Question

Catalonia has declaired an independence referendum for November. The government of Spain has decided that the referendum is illegal.

This year we also had the Scottish referendum and Crimea declared independence from the Ukraine. The one thing that remains the same for these is that the government desperately tries to hold on to them.

My question is why?

The run up to independence in Scotland was reasonably civil with some people acting out. If they had voted for independence then the UK government would have accepted it at least. This seems to be less than the norm.

If a city or region wishes to become independent why does the government of their country deny them? Especially if it is a clear majority that wish to be independent. Is it a need of the government to cling to power? A misguided notion that they are protecting the people by keeping them clutched to the countries bosom?

I genuinely do not understand in any country that is supposedly founded on democracy, when a majority of the region wish to be independent the government refuse.

Heck, if I owned a small island and was able to sustain myself entirely upon it. I would happily declare independence from my government.

In the dark and bloody past it made sense to club together. Often we didnt have a choice about that. Someone would come along with a bigger army. They would rape, pillage and murder and afterwards they would say “You belong to us now.”

You got certain protections and unless your country went to war, you were safe from being pillaged, raped and murdered by your neighbours.

As the world stands at the moment, in the US and Europe. Would a country that declared itself independent really be at risk of invasion? I think not. The only reason I can see for the government to deny them their freedom is to maintain their grip on power. A grip that is tenuous at best and relies entirely on the belief of the people to sustain it.