Secessionist States Plot Split From US

[dgridley]

If at first you can't secede, try, try again..

With the Iraq war, overbearing federal government, high taxes, and whatnot, several US states are seriously considering seceding from the Union.

From Yahoo News:

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -

In an unlikely marriage of desire to secede from the United States, two advocacy groups from opposite political traditions — New England and the South — are sitting down to talk.

Tired of foreign wars and what they consider right-wing courts, the Middlebury Institute wants liberal states like Vermont to be able to secede peacefully.

That sounds just fine to the League of the South, a conservative group that refuses to give up on Southern independence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071003/ap_on_re_us/secessionist_movement_1

Personally, I'm not a big proponent of secession (tho I believe states should have the right to do so), I'd rather see a concerted effort by a unified front to change what they don't like about the current situation, rather than breaking away from it.. that's the easy way out.

What do YOU Think?

 

[whitebark]

Succession is something we see in many parts of the Western world right now, so I'm not surprised. In Canada we have the province of Quebec with nearly 50% wanting out, Belgium is talking about a split and parts of Russia are still on the fence about it.

Wilson noted in his famous 14 points that national self-determination for groups of people - even those within what we would deem set national borders, have an inherent right to peacefully succeed if the will is there. So if his words were good enough for those outside his borders, they certainly should apply to those within.

There has been talk(amongst a small minority) in my home province that if American states start breaking away that BC will join Washington, Oregon and California in a loose union.

Nation states are a recent phenomenon anyways. Only time will tell if they survive or split up much like they were before.

 

[dgridley]

Thanks for the input..

I can see the pluses on both sides .. like I say, I agree that the states should have the right to secede.. problem is, look what happened the last time they tried.

Succession is something we see in many parts of the Western world right now, so I'm not surprised. In Canada we have the province of Quebec with nearly 50% wanting out, Belgium is talking about a split and parts of Russia are still on the fence about it.

Wilson noted in his famous 14 points that national self-determination for groups of people - even those within what we would deem set national borders, have an inherent right to peacefully succeed if the will is there. So if his words were good enough for those outside his borders, they certainly should apply to those within.

There has been talk(amongst a small minority) in my home province that if American states start breaking away that BC will join Washington, Oregon and California in a loose union.

Nation states are a recent phenomenon anyways. Only time will tell if they survive or split up much like they were before.

 

[neroux]

Nation states are a recent phenomenon anyways.

Thats interesting, the European Union is currently trying the exact opposite.

 

[maximum]

Wilson noted in his famous 14 points that national self-determination for groups of people - even those within what we would deem set national borders, have an inherent right to peacefully succeed if the will is there. So if his words were good enough for those outside his borders, they certainly should apply to those within.

I could argue for or against, and we could spend days debating the good and the bad of both - not discounting public opinion as a whole or majority - but, I won't, as we could get our own war started in so debating :] But, for the record, President Woodrow Wilson's point there is more relavent today than it was back then, IMHO. Personally, I do believe, it is even more of a right that should be invoked/forced, or atleast used to threaten the govenment into listening to the will of the people.

I can see the pluses on both sides .. like I say, I agree that the states should have the right to secede.. problem is, look what happened the last time they tried.

While I argree with Wilson on this, Dave's reply is a valid concern, and the major reason the "movement" to do just that has not become mainstream.