Catalonia Rises

It would appear that the world will soon greet the birth of its newest nation state. I have no opinion about Catalonia's independence from Spain in particular, but in general, I believe in the free self-determination of peoples. If a nation of people wish to live free from another group of people, to cast off the ties that formerly bound them together, they should be free to do so without fear of coercion or violent reprisals. This is in keeping with the moral rectitude of the American Independence we recently celebrated.

The historical case of the Confederacy in moral terms is complicated by the fact that they owned slaves. In so far as Lincoln said he didn't care about freeing the slaves but only cared about preserving the Union, he was in the moral wrong for holding a nation of Southerners captive to their Northern masters.

My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy Slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about Slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save this Union, and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. -Abe Lincoln

In so far as the Confederates owned slaves and did not permit them to depart at will but demanded their labor without payment, they were in the moral wrong. Individuals should be free. Collections of individuals should be free. Governments should be small and as localized as possible to facilitate empathy between the governors and the governed. History is messy, but this much seems certain. Most of the misery of Revolution occurs when one group of people ceases to be of genuine utility to the other, when the ties that bind them cease to be mutual benefit, and become merely contractual.

God does not make a contract with Man. He establishes Covenant. And a covenant creates family bonds of support, commitment and love. Without that love, cooperation is, in the long term, impossible.