Catalans will vote tomorrow for a new parliament that may include a majority who favor secession from the Spanish state. The EU elites are making all efforts to prevent such a move, even though self-determination is a fundamental human right.
Catalans will vote tomorrow for a new parliament that may include a majority who favor secession from the Spanish state. The EU elites are making all efforts to prevent such a move, even though self-determination is a fundamental human right.
Catalans will vote tomorrow for a new parliament that may include a majority who favor secession from the Spanish state. The EU elites are making all efforts to prevent such a move, even though self-determination is a fundamental human right.
Hello everybody and thank you for tuning in to the Liberty Report.
With me today is Daniel McAdams.
Daniel, good to see you.
Dr. Paul, good morning.
Good.
There's a special vote coming up on Sunday and it's not in the United States.
It's a little state over there in Spain, but it's still very important.
Catalonia is having an election, but it's also going to serve as a referendum on whether or not the people of Catalonia would like to secede from the government of Spain.
What do you think of this?
Does this sound like a good deed, a good deal for them, or what do you think is going to happen?
Well, I tell you, the bureaucrats in the EU are not happy at all.
We remember how they lined up about Scottish independence, but they're furious.
David Cameron and Uncle America have already chimed in and said this is going to be a terrible thing if you do this.
They're warning them against it.
So the elites and the bureaucrats are not happy.
Well, you know, this debate has gone on for a long time.
You know, I think there was a bit of a debate like this a couple hundred years ago when a few colonists decided that they didn't like to be under the king.
And a lot of people are critical of us when we talk about secession and they always refer to what they see as very negative about the secession of the South.
And yet, what did we do?
The colonists seceded from the British.
It's separation.
It's independence.
So secede has become a negative word for a lot of people, but it's separation.
It's independence.
It's self-determination.
And we always give lip service to self-determination.
You know, Woodrow Wilson, we fought World War I, so everybody could have self-determination.
And yet, look at what's happened to the world since we fought World War I.
It's governments keep getting bigger and bigger.
You know, the United Nations and NATO and all these things, it's more and more government.
So maybe this is the opening salvo for the breaking up.
And with the turmoil in Europe right now, there's predictions and hope by some that the EU will break up.
We see this migration problem around the world, especially in Europe right now.
So maybe this whole notion is good.
So I'm really pooling for those who like independence because I believe self-determination is good.
But like you said, there will be people who are going to argue the case and put fear into the hearts and minds of these people and say, don't do it.
The world will come to an end if we separate ourselves from the central government.
Yeah, no more money.
You know, there is a lot of support among the population in Catalonia.
In November of 2014, they had kind of an informal referendum, so not scientific, of course, but it showed that 80% of those who participated were in favor of independence for Catalonia.
So even factoring in the possibility of skewing the numbers, that still shows some significant support.
You know, almost always secession movements and wars are fought over economic issues.
Even our revolution had to do with tariffs and abuse of taxation that the colonists were rebelling against.
But even under these conditions, Catalonia happens to be a very wealthy state.
They're 16% of the population, but 20% of the GDP.
And when you look at the map of Spain, it's just a small state up in the northeastern corner.
And so they're upset because they pay more taxes than they get.
We've heard that story before because every state in our country can't get back exactly what they put in.
All we know is, generally speaking, a lot is lost on the round trip.
And it makes no economic sense to send money to a bunch of bureaucrats who get to spend the money and think you're going to get it back.
Utterly amazing that people are surprised that it runs up deficits on that.
So it's a very inefficient way to have government.
But that's one of the things they're complaining about is the taxation by the central government.
Makes sense.
I was a little disappointed to see the Catholic Church had decided to wade into political waters on this.
The Spanish Catholic Church, that is.
Oh, yeah.
And, you know, the statement the church made was there was no moral justification for independence.
And I kept thinking, you know, in a spiritual sense, total independence of the individual is key.
But why isn't there total independence on social matters to make your own decision about your social life and your religious life and your economic life?
But for the church to come out and say that there's no moral justification, I think that's an overstretch.
And I don't know how universal you think that is within the church.
Well, it also goes against the whole Catholic principle of subsidiarity upon which the entire EU European project was based.
You know, this is the concept that government power should devolve into the most local level that can possibly manage it.
