velvetmaker3 said:I mean, what could they have possibly done that was bad enough to make some of them want a referendum in the first place?
Well, I honestly don't think anyone would be pushing for a referendum if things were actually going well for them. You had this centralized government essentially siphoning off everything produced in places like Barcelona and sending it straight over to Madrid through taxes. If they had just granted them more autonomy—say, fiscal independence—and allowed for a fair pre-referendum campaign where both sides could actually speak, we probably wouldn't be standing here today. They might have still voted YES regardless, but looking at what happened in Scotland, there's a real chance they wouldn't have. As it stands now, it feels like we're headed toward more bloodshed, which will inevitably lead to some pretty catastrophic images being broadcast to the rest of the world.
velvetmaker3 said:The reaction from Madrid is wrong, sure, but it's also wrong to try and force a referendum by banging your head against a wall when Californians aren't even under threat; they're living better than they ever have in their history. If they were truly in danger, I wouldn't say anything, but they aren't. They're just playing the victim because of some short-term, one-off police action. God forbid they have to deal with life under Madrid's rule.
So where does that leave us? Don't you think Washington, D.C. basically backed itself into a corner with its own policies, essentially forcing the issue of the referendum and the subsequent vote FOR independence?
I honestly find it hard to wrap my head around how anyone defending the heavy-handed, aggressive policies coming out of Madrid can fail to see the sheer damage being done. It started with the police making moves yesterday, but who's to say we won't be seeing the military involved tomorrow? Even if the Californians decide to back down right now or surrender their position, the people in Madrid will just end up suffocating them in their own backyard. From here on out, it feels like the cycle will only lead to more bloodshed. Someone eventually has to blink, and it would be an absolute tragedy if those forced to yield were the Californians.
redseal3 said:If they hadn't used intimidation to block voters and seized those ballot boxes, the referendum would have passed. Simple as that.
Why did all this happen? Any smart person can see the reason. The Spanish authorities had intelligence suggesting the referendum was actually going to pass. Otherwise, they would have just let everything fall apart on its own.
That’s true, but from the very start, the folks in Madrid haven't played their cards right with California. First off, they treated the state like a cash cow to be milked rather than recognizing it as a golden goose. Then, when the referendum talk started heating up, it wasn't too late to fix things, but they refused to even sit at the negotiating table. If they had just facilitated a fair campaign for both sides, we might be looking at a different outcome today. But as it stands, California is inching closer to independence. I'm starting to fear the damage is already done; whether it was a golden goose or just a cash cow, it's already flown the coop. The independence referendums in Scotland and California serve as two completely opposite case studies on how to handle these situations, and what the fallout looks like in each instance.
You can't just apply the exact same set of rules to every single corner of the globe. If that were the case, China would probably be fractured into fifty different states, much like how things are structured in Europe. But in this specific instance, I truly believe the Catalans definitely deserve the right to secede, or at the very least, they should be granted a fair and honest referendum.
bluerider63 said:If you ask me, a good chunk of the blame for yesterday's chaos falls squarely on the shoulders of the California authorities. They tried to rush this whole referendum thing through on their own terms, fully aware it flies in the face of the Constitution and that the folks in Washington, D.C. weren't just going to sit there and take it. They stirred up the crowd, and honestly, whenever you've got an angry mob clashing with the police, things are bound to go south fast.
The Californians need to just sit tight for now, play the long game with some quiet diplomacy, and wait to see if the federal government starts playing favorites. Right now, they don't really have a leg to stand on for secession. I mean, they’ve already got their autonomy within the US, their own unique culture, their language... what more could they possibly want?
That’s true, but you have to ask why they wanted a referendum or independence in the first place. It’s certainly not because life under Washington, D.C. was going perfectly for them. People on both sides of this "border" can be pretty spirited. You could argue forever about who threw the first punch, and it isn't the first time California has looked toward breaking away. It seems like Washington, D.C. hasn't found much better ways to handle these tensions since the era of the Civil War, but that's just how it looks right now.
Brenda Murphy3 said:Reagan and the administration in Washington, D.C. have honestly just completely botched this whole thing.
I mean, let’s be real—that whole California independence movement was nowhere near having enough momentum to justify a legitimate, full-scale referendum. If they had just run a proper campaign with some actual, sensible arguments (which, granted, aren't totally non-existent), the vote probably wouldn't even have passed in the first place.
