Jared Emry

It all started on November 7^th in Louisiana where a man named Michael E. published a petition asking for Louisiana to be given the chance to peacefully secede from the United States.  It was followed by other states.  It was followed by other states, Texas being the first to reach the twenty-five thousand signatures needed to be considered by President Obama.  There are two sides that need to be addressed regarding this occurrence.  The first is a discussion on how these various petitions will probably affect the world.  The second is a discussion on whether or not secession is an ideologically plausible form of redress to the grievances of the federal government.

There are various outcomes to what these petitions will bring.  Some of the more popular thoughts about them include a second American civil war or simply letting Texas and other states to go their own way.  Both of those are not very likely.  Firstly, a second American Civil War would be shut down before it really gained momentum.  Let’s face it; there are only a few tens of thousands of signatures, hardly enough to stand against the American military.  Also, not everyone who signed would be really willing to fight for independence if it came down to such drastic measures.  Anyways, the government has the signers’ names and could just assassinate them, because America was unfortunately determined to be a battlefield by the NDAA.  It is doubtful that another civil war would be caused by a mere petition.  Civil war is not upon America as a direct result of the petitions.  On the other hand, there is no way Obama is going to let a state go.  Ever since Abraham Lincoln made preserving the Union a rallying cry to be echoed throughout the textbooks and hearts of children, anyone threatening the Federal Governments control over the states, Obama would actually feel obligated to start a second civil war if secession actually did happen, regardless of what these petitions say.  Based on the fact Obama is not going to submit to the demands of the petition, no matter how strong, it can be safely assumed no secession will happen as a result of these petitions.  Power isn’t something easy for someone to give up; the government will not just allow a state to go.

Regardless of the near impossibility of secession, there will still be some tangible and significant result of these petitions.  Firstly, the petitions tell the government a lot of people have a strong dislike for the current Federal Government.  In essence these petitions can be viewed as a mass showing of general disapproval.  Seen this way, the petitions are a stimulant to many grassroots groups and the Occupy Movements throughout the nation.  The “hactivist” group, Anonymous, is sure to use these petitions to fuel their war on the Federal Government.  These petitions are probably going to help fuel protests around the country, including the upcoming January 21^st inauguration protest.  There is no reason to assume the petitions won’t have a large effect, but it won’t produce secession.  Slaves aren’t freed by petitioning their masters, at least not initially.  These petitions are just little steps in a growing snowball effect.  These petitions are dangerous for the Federal Government, just not immediately.  The larger consequences of these petitions will probably be in the future.  A petition like this probably will have the numbers exaggerated in the years to come.

Considering the groups that gain from the petitions, there will be a worldwide repercussion.  The leaderless collective known as Anonymous already openly declared a propaganda war against America’s Federal Government.  It would not be surprising if Anonymous uses the petition as proof for the people’s support of their collective.  They claim to support the people in everything they do.  Anonymous already has one of the world’s best pubic relation operations; additional justification is exactly what they would want to increase their numbers.  The Occupy Movement would also gain a significant boost from the petitions for two separate reasons.  The first is the petitions themselves will generate new protestors because they will not and cannot be fulfilled.  The second reason is Anonymous has allied themselves to the Occupy Movement and that alone means that the more supporters Anonymous gets, the more Occupiers there will be.  Other grassroots movements will share a similar benefit.  As the petitions are denied, there will be disillusioned people who will turn to any number of grassroots groups.  Beyond just population numbers, the Occupiers and Anonymous of the EU will also likely be fueled by the petition, because it will tell them they have continued support from some of America’s people.  The many diverse consequences of these petitions are unimaginable but very real.

