Saturday, February 11, 2017

Secession and the constitution

Whenever anyone in America dares to mention secession, someone always counters that secession is unconstitutional. Off of the top of my head, I can think of three problems with the argument.


First of all, constitutionality shouldn't matter. If a state rejects the constitution, the constitution should not be able to reject the rejection. If constitutionality were really that important, any country could simply create a law to prevent unwanted secession. In case of the most oppressive nations, this would effectively ensure that there is no way for citizens to fight back.

The second issue is hypocrisy. The United States defied the British to become an independent country. We were not given permission. If a nation could effectively prohibit secession, then maybe we should be begging the British to take us back.

The final problem is that I don't believe the constitutional argument. The primary purpose of the second and third amendments of the constitution were meant to ensure that citizens could violently rebel against the government if it became necessary. Why would there be constitutional amendment to protect violent revolution if the founding fathers believed that states should have no right to leave?

If a state would like to leave, I would rather allow it to happen peacefully than to wield a bloated military to ensure the current government's control over everyone, including those who do not approve of our government's actions. Our country was founded on the idea that improper representation should lead to independence. This is a concept that I won't fight.

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