You know, subsidiarity is enshrined in the European idea.
This is one of the reasons why the great Catholic Audubon Habsburg was very involved in the early days of the EU.
And I think he probably became disillusioned later on when he found out that this idea of subsidiarity and these kinds of principles were thrown out the window.
But this is the original concept, and we have the church throwing it on its head.
And it's sovereignty they're talking about.
I like to talk about the sovereignty of the individual, and that really should be the ultimate goal.
Principle of Secession00:05:00
But around the world today, I mean, this is not Catalonia.
I mean, there are 22 significant areas in the world, and just in Europe, trying to break up these monoliths.
And I think this is really great.
And of course, you know, even in our hemisphere, they've talked in Quebec about separating.
So this is a significant movement.
And I'm hoping that this is a sort of a turning point where before it was always bigger and bigger and more control.
Just look at our history, how it went from independent states.
We were supposed to have an independent state.
If you read the Declaration of Independence, very clear, independent states is what we were supposed to have.
And then we end up with this monster in Washington.
So I'm hoping that this is a reversal movement in a different direction.
And what's going to help us on that is really the bankruptcy and the failure, the failure of government.
You know, the Soviet system failed economically, and their foreign policy collapsed because they couldn't afford it anymore.
And I think that's what could happen here.
When the federal government fails right now, how many more people can they bail out?
Are they going to be able to bail out every Detroit that goes bankrupt?
Are they going to bail out Puerto Rico?
And what about all the pension funds that are underwater right now?
And the next crisis is really on our doorstep.
How long can they just print money to bail out their special friends?
I think people are going to wake up and talk about independence.
There's already people in Texas that talk about it, you know, about an independent state.
But I think I don't take a strong position on who should do what when when it comes to it, but I think it's vital that the principle of leaving a larger unit of government should be honored.
It should be the moral, that should be the moral principle that if you feel coerced and you're forced into an arrangement, it's no different than forcing an individual into some type of economic or social or sexual arrangement that they object to.
And I think people want smaller units of government, they ought to, but they ought to assume a responsibility.
Big problem is is when the government's still powerful and influential, has money.
Then they threaten.
You say, you know, if you mess around with us, we're going to take away all your money.
But what happens if they're bankrupt?
They can't do that.
So I think it would be a good sign that independence could be a powerful movement.
And they do use fear, particularly in Europe.
They use fear to coerce the people and to terrify them into thinking that they can't make any change.
But it strikes me as interesting how truly fragile the European experiment is.
If one little thing changes, then the whole thing comes down.
It doesn't seem like it was built on a house of rock.
But the other thing that Brussels does is they sponsor so many think tanks.
They're all government funded.
And these think tanks will come up with papers showing doom and gloom.
If you do this, doom and gloom.
And so it terrifies people.
So they're able to maintain their hold, stealing people's money to propagandize them.
You know, in a way, this issue of Catalonia should be a Spanish issue.
But it's interesting that others like Cameron and others have something to say about it because they know themselves that this message could spread.
You know, more people would like their independence.
More people would like their freedom back again and get rid of this monolith.
And, you know, quite frankly, if that ever occurred, I think we'd have a lot less wars too, because it's this big government syndrome and powerful economic interests, not only militarily, but financially, you know, through not only our Federal Reserve, but worldwide central banking and the financial system.
What do we do when we have a country that doesn't follow our directive?
We put on sanctions and we have control of the markets.
We say, well, all right, you can't use the banking system.
Well, someday is going to come along and the banking system is going to change.
There will either be a replacement or they will have to change their ways.
But I want to thank everybody today for tuning in to the Liberty Report.
And this is an interesting discussion about Catalonia's vote this Sunday.
Hopefully the people there will speak out and say independence is a good idea.
I think the principle of secession is a good principle.
It's basic to the freedom of all individuals.
This is what created the United States, the idea that we could secede from the British Empire.
And if people cared about individual liberty, they should be very supportive of independence and self-determination.
I am sincerely convinced that if we did this, it would be much better to have a free market economy thriving.
And under those conditions, there would be less international turmoil.
And I am convinced there would be less wars being fought if you had smaller units of government and the people themselves were in charge.
I want to thank everybody for tuning in today to the Liberty Report.