Quebec, Catalonia, everywhere...

“...In the 17th century, surrounded on all sides by enemies, Spain still dominated the world. At that time, Philip IV reigned, the king of the planet. But all the Spanish possessions were ruled with an iron hand by his favorite, Count-Duke Olivares.”

It is clear that imperial greatness cost the Spaniards a pretty penny, Captain Alatriste did not keep up everywhere, and many expensive combat units were required to force the heretics to the true faith. In 1640, Count-Duke Olivares, already mentioned in this paragraph, decided to impose severe taxes on Portugal, Catalonia and Aragon, which contradicted the liberties of these lands. Unfortunately for the Spanish crown, the Portuguese, Catalans and Aragonese reacted to this step without any understanding, and rebelled. Only after a long and bloody war were the Aragonese and Catalans forced to peace, but Portugal was able to achieve independence. True, by that time Olivares had quietly gone crazy, the king died of syphilis, and the independence of Lisbon was already the least of the problems of the Spanish monarchy.

Too free handling of citizens' money has never done any good for European governments. In 1640, the English king Charles I politely asked parliament for funds for a war against the fraternal Scottish people - and, as a result, received an ax to the neck. 125 years later, another English king, George III, no less delicately called on his faithful colonists in America to pay the costs of maintaining the bloody English government overseas. The result of this mistake was the birth of “the land of the free, the homeland of the brave” - woe to all progressive humanity. In 1789, King Louis XVI demanded money from the States General to patch holes in the budget - but the good French convicted the monarch and the best people of France of misusing funds on casinos and prostitutes, which led to many interesting and memorable events.

Unfortunately, the lessons of the past are forgotten over time, and European governments are again putting their playful hands into the pockets of citizens. Of course, enlightened and hardworking Moscow hipsters, passing the time between coffee breaks and the fight for freedom, know that lazy Asturian miners and Piraeus dockers must pay and repent. But for the Spaniards, Greeks and Portuguese themselves, such conclusions are by no means obvious. They ask different questions: why was local industry destroyed and their countries turned into markets for German goods? Why should peoples pay for the mistakes of officials and bankers who were not elected by anyone and who report not to their own people, but to Brussels and the IMF? Why are the funds extorted from the population used to save poorly managed banks that have already squandered billions of euros? Why does the crisis and the threat of bankruptcy not prevent the purchase of expensive weapons?

Unfortunately, it would be naive to expect menacing social upheavals today. Great revolutions are the lot of dynamically developing societies, where people see the ruling classes as the reason for their poverty in a rich state. In an era of crisis and economic recession, workers are more concerned about survival, workers are losing their jobs, horizontal and vertical ties are being broken, which play an important role in revolutionary self-organization. The masses of the unemployed are becoming lumpen, anti-emigrant sentiment is growing, the middle class is trying to maintain its status at any cost and is ready to sacrifice bourgeois democracy for this. Politically, great economic crises benefit the right, not the left—as the Great Depression showed.

The situation is aggravated by the absence of any revolutionary ideas capable of mobilizing society to fight. There is neither the Protestant fanaticism of the Puritans, nor the liberal illusions of the Jacobins, nor the proletarian rage of the Bolsheviks. American director Andre Vlcek describes the situation quite accurately:

“Nobody is fighting for anything significant, global. Almost no one fights. All. Dot. There are practically no ideals left. All ideas are discredited - they were dragged through the mud and spat on. People live as if by inertia... Just say the words “socialism”, “internationalism” or (God forbid) “Marxism” - and you will be showered with an angry wave of cynical ridicule. Just mention countries that are following a different path (China, Venezuela, Cuba) - and people, albeit ill-informed, but evil-minded, will begin to bombard you with cliches created by the mass media and the propaganda machine in order to discredit this or that people.”

Against this grim backdrop, nationalism and religious fanaticism are once again rearing their heads. In the USA, anti-Islamic provocateurs are releasing the film “The Innocence of Islam,” which claims the laurels of “The Eternal Jew of the 21st century.” In Quebec, separatists win elections, and an English-speaking terrorist shoots up their victorious convention. In the Spanish province of Catalonia, one and a half million people out of a population of seven million demonstrate in support of independence. Northern Italy, Scotland, Wallonia are next.

Catalans are trying to escape Spanish officials and bankers who have their hands in their pockets - but nationalism is not the answer. The experience of the last twenty years shows that young states are becoming easy prey for international financial structures and transnational corporations, which doom them to flood and ruin. The political consequences of separatism are no less dangerous. It's hard to believe that Spain's right-wing government would let go of a region that produces 23% of the country's gross national product. But besides Catalonia there is also the Basque Country. What measures will Madrid be willing to take to curb the independence movement? Is a fourth Catalan uprising against Spain awaiting us?

Once again, as in the thirties, the links of a terrible chain are taking shape: capitalism-crisis-nationalism-war. Shackled by one chain, we walk along the street where the lights are going out. And, probably, not all of us will see them light up again.