Counterfeit Nationalism

Nationalism is complicated. Every race deserves a homeland, but do all nations? Not all nationalisms are the same. Take, for instance, Catalonia.

When Catalonia officially declared independence on October 27, many international observers worried that Spain might be headed towards a second civil war. Images of Spanish police in riot gear hauling away ballot boxes — and voters — encouraged this view. The American mainstream media even felt compelled to criticize Spanish police for “machismo,” known in the Anglo world as “toxic masculinity.” This demonstration of typically Spanish swagger encouraged many professional schoolmarms to lend subtle support to Catalans seeking to break away from such barbarism.

So far, there has been no civil war; the Catalans are not made of stern enough stuff for that. Independence leader Carles Puigdemont headed for the Belgian border as soon as Madrid brought charges rebellion, sedition, and misuse of public funds against him. Spain has asked for extradition, but on Monday, a Belgian court ruled that Mr. Puigdemont could stay for a little while longer.

The prospect of Catalan independence has split the dissident right in North America. Some commentators, such as self-described “alt right” writer Vox Day and paleolibertarian Stefan Molyneux, support Catalan independence. Both claim correctly that Catalan is a separate language and identity from Spanish. Similarly, Mr. Molyneux has characterized the central state in Madrid as “oppressive” because it used force to prevent Catalan independence.

Others oppose independence. One Twitter user (@DrunkRxnryBond) wrote: “As a reactionary I generally support decentralization, federalism, and organic local culture but Catalonian independence reeks of false victimhood in the ultimate service of liberal internationalism. The same goes for the Scottish independence movement.”

Is this true? Would independence only accentuate all evils we are fighting against? Or, as Vox Day and Mr. Molyneux suggest, would an independent Catalonia save the rest of Spain from a demographic and political nightmare? In order to answer that question, we must examine both Catalonian and Scottish independence movements.

Scotland, the IRA, and the SNP

The Scottish independence movement, which decisively lost a referendum in 2014, is lead by the Scottish National Party (SNP). Former SNP leader Alex Salmond once described the SNP’s policy as “sexy socialism.”

According to its Manifesto of 2017, the SNP is dedicated to “opposing Tory austerity,” promoting “pension justice,” creating laws for “ending violence against women,” and “fighting for fairer immigration.” “Fairer immigration” means more non-white immigrants. Under the banner of “an immigration system that meets Scotland’s needs,” the SNP wants to increase international student visas and introduce post-study work visas. A majority of Scotland’s international students are not from the EU, with China contributing a large percentage of non-Scottish scholars.

The manifesto does not bring up the fact that the Muslim population of Scotland is set to double over the next few years, or point out that the last time Scottish Muslims made international news was when a Sunni murdered an Ahmadi for wishing native Scots a Merry Christmas.

This may be one of the reasons why the SNP is declining in popularity among working class Scots in Glasgow, Dundee, and Edinburgh. The SNP and Labour have been in power for quite some time and, in my view, have helped destroy Scotland. Once known for producing workers, philosophers, economists, soldiers, sailors, kings, viceroys, and New World pioneers, modern Scotland mostly turns out fat junkies and welfare families.

Right-wingers should also be wary of the SNP because of its ties to the IRA and the type of far-left nationalism for which Irish Catholics in Scotland are infamous. One SNP council candidate from Glasgow, Allan Casey, caused a furor when images surfaced of him playing drums in a pro-IRA parade. Investigations into the incident helped expose the fact that the SNP draws a lot of votes from Irish Catholics in Scotland and the notoriously left-wing supporters of the Glasgow soccer team Celtic FC. Celtic’s “Green Brigade” fan club is known for waving Antifa and Palestinian flags, and for calling their rivals the Rangers — who draw most of their support from Glasgow’s Scottish Protestants — “dirty Huns.”

While many Irish Americans romanticize the IRA as “freedom fighters,” they were a terrorist organization that targeted British civilians and worked closely with Arab and Marxist terrorists such as the PLO and the Japanese Red Army.

Finally, the SNP’s leadership is almost exclusively female. There is nothing inherently wrong with female politicians. However, women, especially Western women, tend to vote in favor of big government, the nanny state, and open borders. The women of the SNP are no different.

