#Cascadia Now? An Independence Movement.
#Cascadia Now?
There is a separatist movement building slowly in the Pacific Northwest. Its speed reflects the pace of the people outside of its metropolitan centers. It is not your typical movement based on the right and left spectrum, nor is it necessarily about protecting a certain culture. More so, it is about creating one, building off the foundation of what already goes on in the westernmost bioregion. It is about decentralizing two governments that seem to disregard what the population wants on the West Coast. The movement calls for a new sovereign state: Cascadia.
The map is not perfect yet. To some it stretches from Northern California to the Alaskan Panhandle. For Cathasaigh Ó Corcráin, co-editor of underground journal Autonomy Cascadia: A Journal of Bioregional Decolonization, since Cascadia is based largely on ecological designs its borders would reflect that, more so than current political ones. Corcráin, following Dr. David McCloskey’s influence, says that watersheds should dictate Cascadia’s region. For example, he uses the Alsek River in the Alaska and Yukon as the northernmost border, and the Klamath River as the southernmost. He also points to the importance of sharing the Salish Sea. Others include Idaho or use current political borders.
Read further: http://overtheedgenewspaper.ca/cascadia-now/
or: http://occupywallst.org/article/cascadianow-cascadianow/
Thoughts?
The independent state of Crimea lasted for 2 days or so. They really had to join something. Carving a huge swath out of Canada and the US would be unbelievably difficult, probably a distraction from more possible successes in other regards, and begs the question of unresolved FN land claims.
It would be easier to leap over a tall building in a single bound. Good luck.
I looked at their website yesterday and from what I can tell the secessionist movement is based on pints of porter and cedar trees.
So I guess that means I'm in.
Is it time to revive the discussion, in an attempt to seek alternatives to the trivia and meaninglessness of the 98.9% corrupt political party representational democratic system.
While the bioregional movement of the 80´s and 90´s had some serious flaws, its decentralist nature was spot on!
What is not necessary is the attempt to transition to a Cascadia movement (partnership with indigenous sovereignty movements) through the political party process...rather let it develop organizationally, in parallel!
Living on Vancouver Island it is clear that we have a lot in common with people in Oregon and Washington. Far more so than anything East of the Great Divide. The only problem is that Washington might think BC is not progressive enough to join them in a new state. After all Washington not only has legal pot it also has a properly run PUBLIC ferry system. We on the other hand have Christy the Clown and her gas sniffing induced fantasies.
That is of course without contemplating what happened the last time some US states tried to secede.
The building of true bioregional autonomy movements must come from the base communities, whatever the trivial differentiation of the political state. It must come from the building of bioregional sub groups forming parallel movcements...which is my political work in the BC Interior.
Secession need only materialize as the final tactic...as the infrastructure of the system collapses.
I know some in these pages may think this all a pipedream...probably right til the day before it all happens.....presently I´m getting to watch this final drama taking place in another country!
Anyone who thinks this all a pipedream has got to have their heads under water...as our global capitalist system sputters into recession, only awaiting its final collapse...
The East Kootenays has always been basically one region that straddles an arbitrary line drawn on a map. The First Nations of the area have always seen themselves as one people. Ktunaxa Kinbasket Tribal Council does not really recognize the border except when forced to by settler laws.
http://www.ktunaxa.org/
There can be no doubt that a bioregional autonomy movement will spread only with respect and in consensus with the growing indigenous sovereigntist movement........
The fuel that can make all this happen, no doubt will be the collapse of the system as we now know it, with zero solutions to come from the centralist bureaucratic political parties...
but to get off the ground, the urgency lies in building bioregional grass roots movements...