A Lesson in Secession (Part 2)

Abraham Lincoln is still viewed today as one of the greatest presidents in American history, and with good reason.  He corrected America’s original sin by ending slavery, and he held the nation together when half of it wanted to disband, meaning he is a large part of the reason we are today one country with fifty states, and not two countries with twenty-something states each.  Modern Republicans and Democrats alike revere him, but each of us tend to overlook technicalities such as how he also argued for the arrest and/or execution of politicians and journalists who openly criticized him during the Civil War, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, whose great offense was daring to tell Lincoln that he did not have the constitutional authority to suspend the writ of habeas corpus.  A case could be made that desperate times call for desperate measures, but our divided nation didn’t let George W. Bush off the hook on that with the Patriot Act, and a lot of us don’t like the prospect of Barack Obama with this kind of power, either.

The question of secession raises the issue on whether or not states have a right to go their own way.  It does not argue whether Lincoln and the North were right to oppose slavery, and the fact that slavery was a key issue in the Confederate secession may be the very reason they lost.  From a position of morality, today’s society sees they were clearly in the wrong.  From a position of the issue of states’ rights, the matter is a little more vague.  If the federal government truly overstepped its authority on some other issue, and if it were being led by a man less altruistic than Abraham Lincoln and more of the vindictive mindset of Barack Obama, would true patriots question the desire to seek to escape the tyranny of big government?

In the Civil War, the country was divided between North and South.  The lines aren’t quite as easy to see these days, but most maps still show us where conservatives and liberals are concentrated, particularly county-by-county as opposed to state-by-state.  There is a great deal of red on the map, even in many blue states.  We could concede most of the eastern and western coastal regions to liberals and allow the central territories to be conservative.  The liberals shouldn’t miss most of the central states, anyway; they tend to refer to us as “fly-over country,” and I still even contend Iowa’s own senator Tom Harkin is such a stranger to us that he cannot find the state on a map.

Imagine a country with no liberals.  There would be no one trying to write the Second Amendment out of existence; no one advocating partial-birth abortion; no one demanding redistribution of wealth; no one trying to grant amnesty to every illegal alien who crossed the border . . . the list goes on forever.  Again, this would never happen, but the situation is worth considering only because it exposes a very real truth in the value of liberalism versus the value of conservatism.  Basically, the truth is this: They depend on us for their very survival, but we would do quite well without them.

A conservative society would be a place where citizens were allowed to keep the majority of their earnings without having the government punish economic success.  The tax laws would be fair and companies would not be encouraged by high corporate rates to flee the country or outsource jobs, meaning more revenue would remain inside our borders.  Christmas and other holidays could be celebrated or ignored as individuals saw fit, but not attacked by a loud minority who threatened legal action in the name of political correctness.  The sanctity of life would be protected.  Our nation would quickly achieve energy independence and grow wealthier from the export of our own energy sources as we would be able to tap into our own resources, no longer handicapping ourselves by relying on the stability of other oil-rich nations.

The legal system would be relatively easy to follow and government would largely refrain from disruptive regulations.  Law-abiding people would be allowed to arm themselves as protection from violent aggressors, who themselves would be almost nonexistent.  Our military would be strong, armed with the best weapons, and more importantly allowed to fight battles with the objective being strategic victory.  We would even take it upon ourselves to protect the entirety of North America, including the demilitarized blue states.  After all, aside from the locations of many of our existing bases, how would that be any different from how things are now?

There would still be immigration, but the process would be orderly and citizens would be asked to assimilate to the culture of Conservative America, not allowed to keep to a language and culture clashing with the majority and forcing everyone else to adapt to them.  In fact, we can assume many requests for citizenship would originate from the disaffected citizens of blue states, who would also be trying to climb over or tunnel under our walls to escape liberal society.  (And you know we would have walls, too; we would also have at last sealed our southern border, and for the very same reason.)

Liberal society would be a dark dystopia.  Ruled with an iron fist by the central government, the masses would be kept in the dark by a media propaganda machine which worked to hide how dire their circumstances were and how comparatively pristine life was on the other side of the wall.  Gas would be cheap only because it was easily imported from Conservative America, but even then it would be taxed to European levels; energy would be expensive and blackouts common.  Environmental extremists would insist on inefficient energy sources, resulting in solar panels and windmills clotting the landscape of urban ghettos; the ruling class, such as the Kennedy clan, would not have these eyesores afflicting their own backyards.  Yes, the gap between the rich and the poor would still exist, as it does in every socialist society, despite the dreams of the sociology professors.  Al Gore and the Hollywood crowd would still have their private jets, while their followers were limited to bicycles.

Political correctness would quickly lead to the end of the First Amendment in a country populated strictly by liberals, making freedom of speech and freedom of religion a thing of the past.  Christmas trees and statements criticizing government policies would be arrestable offenses.  All other amendments would also disappear over time, replaced with a system of rights regulated by the government as officials would see fit.  Firearms would be illegal, so the only people armed would be the criminals themselves.  Violent crime would be rampant, as in Chicago, and the legal system would be unable to cope.  Criminal gangs would become the ultimate power on the streets.

Society at its very core would crumble as the definitions of marriage, family, and personal accountability all quickly deteriorated.  When dependency on the state increased, the government would respond by raising taxes, as has been the custom in the other socialist societies of the world, rapidly transforming itself into a third-world nation.  Naturally, those with the means would separate themselves from the rest of society, and eventually leave the country.  In this nation comprised totally of “takers” and completely without “makers,” there would be a total end to productivity and innovation.

Due to their appeasement policies and absence of practical ways to ensure their own security, New Liberastan would also receive a fine lesson in just how well their tolerance and open-minded attitude toward Islam is being received in the Muslim world, where homosexuality and similar liberal social practices are met with far less understanding than they are among American conservatives.  Terrorism within their borders would quickly become a problem, and the various factions which currently make up the Democrat Party would quickly turn on each other.  This is especially true because liberalism requires scapegoats and people to blame; there must be an enemy, and everything is someone else’s fault.

With this stark contrast between conservative and liberal values, it is easy to see why secession would be an impossibility with the federal government already as empowered as it is.  Quite simply, the government could not afford to allow its productive element to abandon the dependent takers which comprise liberalism, especially when the percentage of citizens dependent on the government is constantly–and by design–increasing.  For every state like California which is rapidly spending itself into oblivion, the federal government needs several red states to leech from to make up the balance.  As liberalism spreads and gains power, it is already slowly but surely transforming our country into this dystopia.  California, New York, and other deep blue states are prime examples of how liberals believe all states should be managed.

If the 2012 election teaches us anything, it should be that liberalism is expanding and conservatism seems unwilling or unable to deal with it as we must.  The responsible contributors who drive society and have traditionally developed the country are now the people who are attacked and blamed for the very hardships we are facing, while the people causing our downfall are the ones being repeatedly elected to office under the mistaken belief they can help us.

Conservatives who believe in the rights of the states and limited government must learn from history and disassociate ourselves from the liberal federal government which seeks to trample our freedoms.  To do this, the red states must stand strong and use whatever power they have to resist federal intrusion.  Republican governors refusing to implement the disastrous mandates of Obamacare would be a great place to start.  If we cannot find a way to secede from the failed policies of liberalism, we will all be doomed to go down with them together.

Original article: A Lesson in Secession (Part 2)

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