What Three U.S. Secessionist Groups Think About the Scottish Independence Movement
Groups in places as different as Vermont, the South, and the Pacific Northwest are intently watching the developments in Scotland.
We got a great mention in an article in the National Journal over the weekend by Kaveh Waddell @Kavehewaddell detailing the viewpoints of Vermont, CascadiaNow! and other groups on their viewpoints of Scottish Independence.
Cascadia is a bit of a conundrum for traditional media in that as a social and political movement that incorporates bioregionalism, our culture and regional identity – (music, food, art) and of course ecological components – we don’t quite fit easily into a box (our sound bites are 1:30 hours long – per sentence!). But hey? we always enjoy a little time in the lime light. We’ll babble with the best of them – and hey – no one reads the internet anyways right?
Kaveh notes:
“CascadiaNow, an organization that raises awareness of a regional identity—social, geographic, and cultural—in the Pacific Northwest… The organization defines Cascadia as a biological region bound by its environment rather than political borders: It starts as far south as Northern California, reaching up through Oregon and Washington into British Columbia and part of the western coast of Alaska.
Director Brandon Letsinger is more cautious about calling his cause an independence campaign outright. “Especially in the U.S.,” he wrote to me in an email, “the term ‘secession’ has a heavy stigma and a deep cultural context.” [The Cascadia Movement], rather than aiming to create a separate political entity, is trying to get Pacific Northwesterners to tap into their identity as residents of that region rather than thinking of themselves as American or Canadian.
But he says he’s been following the Scottish independence movement for some time. “If Scotland is successful, it will provide a clear pathway that is both peaceful and democratic, and rooted in a positive future and shared collective identity,” Letsinger said. “That will have far-reaching impacts on other movements … and we’ll certainly be watching very closely.”
Will there be more forthcoming… maybe! But in the meantime, read the full article here:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/what-three-u-s-secessionist-groups-think-about-the-scottish-independence-movement-20140911
