There’s a commentator called “tobias” at the Salon.com post entitled “just secede already”, which is just brilliant. He makes the argument that the only reason secession seems reasonable is because we have killed federalism, cut its head off, pounded a stake through its heart, and buried it at the crossroads:
Tobias
10 days ago
Hang on. Maybe there’s a solution to this problem that would avoid succession.
We’re talking about such a big country with wildly diverse interests, needs, history, traditions, environments and populations. So what if we divided the country into smaller, more manageable units that would be largely self-governing in terms of the day-to-day lives of their citizens. Then people would feel like they had greater control over how they are governed and they wouldn’t feel like they are being dictated to by people who don’t share their values or whose needs and interests are very different. We could call these units something like “States.” We could even allow these States to further subdivide themselves if they find it necessary.
But then, we could also take advantage of the economies of scale that flow from such a large population by pooling some resources to create a unified system of trade and common defense amongst and between the states. We could have one military to defend us and free inter-state commerce. Also, we could allow citizens of different states to live and move freely within these states if they chose.
It seems to me that such a system of united states would produce far less friction and animosity that a large, overarching government that sought increasing control over the daily lives of such a diverse population. Just a thought.
After the Soviet Union collapsed because the statists and “central planners” better known as “apparatchiks” (we call them bureauKaRATZ) put too much pressure on the different regions to conform and pay MORE tax, (so the apparatchiks could live a better lifestyle) the CIS (confederation of independent states) was formed.
I’m afraid this is what we are heading to. But it is a NECESSARY conclusion.
Collectivists, statists, commie pigs, apparatchiks, bureauKaRATZ, are Satan’s own spawn. Like a chigger, they dig themselves deep into the social fabric.
The only way to get this commie pig chigger out from under your skin is to dig it out, kicking and screaming, with a sharp knife.
Hurts like hell, (Ask any Russian what they went through when the old system collapsed.) but once you are on the other side of it, you wonder why you took so long to RID yourself of the pest.
I see it in the tea leaves.