Catalonia: Den of Left-Wing Pathology

Catalonia is similar to Scotland in a lot of ways: It is a bastion of left-wing politics in an otherwise moderate-to-conservative country. One writer has described Barcelona, the biggest Catalan city, as swimming in the “left’s rapidly decomposing, debauched pathologies.”

The leaders of the Catalonian independence movement show the tell-tale signs of left-leaning sloppiness. The most popular parties in Catalonia are the Republican Left of Catalonia-Catalonia Yes (that is the name of a single party after several mergers) and the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC). The Republican Left of Catalonia is clearly left-wing, with policies supporting big government, increased welfare payouts, and increased social services. The CDC claims to be a “conservative” party, but its base includes liberals, centrists, and social democrats, thereby making it essentially a center-left organization.

As with everywhere else in Europe, immigration presents a problem in Catalonia. Spain counted six million foreigners in 2011, which means that they account for 12 percent of the population. Many immigrants live in Barcelona, which explains the large number of Moroccan and Berber flags at pro-independence rallies.

Catalonia is also one of the richest provinces in Spain, with an entrenched business and academic class that believes more immigration will make Catalonia richer. Even a major terrorist attack in Barcelona orchestrated by Moroccan immigrants has not changed many Catalan minds.

Catalonia has always been Spain’s den of leftism. During the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona became the red city of Southern Europe, with Communist politician Deloris Ibárruri shouting the famous slogan “No pasarán” [“They shall not pass”] against Spanish nationalists. The Soviet Union made the city one of its many proxy capitals, with plenty of gullible liberals and Marxists to do their fighting for them. Behind the lines, Catalonian reds exterminated not just suspected nationalists, royalists, and devout Catholics, but also other left-wing threats to future Communist hegemony.

The left in Catalonia has never stopped fighting the Spanish Civil War. After the death of General Francisco Franco and the end of Francoist rule, many of Catalonia’s Communists returned to power. Ibárruri won a seat in the Spanish Parliament, while fellow Communist Santiago Carrillo, who was responsible for the mass killing of Spanish nationalists known as the “Paracuellos massacres,” also became a respected politician and academic. These are the great heroes of Catalonia — butchers and Stalinists. Just as in Syrian Kurdistan, an independent Catalonia might become a Marxist, collectivist hell.

Conclusion

Catalonian independence should not be supported by the true American Right because an independent Catalonia would further embolden antifa and other far-left groups in the United States. If you look closely at the photos of Unite the Right counter-demonstrators in Charlottesville, at least one person was waving the flag of the radically anti-Catholic Second Spanish Republic, and plenty of antifa marched behind a banner reading “No pasarán.”

One might support Catalonian and Scottish independence on the assumption that establishing the principle of secession could pave the way to racial secession. One could also argue that left-wing democracies should be left to their own devices. An independent Catalonia could go to the dogs while the rest of Spain enacts conservative legislation once the left-wing heartland was gone. The same could be true in a Scotland-free United Kingdom.

However, independence does not make moral sense. If Catalonia becomes a separate nation, can you imagine what could happen to the Basilica of the Sagrada Faimilia or the Palau de la Musica Orfeo Catala? During the Second Spanish Republic, the government and its supporters did not show great reverence for either religious or secular institutions. While democracy, liberalism, and equality are not gods worth fighting for, our cultural heritage and history are. Because we cannot fully trust an independent Catalonia to preserve Spanish history and heritage, we should not rush to champion its cause.

Furthermore, Catalonia’s politicians are open about their support for the far-left and its mutated sense of history. While the Dissident Right tries to dissociate itself from the taint of fascism, the far-left in America, the Middle East, and Catalonia openly embraces the Communist death squads of the 1930s. Furthermore, Catalonia once belonged to the Moors. As a result, there have been articles and blog posts published claiming that Catalonia has always been and will continue to be a Islamo-Christian society. Such ideas are the gateway drug for more immigration from North Africa and South Asia. Today, Catalonia’s Muslims account for 6 percent of its population, with Barcelona being the most densely concentrated hub of jihadism in Southern Europe.

If they have their own Catalonian state, the coalition of far-left and Islamists might just give people like us the bullet. Maybe it’s time to admit it: Catalonia must be saved from itself.