From: "Eric" <ericandmary-AT-earthlink.net>
Subject: RE: Went to a Tarik Ali talk...
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 17:10:32 -0600


Hugh wrote:

What ever happened to the idea of "Self-determination" of ethnic
enclaves
was the answer to hundreds of years of conflict?  Why shouldn't the
Kurds or
the Basques become a small nation?

Hugh,

I'm open to what you say and think that these ideas merit consideration,
but also think the challenge they pose to national sovereignty is one
reason why they usually prove to be unsuccessfully, as well as the fact
that pure regional homogeneity never exists. It is true, for example,
that Kurds predominate in the north section of Iraq, but the population
there is not only Kurds. Kurds also exist in other parts of Iraq.  If a
Kurdish state was created in the north, would huge migrations of
populations need to be displaced and what impact would that have on the
region? How would it impact on the Kurds currently living in Turkey?
Would the government of Turkey allow a region to secede in order to join
up with the new state?

As a somewhat cynical thought experiment, consider the United States.
We know that the Southern and Mountain states tend to consistently
oppose adequate government funding even though these states receive much
more in federal funding then they contribute. Furthermore, they tend to
vote in a block that is fundamentalist, racist, homophobic and
politically reactionary.  

Why not allow these states to secede and form their own nation?  Why
should the Midwest, West Cost, and Eastern Seaboard continue to
underwrite them?

eric