It seems that every cloud really does have a silver lining. The current recession and the federal government’s unpardonable reaction to it have sparked debates that just last year would have been unthinkable, the most notable recent one being the debate over secession.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry made national waves at an April 15 Tea Party when he seemed to express sympathy for Texas secession, but even before that, a spirit of decentralism has been slowly creeping into the national discourse. The 10th Amendment movement has been urging states to pass state sovereignty declarations – with surprising success – asserting the constitutional power of the 50 states in the face of federal usurpation. Even Bob Barr, quite the milquetoast libertarian, said at a recent speech at Emory that he believes states have the right to secede from the Union.
The idea of secession seems alien to us; it seems un-American, maybe even evil. It shouldn’t. Secession is based on inherently American values. We believe in the right to choose our own rulers and the right of self-determination; why then do we not believe that a free people can leave their country when they would rather be ruled by someone else? The American Revolution was fought by people to do just that, to secede from Great Britain. Secession is the greatest safeguard of liberty that we could possibly devise. There is nothing that should scare central power more than the idea that, if it doesn’t behave, then a huge section of the country can just get up and leave.
April 30, 2009