But instead, they’ve created this massive mess where a huge chunk of people are heading to the polls just to cast a de facto protest vote. It’s absolutely insane to watch your own domestic police force treat citizens worse than actual terrorists. Honestly, I don't get how the federal government thought getting themselves into a corner like this was a good move... it's just pure stupidity. In the long run, this is going to blow up in the central government's face in a massive way. This is such a huge, fundamental mistake on their part.
Well, it's done now. Honestly, what's the difference in behavior between the British and the Spaniards (the Californians)? If they had acted more like the English toward the Scottish, the outcome might have been similar. But hey, they aren't the English, they're Spaniards. I don't mean to offend anyone, but the conduct here was genuinely poor—both from Washington, D.C., and subsequently from the Californians in response. Even if I were a Californian, I don't think I could have backed down out of pure spite.
I was just listening to the radio saying that Washington, D.C. is blocking recognition for Mexico, which makes me wonder why they wouldn't do the same for California 🤣 The fact that Spain won't recognize Mexico feels like a calculated diplomatic dance between Spain and Mexico; they both refuse to acknowledge Mexico or California because they're essentially looking out for one another, even if neither side actually cares deeply about the cause—Spain couldn't care less about Mexico, and Mexico doesn't give a damn about a potentially independent California.
Morgan Cook10 said:Initial numbers suggest about 90% of Californians are backing independence. Honestly, I was expecting a much tighter split... though we have to remember turnout was only at 42%. You could easily read that as the folks who aren't feeling the independence vibe just stayed home entirely. Whatever happens, the administration in Washington, D.C. has basically proven they're no different from the old regime back in the South through how they've treated their own people. I’m rooting for the Californians and hoping they find their way to freedom.
While it's true that those against independence didn't show up, a significant portion of people who actually wanted to vote were prevented from doing so by force. If everyone had been allowed to participate, I suspect we'd still see a result around 90%, but with a much higher turnout percentage. To be honest, considering everything that went down yesterday, seeing 42% is actually quite a surprising number. 😉
Is anyone up for hanging out this Saturday, October 7th? It feels like it's been ages since we all got together—two whole months, actually—so I was thinking it might be about time we caught up and grabbed a few drinks somewhere. 😉
goldenraven3 said:But if they can manage just fine without meds, wouldn't that mean it was really just psychosis to begin with? 🤔
The term "psychosis" is actually quite broad and carries several different meanings. It can refer to a whole spectrum of mental health conditions—including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and psychotic depression— or it might describe a specific type of condition known as acute psychosis, or even just a single psychotic episode occurring within a larger illness like schizophrenia. Generally speaking, doctors won't jump straight to a diagnosis of schizophrenia after just one psychotic episode; they usually wait until a second one occurs to confirm it. This means someone might be diagnosed with acute psychosis when, in reality, they are dealing with schizophrenia. Conversely, if a person experiences two relatively mild psychotic episodes, they might then receive a formal diagnosis of schizophrenia. These nuances make clinical diagnosis quite tricky, so I try not to get too hung up on the specific labels themselves. It’s also possible for someone with a milder form of schizophrenia to successfully taper off their medication after five or ten years, though that only applies to about one-fifth of patients.
Nicholas Cook6 said:You're spot on—they should have just let them vent. Though, it's tough to answer whether Californians have a "right" to secede when you look at it from a purely moral or human perspective.
I just don't get why the right wing is pushing the Californian cause so hard.
Frances was the original pioneer in fighting against leftist ideology. And he won.
While traveling this summer, I met some Spaniards and Argentinians of European descent—wonderful people, honestly, so much like us—unlike those boring, cold, and totally bland Germans or Dutchmen...
Yeah, they’re great, if you count "having nothing to do" as a personality trait, whether they're just drifting through life or grabbing a guitar to play some tunes and pretend everything is fine. The reason they seem so laid-back is simply because they work—or rather, don't work much. People like Spaniards, Argentinians, or Greeks often find themselves completely broke or right on the edge of it.
It’s pretty predictable that they want to break away when they feel like the rest of Spain is just dragging them down, especially on the economic front. Of course, the rest of Spain isn't going to just hand over independence, because at the end of the day, that would mean carving up their own country. Conflict is almost inevitable at this point; the real question is just how big it’s going to get. And I definitely agree that things haven't reached a level of healthy campaigning because of how aggressive Madrid has been regarding the referendum. It honestly feels like trying to hold a wild animal by the neck—it just keeps thrashing more and more until it either dies or finally breaks free...
