Chris Burford quoting Lenin: > "From their daily experience the masses know perfectly well the value > of geographical and economic ties and the advantages of a big market > and a big state." > > May 1914
This is the entire paragraph, which comes from chapter 5 of "The Right of Nations of Self-Determination": >>No doubt, the political chicanery arising from all the relationships existing in capitalist society sometimes leads members of parliament and journalists to indulge in frivolous and even nonsensical twaddle about one or another nation seceding. But only reactionaries can allow themselves to be frightened (or pretend to be frightened) by such talk. Those who stand by democratic principles, i.e., who insist that questions of state be decided by the mass of the population, know very well that there is a "tremendous distance" [quoting from Griboyedov's comedy Wit Works Woe] between what the politicians prate about and what the people decide. From their daily experience the masses know perfectly well the value of geographical and economic ties and the advantages of a big market and a big state. They will, therefore, resort to secession only when national oppression and national friction make joint life absolutely intolerable and hinder any and all economic intercourse. In that case, the interests of capitalist development and of the freedom of the class struggle will be best served by secession.<< Lenin's point is that people will only try to break away and form their own nation when the daily conditions of life are impossible to tolerate any longer. He was referring to people the Kurds and Palestinians of his day, whom Rosa Luxemburg believed should not fight for self-determination under *any circumstances". Of course, none of this has the slightest relevance to the glories of the Euro-Zone, as I am sure that Burford understands. -- Louis Proyect www.marxmail.org
