the continental tradition. As far as a hometown is concerned, he grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida but currently calls Utah home. With regards to politics, he believes that it all begins with one's diet.

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