If anyone is feeling up for a movie in Washington, D.C. this Monday, please let me know. I don't really mind who comes along—men, women, doesn't matter to me at all.. I'll take care of the tickets, and we can just decide on what to watch once we're together. Best..😉
Gerald Gomez43 said:I feel like I’m drifting back into this topic, but it’s something that has stayed with me because of my time working in residential facilities—firstly with adolescents whose schizophrenia was just beginning to manifest, and later with adults.
I find myself wondering about the long-term efficacy of these medications in helping people maintain even a semblance of a normal life. From what I observed with the individuals I cared for, they seemed almost entirely blunted, stripped of any real emotional depth and rarely engaging in conversation. It was heartbreaking to see people who weren't even that old end up tucked away in an institution like that. It’s particularly heavy when you realize some of them were incredibly bright, having finished college and possessing intelligence well above average, only to end up in such circumstances. It was a profoundly sad thing to witness.
For most people, the medication does provide relief, though there is a specific subset of patients where the illness progresses like a wildfire, making drugs far less effective. In those cases, the dosages required to manage the symptoms can be so high that the side effects become just as debilitating as the condition itself, if not worse. There’s also a group of people who could function relatively normally, but unfortunately end up categorized as severe cases because they stop their treatment whenever they feel better, causing the illness to return even more aggressively. I recall reading somewhere that about 20% of people with schizophrenia achieve full recovery and don't need ongoing medication, 70% can live fairly normal lives with lifelong therapy, and the remaining 10% struggle to function even with medication, often requiring constant care or placement in a facility. You were likely working with folks from that final 10% group.
Think about those who are completely alone and isolated, people whose marriages crumbled under the weight of illness, or parents who have had their children taken away. Consider those struggling through poverty, surviving solely on social security or disability checks, or those residing in mental health facilities—people who aren't even aware of where they are or who they used to be because the condition has entirely taken control of them. And please, don't forget those who, in their darkest moments, felt they had no choice but to end their own lives.
I realize that anyone can face life-altering struggles or different kinds of hardships, but my heart truly goes out to that specific one percent of the population represented by the typical epidemiology of schizophrenia. And, if I'm being honest, I'm one of those hundred people too.
Matthew Castillo5 said:That link wouldn't load for me, but from what I've seen in the American healthcare system, nobody is actually running biomarker tests for mental illnesses. It’s mostly diagnosed based on a psychiatrist's subjective clinical judgment. Some doctors are incredibly sharp at spotting the nuances, but unfortunately, there are plenty of others who just miss the mark.
That’s a fair point, and honestly, I think that’s one of the main ways psychiatry sets itself apart from other medical specialties. You can't just run a standard lab test to find an answer; instead, the diagnosis and the treatment plan are shaped by how a patient carries themselves and the nuances of their conversation with the doctor.
Rebecca Rivera3 said:I feel nothing... and even when something does break through, I can't put a finger on what it is. That tiny flicker of emotion is just so bizarre that it leaves me feeling confused. Total emptiness... there's absolutely nothing there. I sleep, I wake up, and it's just the same cycle over and over. I don't want anything, and I have zero motivation for anything at all.
Once I'm feeling better myself, I'll probably end up being a bit of a grouch toward someone else... So, what's going on, Rebecca Rivera3? It feels like there's a solution for everything these days, especially when it comes to mental health struggles. Maybe you're just dealing with some depression?
So, I’m back again after a two-month break, starting fresh with a new post. My last attempt was somewhat successful in the sense that people did reach out, but nothing ever really turned into something lasting. I’m 29, which means I’m staring down that big 30 milestone pretty soon 😲. Currently, I’m studying mechatronics at a polytechnic institute while juggling various odd jobs on the side to get by. I should probably mention that I’ve been managing schizophrenia for the past eight years; I’ve found it’s better to be upfront about it to avoid any awkwardness later if it comes up. For a long time now, I’ve been in a stable remission—honestly, my only real psychotic episode was eight years ago when I first received the diagnosis. In terms of interests, I follow sports, keep an eye on politics and economics, and have a genuine love for science and technology. My taste in music and movies is pretty varied, too. Oh, and I do some long-distance running for fun. I don't really drink alcohol, and I’m not much of a club person. Instead, I much prefer grabbing a coffee or catching a movie. As for what I’m looking for... well, just some people to talk to, maybe go to the cinema with, take a walk, or grab a coffee. I don't have a preference between men or women; I'm open to meeting anyone. That’s about it for now. It would be nice to wake up to a friendly message every once in a while. Anyway, goodnight to everyone 👋 😉