Alex Gutiérrez explained to us that the New York Times has only printed the word "shit" four times since 198. And Magí Camps, in La Vanguardia, wrote that the honor of saying it for the first time on the BBC went to Monty Python in the series Flying Circus (1969-1974). In my humble case, this is also the first time that I have written it, after forty years of publishing a few thousand articles in the press. Yes: to the shitter with the unanimity that some miss and long for and would, perhaps, impose if they could.
THE EXCLAMATION THAT HEADLINES this article can be defined as preventive indignation. I confess that I was outraged by the senseless and irrelevant reaction that some people had in response to some thoughts that Raimon expressed a few days ago. The latest winner of the Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes (Award of Honor for Catalan Letters) expressed his doubts about the suitability of Catalan independence in an interview on Catalunya Ràdio and also Vilaweb (May 3 and 5). But after attending one of his extraordinary recitals in the Palau de la Música on Saturday, it seems almost obligatory to talk about it.
I WILL NOT DISCUSS Raimon's observations here. I will simply say that I find it very reasonable to express doubts about the unforeseen and unforeseeable consequences of independence. Is there anyone who doesn't have any? More so, particularly, from the perspective of the Catalan Countries (1). I myself share them, have gone around and around on the topic, and I've talked a lot with friends from the Balearics and Valencia. Some years ago (14 October 1994) I wrote an article in Avui titled "Our wall of national shame", in which I claimed that Article 145 of the Spanish Constitution and, in particular, the model for the autonomous regions, had widened the gap between the Catalan Countries, with the contented satisfaction of the institutional politics of Catalonia and many other social forces, much to our shame. Today the independence movement could make again the same mistake that I then denounced of "not acknowledging the enormous political and cultural debt that we have with our neighbors". Let's be clear: without the contributions of the Balearic Islands, Valencia, Northern Catalonia and the Western Strip, today Catalonia would not be just one step away from achieving independence.
HOWEVER, WHAT outraged me was this sort of yearning for unanimity that condemns reasonable doubt, which I find deplorable. Let me be clear: yes, I want Catalonia to be independent, but precisely because I want to have a more radically democratic country where everyone feels comfortable and fits in, from the most cosmopolitan internationalists and anti-patriots to the Spanish unionists and passing foreigners. It would horrify me to live in a country of post-independence unanimity. Of course I want independence supporters to continue in the majority in order to win the consultation clearly. But I would begin to fear the worst if the proportion of Yes-Yes votes approached unanimity.
IN THE SAME WAY, I want independence so that Catalan will have the status of our own, shared language that will ensure its future and social strength. But this future and this strength are what must allow, far from unanimity, that Spanish, English or whatever other languages that we Catalans have as our own will be able to be loved without fear. The last thing we need would be for the strength of the Catalan language to be used to establish exclusivity! It would disappear in a matter of days.
IN SHORT, one of beauties of the independence process is that it brings together the will of the people for independence without requiring that it pass through militancy first. And that, in being democratic, it avoids unanimities and respects the skeptics. In any case, as Raimon sings, "Those who already know everything, don't bother listening to me". And don't bother reading me.
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(1) Some Catalans, especially those who support Catalan independence, feel that their nation also includes the Valencia region, the Balearic Islands, the Catalan-speaking south east of France plus a thin strip of land in Aragon that runs along the west of Catalonia. This is often referred to as ‘Països Catalans’ or Catalan Countries.
