Scotland

Problemes amb internet tota la setmana m’ha impedit publicar un anàlisi calmat sobre lo que està passant avui a Escòcia, i així ara només faré aquestes 4 ratlles....

Comencem amb un contundent, Catalunya no és Escòcia i visa versa.

Parlant des de la distancia, i així potser m’equivoco, però tinc l’impressió que a Escòcia el tema de l’independéncia és top-down, o sigui un idea que bàsicament ve de “dalt” i després mou les masses. Crec que l’idea del referendum, encara que fos el somni per una minoria (?) de gent, rep la espenta gran bàsicament del partit SNP i sobretot del seu líder, el Alex Salmond. A les eleccions del 2011, el SNP va obtenir un 45% del vot però una majoria de diputats – 65 dels 129. Així van complir la seva promesa electoral i van posar en marxa el referendum – amb l’acord de Londres, ja que el govern britànic ha respectat la majoria democràtica. Des de llavors que han passat per mil debats civilitzats i la publicació de tot tipus d’informes sobre els pros i contres, i poc a poc, la gent s’ha anat sumant – fins arribar a avui, que ja deuen rondar el 50% a favor del Sí. 

També hi ha molt de motiu polític en la campanya del SNP. Pel que entenc, un dels arguments principals és que a Londres sovint surt un govern conservador (Tory) i ells mai voten conservador. Trobo que aquest argument fa aigües, perquè un cop independent, que pensen? Que Escocia mai tindrà politics de dretes ? Trobo que d’aquí xx anys els empresaris o conservadors escocesos muntaran el seu partit i serà un país “normal”, ple de dretes, d’esquerres, de gent bona i dolenta. No serà una utopia, sinó un país “normal”. 

A Catalunya està més que clar que és al reves. Un bottom-up moviment, on centenars de milers de persones, i entitats de base, han pressionat fins fer esclatar la política tradicional catalana i aconseguir que un grapat de partits, representant 2/3part del parlament han decidit organitzar un referendum. Però no està acceptat pel “Londres espanyol”, Madrid, ni s’ha pogut tenir cap mena de debat o campanya civilitzat. Una altra gran diferencia és que aquí els partits pro-referendum sí que son de dretes i esquerres i no passa res, ja que saben que tots cabran en el nou país.

Per que mirem a Escòcia, doncs? Crec que simplement per 2 motius; 1. enveja, que ells poden votar.  2. Si acaben votant Sí, obligarà la UE a pronunciar-se per fi sobre el futur de “nous” estats dins de la UE. Evidentment els acceptaran i així veurem més clar les mentides de Madrid.

Que votaria jo? Ni idea. No tinc prou informació ni he seguit el debat de prop, per saber com els anirà millor al futur. De vegades és millor poder portar endavant el teu país, però també sortir d’un gran (per mi) país com és el Regne Unit, pos, fa mal. Escocia no és Catalunya, però les diferencies entre Espanya i el Regne Unit encara són més grans. Catalunya no té res a pelar dins Espanya i hi ha mil motius per marxar, però és diferent allà, on la democracia encara funciona, relativament. Repeteixo, lo millor és que deciden els escocesos!

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Well, I was going to write a couple of well-thought-out posts on the Scotland vote, but we’ve been without internet for almost a week and the voting is already on us. So here’s just a quicky before the celebrations (?) start.

Catalonia is not Scotland, and visa versa. Yes, I know half of Catalonia is in Edinburgh tonight and the other half is home praying but I just thought I’d point out a couple of differences. Or at least the way I see it, though I could be wrong, being more than 500 miles away....

The Scottish independence process is basically a top-down movement. Although many Scots have probably dreamt of the idea of independence for years, I think the whole idea of actually going for it now comes from one party (or even one person, according to a buddy of mine), the Scottish National Party. The SNP won the 2011 elections with 45% of the vote but a majority of MPs (65 out of 129). So they carried out their campaign promise to organize a referendum, and the British government went along with it. It’s called democracy and is, apparently, the least bad political system known to man. Over the last couple of years, Scotland has been able to hold civilized debates and carry out Yes and No campaigns to ensure everyone has enough information to be able to make a decision. Little by little the Scottish govt seems to be winning and bringing more and more doubters over to its side, to the point where it is something like a 50/50 Yes/No split now, with the results coming out in a few hours.

Besides this, another point I think I’ve picked up on is that the Scottish process is a very political one. A chief argument seems to be; if they go independent they won’t have to put up with any more conservative governments (and will live in a left-wing utopia forever?). Personally, I think this is a weak point as I’m pretty sure that once a few years have gone by, a right-wing Scottish party will appear of course. 99% of “normal” countries in the world have both left and right-wing politics and I don’t see why Scotland will be, or should be, any different.

The Catalan process is as different as chalk and cheese. It’s definitely a grass-roots bottom-up movement where it’s the consistent force of hundreds of thousands of citizens which has forced the politicians in power to make a move. To the point that in just 4 years, we now have a 2/3 majority of MPs in favour of independence, and organizing a referendum. The “Spanish London”, Madrid, though, refuses to allow it and so any hope of a calm and collected debate and campaign is out of the question. Basically if it goes ahead, it will be a unilateral referendum, whatever the consequences...  Another difference is that here the pro-indy parties are from across the political spectrum; right-wingers, radical left, greens, republicans, you name it, they’re included!

So, what’s with the Scottish obsessions this week? 1. Envy. All we wanna do is vote too!

2. If Scotland does vote Yes, this will force the EU to explain whether “new” states will be allowed in the EU or not. Obviously they’ll say yes (can you imagine EU wanting to get rid of economically stable democratic countries?), so Madrid will just have to take another slap in the face!

And yours truly? What would I vote? No idea, I haven’t followed the question closely enough to be able to judge what’s for the best. Obviously I know the benefits of small countries governing themselves, but I also know that the United Kingdom is still a comparatively great country to belong to. Catalonia is not Scotland, but an even bigger difference can be found between Spain and the UK. I can see a thousand reasons for Catalonia to get the hell out of Spain, but the UK is different - it's a country where basic ideas like respect and democracy are still, relatively, intact, and maybe they can still get on together.... who knows? Let the Scots decide, is the best option... and may the most convincing arguments win!