The Good People of the Catalan
We begin today with where I ended yesterday. The failure of the business and political leaders of the major economies of the world to grasp how far out of touch they are with the citizens of their countries.
Yes they may be capable of ramming a new trade deal through a legislature. They might be able to wrangle enough votes to privatize another publicly owned asset. Privatize our water, our parks, our educational systems, and our post offices.
Scotland isn’t having it. The Catalan people of Spain are disgusted. I keep mentioning Quebec, although quiet of late they don’t care for Ottawa’s corporatists pillaging of their nations wealth.
Do you see? The Euro-zone is an incredible mess. Their austerity policies have fueled extremism. City of London has been at the center of fixing interest rates, currency exchange rates, laundering drug money, and skimming money off pensioners.
People on the edges of these empires are sick of it. Just maybe disconnecting from the globalization juggernaut and then negotiating their fair trade agreements not to City of London’s benefit but for the benefit of their citizens might just make sense.
The complicity of the media in all of this cannot be swept under the rug. The Financial Times has more in common with the City of London than the subscribers that read their paper. The manufacture of their opinions and point of view has been decoupled from the greater good of their country.
Our elite will push and get away with the looting until they no longer do. There is always an inflection point, invisible and unanticipated until it isn’t any longer. Pretending that there is a political stalemate when in fact all there is a lack of will doesn’t wash any longer.
Scotland message is simple. If you will not do what is right then we will secede and perhaps within the context of a smaller more governable entity we can.
The world wants an equitable distribution of capitalisms benefits. Climate change needs to be addressed. Our nation-states are mere shells of faux-virtue and patriotism. There is no secret here. The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States have been colluding. Most apparent is the corporatists bribing and buying anything not nailed down by the popular opinion of its people.
I am sympathetic to how a big city is run by a mayor. The worlds mega cities have more in common with one another than they do with the countries they are in. They are operated efficiently. Health care, education and public transportation issues are resolved their practically. Solutions are not framed ideologically. Fixing a sewer is not a socialist democracy run amok. It is the answer to what the people are concerned about.
What is stunning is how rampant this rot has become, how extensive and vast it has spread. Arranging the world for Wall Street, City of London and Hong Kong to flourish while the rest of the world is pillaged is fast hitting the wall of public opinion.
We owe Scotland a debt of gratitude for providing the world with this wake-up call.
