America: The OTHER Yugoslavia

I've gotta go shovel shit, but allow me to take just a moment to foment major sociopolitical upheaval.

In this LRC article, Michael Rozeff spells out the problem:

I don’t think Americans can improve their lot by participating in national politics under the current rules of the national game. I think they have to change the rules. They have to end the Union and get out from under the existing Constitution, which is now entirely controlled and interpreted by the national government.

Since there is no consensus for going back to the original Constitution and since it would have to be rewritten and renegotiated, which is a process of uncertain outcome and which is impractical anyway, this leaves one viable path: ending the Union and ending this Constitution.

...and then cogently proposes a solution that I've been toying with but haven't been able to string together coherently:

A viable means is the withdrawal of consent by Vermonters or Texans or Alaskans or Arizonans or Californians or the citizens of any state to (sic) the U.S. government. People gain leverage and power against the national Leviathan by acting as citizens of their respective states. They need to act through their state legislatures, not as citizens of the United States.

Yes, the state governments. Stop laughing. I know I'm not being ideologically pure in endorsing this, but I console myself that all the worst atrocities in human history were carried out in the name of ideological or philosophical purity. The man's got a point, and we can always strip-mine the state governments later. Hey, I'm advocating Fabian tactics here. It worked for the Socialists.

A tax revolt that works from and through the state legislatures directly undermines the Union. It directly challenges the power of Congress to tax. That’s a far stronger political platform for restructuring the United States.

Outright secession is one political measure in a spectrum of possible actions by which one or more states stand up to the U.S. government. Nullification is another. Withdrawal from the banking system is another. A separate payments system at the state level is a fourth. Refusal to obey any of hundreds of U.S. directives is a fifth. The formation of alliances among states is another.

In fact, there are so many possible ways by which one or more states stand up to the Union that, given enough time and the right conditions, a breakup is all but assured. The same cannot be said of any movement that seeks to work change by confronting Americans as one large group with their national government.

Divide. Conquer. But first, divide.

Our problem in trying to get our liberty back is that our enemy is mighty and united. No, the government is not some Borg-like monolith. But on this subject, all its multifarious warring parts are in agreement: They know they absolutely must hold us down. We're the chickens in the coop. The farmer's family may argue among themselves, but none of them are arguing for us. We need to get them arguing with some other families.

The political factionalism of the past few decades is working for us in this regard. Increasingly, Americans are becoming divided to an irreconcilable degree. What do westerners have in common with the contented denizens of Chicago, or NYC, or DC? We're all carbon-based lifeforms, and that's just about it. I, for one, am heartily sick of being outvoted by people with whom I share not one single idea or belief. I've never been a Free Stater, but do occasionally think maybe they've got a point. Concentrate our numbers in the political subdivisions that can plausibly be nudged in our direction. Some of them are already nearly there - Arizona, Wyoming, Montana are practically in revolt against their "federal" masters already, though not necessarily on topics I sympathize with. That sort of dissension needs to be encouraged. If some state governments get the idea that their people endorse individual action, they'll become more bold. Nullification will follow, and the withholding of tax money. Secession will gradually - maybe not so gradually - become less unthinkable.

Maybe we can't kill Leviathan. But it'd be fun to try and saw his frickin' legs off.

Utopia in our lifetime? Oh, hell no! It'd be chaos. But like I've said before, we need to get comfortable with the idea of chaos. We need to embrace the chaos. We've been normal for a long time now, and change is good.