With 80000 Texans Aiming for Secession, Will They Succeed?
by Eve Brooke
With the results from the latest Presidential election leaving many voters with a sour taste in their mouths, petitions having been making their rounds off of Whitehouse.gov that are promoting the idea of secession between a number of states. Although there are many states with petitions of their own, the latest numbers show that Texas has the highest amount of signatures, which now total slightly over 116,000. Because of the current talks surrounding the topic of secession in the news, it is important to go over the thought process behind it in order to avoid any misunderstandings.
The Current Perception of Secession
When most people hear the word “secession” in the media, most automatically start thinking about the Civil War. This eventually leads to many, but not all, associating secession with “slavery” and other harsh topics, which is completely different from the actual truth. Simply think about the Declaration of Independence for a second. This document was essentially discussing secession by stating that none of the states wanted to live under British rule. Without secession occurring, who knows what the U.S. would look like today.
As it stands today, secession is typically discussed between numbers of states. However, the key thoughts behind secession are not strictly limited to the thoughts of a few. Citizens by themselves may decide one day that they do not wish to live under certain rules or follow specific laws. However, when this happens, states try to control the citizen who may be acting out. Think of it like this. A person who decides they do not wish to pay taxes anymore or would violate a drug law will usually be thrown in jail, instead of being given a freedom to act upon these intents.
What Do Current Secession Movements Aim To Achieve?
The current secession movements typically only want two things: Increased amounts of freedom for individual citizens and additional governance control at the local level. Along with this, secessionists are normally upset by those who continually operate the larger operation that they are a part of. Going back to the Civil War, think about why the South wanted to go to war with the North. It wasn’t that they were mad because the Northern states decided to throw out the act of slavery. They were more upset because they did not feel right paying taxes while they believed the northern states did not hold up to their end of the constitution when it came to capturing slaves that ran off.
As it stands with the current petitions, it seems more than individual citizens are upset and is not the state as a whole entity. As the petitions are currently showing, many believe that factors such as resources or money that are currently being taken away from them by the Federal Government do not work out well to benefit both themselves and the state that they are living in. Instead of powering the economy, these resources are only benefiting the government. Most petition signers would rather have their state gain additional control over resources instead of letting the Federal Government handle everyone’s business.
The Discussion of Voter Disbelief
Many believe that the current petitions being circulated with regard to secession stem from citizen’s voter disbelief. According to recent reports, at least 25,000 people from each state have signed similar petitions that ask for permission to leave the United States.
Despite citizens throughout states like Texas petitioning for secession, how do government officials feel about this? According to Texas governor Rick Perry, he is completely opposed with the idea of Texas leaving the United States and forming a government of their own. According to Perry’s media spokesperson, while he does have quite a number of problems with the Federal Government, he says that he still believes the United States to be a great nation and does not wish to secede.
With Obama back in office for an additional four years, many sources believe that many of the biggest red states’ citizens will continue to push for secession as they believe the U.S. is on another path of four more bad years. At its main issue, current advocators of secession are looking for an agreement of peace. These petitions would like the Federal Government to lessen their current strong arm and quit attacking citizens. Secessionists would just like to be left alone without having the Federal Government in control of so many aspects of their lives.
The Dreamworks film Antz is a story of an ant named Zee. He is not happy being an insignificant member of the collective. He wants to be an individual, to make his own decisions, and be in control of his own life. But does that mean he wants to leave his friends and community? What can this little cartoon ant teach us about the relationship between individualism and community?
