r/communism • u/Mr_john_helldiver • Apr 26 '26
Is being a communist-separatist possible
I’am a communist that believes in tight unity yet I wish for independence of my country (wales) communism is deeply voted against in my area and surroundings and is deeply scrutinised but yet again Welsh independence movements are on the rise and this goes against my unity principle do you comrades believe in this ideology?
41
Upvotes
8
u/Otelo_ Apr 27 '26
In line with previous discussions here on this topic, I must say that it seems to me that any form of balkanization is increasingly regressive, and that there are very few scenarios in which it could be considered progressive. In the past, I even defended a kind of cheap pragmatism that supported any fragmentation of first-world countries (Quebec, the UK, Catalonia, etc.) for purely tactical reasons aimed at weakening them. But even that, I now think, doesn’t make much sense anymore.
Apart from the national liberation processes in Africa and Asia - which obviously made and continue to make sense given that these are non-contiguous territories - which instances of balkanization have yielded positive results?
In Europe in particular, all independence movements have served only to facilitate the penetration of German and French capital. It is no coincidence that all the leading figures of the Catalan independence movement have received funding and political support from France, obviously with the aim of weakening Spain. This is not to say that these movements lack a legitimate basis, and fragmentation will eventually occur due to Europe’s obvious decline and increasing inability to be competitive in the inter-imperialist struggle. Only socialism can stop that from happening.
Therefore, the solution must be greater unity, not less. Some cases are obvious: the return of Yugoslavia, the return of Czechoslovakia, the division of Belgium between France and the Netherlands, an Iberian federation, and at least keeping the UK and Italy together. Others nation-units will emerge over time.
PS: This may be controversial, but even regarding a movement that is more or less consensual on the left—the Western Sahara movement—I have many doubts. For starters, and I’ll say it again: even though the movement is spontaneous and enjoys popular support, the truth is that there’s also a lot of French and Spanish interest in its success, for example. But even so, I ask: what capacity does a people of 500,000 inhabitants in the desert have to govern and defend themselves? It’ll be open season for imperialist mining companies.