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The CalExit effort is getting some attention again, with “Yes, California” proponents pushing a referendum for voters in 2018. Good, let them do it. States either have rights under the Constitution, or they don’t. This issue goes back all the way to 1861, when eleven states voted to secede. Obviously, it didn’t work out too well for them.
But maybe California is on to something. Perhaps all the states should secede.
States, and the people, owe Washington D.C. nothing.
Federalism is the answer
California’s voters certainly have the right to vote for secession. They can withdraw their representatives and senators from Congress, and declare the New California Republic to be a sovereign nation. They can seek de jure recognition in international forums. But the de facto situation won’t change. California is part of the United States. The federal government owns over 45 percent of its land; military bases and other federal facilities won’t go away or surrender to the new government.
What will happen is people will vote with their feet–either moving into or out of the state based on their preferred type of government. And that’s good, because that’s how federalism is supposed to work.
The nation was founded on the principle that if you didn’t like the government you have, citizens are given two options. 1) They can vote in a new government, or 2) they can move. If California rejects President Trump and his administration, they can fight with every ounce of political will they have against it. (Pro tip: withdrawing from Congress is not the way to do that.)
A plebiscite or referendum for secession is a great way to establish a geographical and political boundary where citizens outside the state are aligned with the federal government, and citizens inside the state are aligned against it. It makes our country more governable when the law and principles of federalism are tested and managed in this way, and it could possibly spread to other states.
Then liberals would give up their silly quest for sameness and one-size-fits all.
If all states seceded
Think about what would happen if all 50 states seceded. The union would cease to exist except as a voluntary association of sovereign states, that send representatives to the federal government in a cooperative effort to support a unified order, but not the same law for every state. If all states seceded, then citizens would have to decide where they wanted to live, and how they wanted to be governed.
If the process went like CalExit might go, it would change nothing de facto. But it would reset the political pendulum in America back toward the original plan–a collection of sovereign states with a limited federal government. It would be a strong federal government in the sense that the military, diplomatic and economic power of these United States would be felt around the world. But it would not be a unity–a single national government with districts as states owing fealty to Washington D.C.
States, and the people, owe Washington D.C. nothing. It’s a city built on a swamp where representatives of the several states meet and cooperate. It’s not supposed to be the nexus of power in the country–but it is.
Thank you Vladimir Putin
It’s ironic that the Yes, California #CalExit cause may have Russia as one of its biggest proponents. In fact, Russia seems to have contributed to the cause in real and meaningful ways. Good. They unwittingly strengthened America instead of achieving their goal to weaken it. The surest way to weaken America is to move toward statism and a tyrannical central government, with dissidents scattered among the various territories under the thumb of the all-powerful central government. The Russians should know this, but they’ve been a monolithic state for so long that it apparently never occurred to them.
So thank you, Vladimir Putin, for helping to make #CalExit a real effort that may very well find its way onto ballots in 2018.
Is Russia Behind a Secession Effort in California? – The Atlantic
It’s easy to imagine some on the alt-right preferring that future, even as most liberals and progressives would recognize it as a catastrophe. A post-exit California would not be a stable political entity, and the pro-secession campaign’s arguments don’t pass the laugh test. Louis Marinelli and Marcus Evans were both registered Republicans two years ago when they formed what is now known as Yes California, a homegrown separatist movement.
California: please secede, and bye!
John Stossel wrote that secession doesn’t scare him. It doesn’t scare me either. If Calfornia leaves the Union, I say let the other 49 states go with it, and then let them all come back together the way it’s supposed to be. And let the sovereign states entice those who agree with their form of government and social policies to move in, and let those who disagree move out. Texas was settled with Americans because Mexico paid them to come (and then betrayed them at The Alamo). The west was settled because the federal government paid settlers to move west.
Catalonia? ‘Calexit’? Let ’em go! | TribLIVE
So why do so many people now see secession as a terrible thing? The Spanish government said they must not even vote, sent police to shut down polling places and beat protesters. Local governments can be more responsive to constituents’ needs.
Why wouldn’t that work today? In fact it does. Look at the mad rush to kiss the feet of Jeff Bezos so Amazon would build its second headquarters in various cities. Boston has practically prostrated itself–I wouldn’t be surprised if they arranged for Russian brides for every Seattle-based Amazon single male employee just to tilt the scales.
There’s nothing wrong with that, by the way. There’s also nothing wrong with saying to people you don’t like: if you don’t like it, move. If California tells gun owners that the Second Amendment doesn’t matter in Sacramento, then fine–Georgia can tell gun controllers that they’re welcome to leave if they don’t like citizens packing. If all the states secede, the more power the people will have.
Of course, a disarmed California might not be a place anyone wants to live when the criminals take over, but, again, the de facto state of things is unlikely to change–only our perceptions.
Adios California | iPatriot
The citizens (and illegal aliens) of California want to secede from the union. They want their sovereignty and we want freedom from their insanity. Per usual, those of the liberal progressive left who want to become their own country see only the good points of being a nation of their own.
Final Thoughts
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with California voting to secede, or declaring its borders open, etc. In point of fact, if they withdrew their representatives from Washington and did that, within a year they’d be begging to be let back in (why would we let them?). In reality, there’s no way California could really exit and remain viable, not with the political climate out there. They’d be bankrupt in no time.
But the perception of secession is powerful and needs to be elevated to in the political discourse of this nation. Let all 50 states secede, then we’ll see social warriors put their walking shoes on. We’ll be more geographically, politically, and socially aligned with our neighbors. We will have the government we prefer, not the one forced upon us. That’s how this nation was supposed to work in the first place.
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An interesting article that can be summed up as “out of ignorance comes federalism”. Those liberals that are threatening to secede are really practicing a form of federalism… but don’t tell them. It is interesting that the left only sees federalism when they do not like the person in power but they are all for centralizing power when they have the control. Of course the GOP is the same way, to an extent. Yet neither party knows that proper federalism is the only way to have the “utopias” they seek.