Secession itself is of another character entirely.  Whether or not it will actual happen, secession is a strong action and ideologically has a great effect on the people.  Secession is simply the formal leaving a group, but it carries more weight than that.  Secession is asking for unconditional separation; in that aspect, it is a lot like a divorce.  To attempt to secede is to claim reconciliation is impossible.  The War of Northern Aggression was all the more violent because of this simple principle.  By seceding, the South claimed the North was so terrible it was worth dying to stay separated, and the South continued to prove the concept by fighting until there was very little left of them.  The North paralleled the South by not willing reconciliation after the secession.  The North looted almost everything the South had, killed most of the working class, and in turn also proved the South’s cause for secession.  In fact, when secession is mentioned nowadays, the American Civil War is almost always thought of.  History aside, secession is often considered the ultimate form of civil disobedience to a government.  Secession is telling the government it is an illegitimate institution and its laws don’t apply.  The significance of such a declaration is astounding.  In essence, the petitions are directly stating the signers’ believe themselves to be victims of an abusive relationship between them and the Federal Government.  They are ending a harmful relationship.

Secession also happens to have always been a part of America; the American Revolutionary war was also a war of secession.  However, it should be noted secession and revolution are not the same.  To secede is not necessarily to rebel.  To rebel is not necessarily to secede.  In the American Revolution, the patriots fought to create and promote a government necessarily opposed to what was their current government.  Secession is taking an already existing government or community and claiming it is equal to the governing body of a federation of governments or communities.  In essence, rebellion does not have to take place in secession because it is merely invalidating the superiority of another government.  Historically, secession is a form of redress against grievances.  If one’s friends disregard a member of a circle of friends, does not that member have a right to leave behind those friends in search of new ones?  Or maybe even to become a recluse?  A state always retains the right to leave an alliance when the alliance is not being honored.  It is for this reason secession was legal up until the War of Northern Aggression where the governing body of the alliance violently forced members to stay in the alliance.  Essentially, the governing body of the alliance violently rebelled against members of the alliance.  It could be considered a coup d’état, except that the military force was technically external instead of internal.  Secession is a reasonable form of redress in the American Tradition.

Today there are many reasons motivating a petition for secession.  The first and most important reason is human rights are being trampled on, and the government refuses to accept other petitions for redress.  That is, however, an extremely broad claim, but there are a few main specificities commonly referenced.  The first major issue deserving redress is the national debt and deficit.  The national debt reduces the people to the state of slavery; the deficit constantly makes it worse by spending more than we have.  The American Dollar is backed by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  In other words, it is based on the income of the citizens.  Essentially, the American people are the collateral behind the money.  The citizen loses the rights of life, liberty, and property to the owner of the dollar.  The second great trampling comes from the Obamacare law.  The people and the states rejected the law with numerous law suits and protests.  Every single petition by the states was denied by the Federal Government.  This is essential, because it clearly shows the governing body does not care about the members of the alliance.  The states were denied their right and duty to redress the federal government as they were meant to be able to do by the Constitution.  Essentially, the contract between the states and the Federal Government was shown to have been broken.  The states are left trying to uphold only the ghost of the Constitution, while the Federal Government exercises power beyond the binding mandates.  The third top issue is probably the NDAA itself.  This law gave the Federal Government the right of life and death over every single citizen in America.  The Federal Government had decided to finally revoke the right of life.  The NDAA also included the suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus, essentially imposing a weaker form of martial law.  The president has signed a bill giving the Federal Government the right to indefinitely detain anyone for any reason without a charge, lawyer, or a trial.  Just the fact the NDAA got that far is a shocking sign of how tyrannical the Federal Government has become.  The fourth major issue is over the right to property.  This is found in a private company known as the IRS.  The income tax is nothing short of theft.  There is no law mandating the paying of the income tax.  About forty percent of the tax goes into the hands of private bankers at the Federal Reserve.  This is a clear violation of the right to property.  In addition to these main four points are additional grievances too numerous to count.

The petitions to secede from the Federal government may indeed be futile, but they are made of the same essence that made this country.  Maybe it won’t be this batch of petitions, but each ignored petition stacks heavily against the oppressor.  Each small step affects the country and the world as a whole.  It would be ignorant to just write off these petitions as unimportant.  As for secession itself, it is just over the horizon.  Either the Federal Government will allow for reconciliation, or it will find itself without the members that compose it.