Re: quebec referemdun

[Jim Jaszewski <jjazz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 21 Oct 1995 glevy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Valerie Scatamburlo wrote:
>
>   <snip> - before we rush to defend Quebec''s right to self -
>   determination, let's also be reminded of all that which lurks behind
>   the separatist movement (It's racism should be obvious) - knee jerk
>   reactions and support of Quebec  separatists do little in addressing the
>   more substantive issues involved. >
>
> How presumptuous of you to assume that support for Quebecois independence
> is a "knee jerk reaction." It is true that there are right-wing
> nationalists in the Quebecois movement. It does not therefore necessarily
> follow that the independence movement is reactionary.

        I would have to agree in general with Valerie, and also agree that
in some particulars you are also right.  However:

        I too remember many particulars of the '70's movement -- and
today's is thoroughly reactionary in comparison.  What we have here is not
the social democratic movement of yesteryear, but a completely petit
bourgeois attempt to cynically capture power for narrow ends...

        In 1980 I voted `Oui' for re-negotiating Canada, like many others
who didn't necessarily go along with the idea of out-and-out separation.
Frankly, it was the most historic occasion it has ever been my privilege
to be a part of (yet..! :>

        This time around, my main concern is for the Rights of the
aboriginal peoples in that geographic area -- and the present leadership
of Que'bec shows every sign of heading to a confrontation with disastrous
results.  I have _NO_ faith in Parizeau or even Bouchard (a former
Conservative minister under the odious Mulroney)!!  Those in the
leadership who maintain the `vision' of Le'vesque are being accused of
being spies for the French government!


> I may be showing my age, but I remember the Quebecois movement of the
> early 1970s. That movement was an expression of an international
> radicalization that was influenced, in large part, by the events of
> May-June, 1968 in France. The Quebecois movement was, similarly, led by
> revolutionary socialists and anarchists. Unfortunately, it was defeated.
> The current movement, however, owes its heritage, in part, to that
> earlier movement for independence. Like any *real* movement for
> self-determination, it contains many different social forces and
> perspectives.

        The Prime Mover in this case being the same kind of petit
bourgeois nationalism you'll find in any squalid east-european country...

        The movement which you so fondly remember does not exist any more.
Time has moved on and the heap in the Dustbin of History has grown a
little higher...  :<


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