So with this past election's wins and woes, there is a lot going on in the political circuit. Normally as a non-voter, I simply do not care what happens with government and the people who run it (probably because I think the two party system is on such a level of incompetence that even single celled microbes could run it properly). In the case of this new petitioning to secede from the Union, I do happen to care, perhaps because I live in a backwards state that already has petition signers. Now, I don't want to seem like I'm against State's rights, because I'm not. State's rights have been a major force behind driving many of the freedoms we have today. The Amendments after the Bill of Rights have, for the majority, been instituted by the federal government by State's rights. For instance, the right of women and minorities to vote, the repeal of Prohibition (which was also a poorly instituted Federal policy), and direct election of Senators from popular vote. State's rights are also beginning to push the lines on other issues that will eventually become very relevant to the Federal circle, such as legalization of marijuana or gay marriage laws.
But I digress from my original issue, the secession talk. First off, it's never going to happen without revolution. If you are so naive to think that the Federal government hasn't thought about this before, then you obviously signed the petitions. For one thing, the petition has to be reviewed and checked to make sure it is official and not a rigged system. After that check goes down, then comes the part that most people don't know about, and you probably should. The government will concede to your petition, but in order to leave and be free, the State leaving has to pay back all it's contributions to the Federal Deficit, pay for all of the National Parks, land reserved for Federal buildings and institutions, and for Federal job lands. After that is any backed taxes that the State owes to the Federal government. Currently the deficit is about $16 trillion, and in most cases, the bigger states like Texas with massive amount of resources and contributions are looking at anywhere from $750 billion to around $1 trillion in money just to pay back the deficit, not including the money for the federal land and programs. But let's explore this more...
Let's say Texas does indeed have the money to pay off the government and secede from the Union (since they are the closest). If that's the case, with the condition our nation is in right now, Texas, apart from resources, is going to be broke. Broke as hell as a matter of fact. But they have a lot to do being their own separate state. First off, the new nation of Texas is going to have to reform it's government. Senators and Representatives on the Federal level are out of jobs, the Governor looks to be your new head of state, and the State body that is in place is looking to be in place. However, then there comes the idea of writing new laws, establishing a fresh start from the perils of the Union, and God knows what else to deal with in reforming the government to the way you see fit. And that's just the beginning. But let's say that Texas keeps the same general ideas as the United States has had, so it's simply just a much smaller version. On to the next problems...
First off, you're a new nation. You no longer spend money in US Dollars. You have to develop your own form of money, which is likely going to be worth almost nothing at first until you build upon it's backing and the trade of the money across the world. So in one day, you have made your rich poor and your poor even poorer. American based jobs in your new country can afford to pay in US Dollars, and you can convert the money to spend in your new currency, but these American jobs can only hire so few of your people. And sure, you have natural resources you can have people work on so you have oil and natural gas and lumber and all. But you might not have enough. So you're going to have to pay for other companies' goods to be imported to sustain your people. Gas prices probably will be around $10 a gallon, natural gas will be through the roof, and it'll probably cost $20 just to buy a loaf of bread, since you lack in wheat production and a strong backed currency. But then you have a better plan of taxation! That's how the people made it through originally: taxes! But with the high cost of importation of goods and services, the taxes have to be high to sustain your economy and the profit margin so you don't go into debt. The people in your new country will be starved and broke and unable to pay for these high taxes that you have put upon them. But that's just crazy talk really. I mean, you have no hard feelings against the Union, just wanted something different. You're still allies right?
So let's suppose the Union goes to war against North Korea. You know that going to war will stimulate your new economy, and you are allied with the Union, even though you couldn't bear it out. But you have no national armed forces! Your National Guard members have been stripped of rank, and the other divisions have ceased to exist because it's AMERICAN, not Texan. You can't afford to raise an army with the money you spent seceding and you can't even feed your people of your new country. You'll have to sit this one out while the economy takes a bit of a hit with blocked ports for goods and forced embargo on products coming from North Korean allies.
Now that last idea is crazy, but what about where Texas is located. I mean, there are a couple big ports in the Gulf of Mexico, and you now have two borders to control people with: Mexico and the United States. So there is more money for those borders. And the ports are your one way to receive goods that you now have to import, unless you pay highly to the United States for it over land. But let's suppose, and it's very realistic, that your new country gets hit by a hurricane, maybe a Category 5. In the old days, you would get federal money for repairs through insurance, and could still get goods by way of land without payment. Now with the destruction, you still have no money to fund repairs, no way to rebuild the ports and no easy way to get the money for it with all the other stuff going on. There just seems to be no end...
Granted, I have exaggerated my point fairly highly, but I don't think states have the governmental capacity to jump into anything like this considering even the mere thought of what would have to be done. And can you imagine if any of this were considered with Georgia? We can barely fund our educational system now to create intelligent world prepared children and we are going to secede and try to start things over? With the amount of states involved and the difficulty in seceding, even if all the states could eventually secede, they would not be united like in the last secession. Each state would have to fund it's own enterprises, after fronting this massive amount of money, and maybe joining other states as time passed. Before during the original secession, the Southern states were united, had a common goal of interest, had an economy and ties to other nations willing to pledge support and money, and had the balls to just do it and not petition anything. The states involved have no foreign ties since most of the world hates our arrogance and authoritarian foreign policy, they are not united in a common goal (leaving because of the government is not going to fix things with anything, especially not because the most often blame is the man least responsible), and most do not have the means of sustaining themselves in separation with their own resources.
But sadly, I don't have much of a choice in the matter. I refuse to sign any petitions for something so ludicrous, but being in the backwards state I am, with ignorant "Americans" signing left and right, I have to deal with the situation. I only hope it goes nowhere to where I can at least hop a freighter to Canada or some country not surrounded by a majority of ignorant people, blind to the ideas of what freedoms you actually have and the things that you take for granted. I only hope you miss them when your grave mistakes ruin your own liberties and of those around you. Goodbye Democracy, Liberty and Peace. Hello Warfare, Death and Poverty...a bittersweet and predicable end for history.
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