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A foreign defender of Catalan separatism said this morning that the movement has absolutely nothing to do with Brexit. I disagree. Off the top of my head, I see at least five major similarities. THREAD 1
First of all, the ideology driving both movements is populist nationalism. Populism is the idea that a collective has a will and that an individual politician is its true voice. Anyone who disagrees is automatically a traitor. For more information, see Müller's book On Populism 2
The second major similarity is that both movements take a collective of millions of people and then speak about it as if it were an individual. Both spread the idea that this collective is oppressed by something external - the Spanish state or the EU. 3
The third similarity is the utterly bewildering idea that we need to break things to make them better. Any cold-headed risk assessment is seen as boring and unnecessary at best, or as treachery at worst. 4
The fourth similarity is a strange combination of paranoia about Madrid/Brussels (seeing the worst in the enemy) with blithe wishful thinking about how everything will be roses after breaking up the relationship (magical thinking). 5
Finally, both movements have a very unsophisticated and majoritarian view of democracy. Referendums are given a mythical status, despite their poor track record of finding answers to complex issues. 6/6
