Secessions

“Einstein,” the smallest horse,
just born in New Hampshire,
5.9 pounds, 13.8 inches tall.

A short time ago I remember saying that if some (southern) states wanted to secede we should welcome it. I confess it was a comment made with little thought, mainly because I just assumed the idea that any state would secede was basically pretty silly. The way things are going have led me to think more about it. Here are some preliminary thoughts. I still think it is never going to happen but at least some of the states have what I believe are cogent arguments, Vermont in particular. Consider, for example, what the head of the Vermont Secession movement has to say:

“Naylor rattles off the stark indicators of the nation’s decline, noting that the United States stands near the bottom among industrialized countries in voter turnout, last in health care, last in education and highest in homicide rates, mortality, STDs among juveniles, youth pregnancy, abortion and divorce. The nation, he notes grimly, has trillions in deficits it can never repay, is beset by staggering income disparities, has destroyed its manufacturing base and is the planet’s most egregious polluter and greediest consumer of fossil fuels. With some 40 million Americans living in poverty, tens of millions more in a category called “near poverty” and a permanent underclass trapped by a real unemployment rate of 17 percent, there is ample tinder for internal combustion. If we do not undertake a dramatic reversal soon, he asserts, the country and the global environment will implode with catastrophic consequences.” (From an article in Truthdig by Chris Hedges).

I have to admit to finding this argument compelling. It’s like saying the ship is sinking and we should abandon it for a safer future. I think Vermont of all the so-called secessionist states may have it right, or at least have a reasonable argument. But Vermont is not the only state with secessionist impulses. It is clear than Alaska, Texas, and Hawaii also have ideas in this direction. I am sure there are other southern states that have similar desires. But think of what might happen if several states actually did secede, or attempt to do so. We would be left with a series of independent countries, a sort of Balkans right here in the North American continent. The “national” interests of each of these new countries would not always coincide, nor would there be clear laws defining which country controlled which rivers, forests, and natural resources, as currently these laws are those of the United States. It is also clear that not all of these states have the same motives for secession or the same ideas of what kinds of laws they would have. Some southern states, for example, appear to want to reinstate the Confederacy with whatever that might entail (hangings, slavery again, perhaps), while others, like Alaska and Hawaii would have different motives entirely. Would all of these new countries have viable economies? This seems to me unlikely. Some might want universal health care while others would not, some would recognize Gay and Lesbian marriages while others would not, some might enshrine Christianity as the official religion while others would not, some would outlaw abortion and others would not, and so on and on. Some might wish to be democratic and others might turn to fascism or socialism. Might there be eventually a Muslim country? What if one of these new countries decided to be Whites only, or Blacks only, or Hispanics only? There would be refugees. Would a series of such independent nations manage to live in peace with each other, doubtful? What if some countries have a wealth of natural resources while others have few or none?
What would happen to the states that did not elect to secede? Would they still form a United States? Would they still be responsible for the national debt while the others deserted or would the deserters have to take their share of the debt with them? Would there be a whole series of different Presidents? Would there be a United States Union like the European Union? Would there be a common currency?

What I find even more unsettling about the consequences of secession is what I would take to be the admission that the United States is a failed experiment in government. So-called democracy with a free-market capitalistic economy just doesn’t work (this would seem pretty obvious by now). Of course we could try to fix that, but some states obviously would rather run that fight. In Vermont they say there are two “enemies,” the U.S. government and the corporations, and the latter control the former. This appears to me to be true and thus the solution to maintaining the Union is to wrest control from those who currently have it. This will not be an easy task, and if it fails, we may well find ourselves in another civil war or a once-was nation that shattered because of its own incompetence.

It seems obvious to me that the idea of secession from the United States of America is not very practical, however desirable it may appear. Furthermore, if we continue on the same course we appear to be on at the moment, it probably won’t be every state for itself, but, rather, ever person for him or herself.

LKBIQ:
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
Aesop

TILT:
Shrimp caught in the wild are far superior in taste to farm raised shrimp.