The Secession Solution: A data-based plea for the Independent States of America
Are we in need of a secession solution? The U.S. provides abundant evidence that a state as large as 310 million people is ungovernable. One scholar recently said that we are in the fourth decade of the U.S. Congress’ inability to pass a single measure of social consequence. Bloated and corrupted beyond its ability to address any of the problems it has created as an empire, it is a blatant failure. So what could replace it, and at what size? The answer is the independent states of America.
It is so funny this appeared; I was just thinking about this idea.
The thing I wonder about is whether I’d be okay with a government borne strictly of upper Midwest regional values. Is it even more conservative than I think it would be? Is Iowa a better partner for Minnesota or are the Dakotas? What if Minnesota goes it alone? What if Minneapolis is now a city-state?
Of course there are drags from other states I’d be happy to let go, but what are the benefits we’d also be losing? I’d be happy to let go of Alabama, but what about Washington?
This sent me down a rabbit hole of the structures of various world governments (namely the relationships between their national government and their regional/local entities (e.g., states, councils, provinces, etc.)). The structure of non-Federalist governments seems maddeningly sloppy. But then we have quite the gridlock and ridiculous complexity in ours, which of course is an argument in favor of breaking us up.
But we’d never break ourselves up because we’d lose our power on the global stage. Somewhere (far) down the line it seems inevitable that someone will force us to break up. But then, there’s still China which is also huge by both geography and population. Wait, not a good example. And there’s also the European Union, which is a move in the opposite direction. What would an American Union of countries made up of former U.S. states look like?
On top of all that is the historical fact in our culture that secession is associated with slavery. It gives the idea a more negative connotation than it would otherwise have.
The end of the Utne article states that this was excerpted from a longer piece that appeared in Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. A quick look at Chronicles’ About page tells me that I should be skeptical of this piece; most of their stated positions are highly conservative. Pat Buchanan is a contributor, fer chrissake. I still like this concept, though. The author, Kirkpatrick Sale, had been banging his secessionist drum for a long time. Hopefully further reading will not reveal the idea to be rooted in xenophobia.
(via east-lake)