Way towards independence? by Claudia Sonea

“Patria ubi bene” means that home is where you feel good and was said at the beginning of the travel era, when people discovered the pleasures of exploring new places and cultures. It also developed a sense of unity, a desire to eliminate differences and all barriers, which led to the foundation of Esperanto, a common language with words from all the languages of the world. However, in the 21st century the orientation switched towards an assertion of individuality, of identity, and we have seen some surprising changes like in the case of the United Kingdom or the more recent referendum which shows the wish of the Catalans to distinguish from Spain. ! Scotland started its road to independence through a referendum in 1997 and now has its own Parliament and Prime Minister. A similar referendum might lead to the Catalonia’s independence and Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero should pay more importance to the result as it reflected the opinion of a great number of people. On Sunday, one of the richest regions of Spain, Catalonia, went to vote an unofficial referendum on independence. Just like Scotland, the Sapnish region enjoyed already a certain autonomy, having its own language, a greater local jurisdiction and a faire share of the revenue. Although over 80 percent of the voters expressed their wish for independence, the referendum has no legal power because it was not mandated by the national government. In fact the region’s residents are protesting to the pressure exerted by the Spanish government in taken back the share revenue gained by Cat! alonia three years ago. As it is, the desire to be unique, dis! tinctive is usually triggered by the politics of a country. Politicians have much to gain from all the independence and the autonomy of a region as it will mean new positions for them. What about the everyday man, woman, who is striving to support a family, to support him/herself? Diversity within unity is what we should be looking for. Being different could only enhance the distinctiveness of regions, cultures, people.

related story (sgx16122): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091213/ap_on_re_eu/eu_spain_cat...

by Claudia Sonea for ! PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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