“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” Samuel Johnson wrote in the 18th century and unfortunately history keeps justifying this early political essayist. During the last few days, the Catalan separatists and the Iraqi Kurds held referendums to declare national independence, which were not at all needed. Both regions have as much self-governance as […]A jingoistic Spanish ‘war’ from the past
October 5, 2017 by Leave a Comment
“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” Samuel Johnson wrote in the 18th century and unfortunately history keeps justifying this early political essayist. During the last few days, the Catalan separatists and the Iraqi Kurds held referendums to declare national independence, which were not at all needed. Both regions have as much self-governance as […]Catalonia’s vote for independence and the power of symbols
November 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Although the polling has no legal force, the officers were all volunteers, and the election might be illegal, Catalans voted on 9 November. And the outcome was quite clear-cut. As expected the vote resulted in an overwhelming secessionist victory, with 80.7 percent of 2.25 million Catalans who participated in the referendum voting in favor of […]
