Last month, Scotland held a referendum to secede from a 300-year union with the British. After an enormous number of voters turned out, the country failed to gain its independence from the United Kingdom. The vote garnered global headlines and encouraged other secessionist movements, including the Quebecois in Canada.
Former Texas Republican Congressman and three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul argued that the situation in Scotland should prompt secessionist movements in the United States. According to an op-ed entitled “Scottish Referendum Gives Reasons to be Hopeful” published Sunday on the Ron Paul Institute website, the author of “End the Fed” purported that threats of secession is the best way to break away from “oppressive governments.”
Paul cited the recent case in the state of California where there is an initiative to separate the state into six different parts. Unfortunately, those in support of the measure did not succeed in getting very far.
“Americans who embrace secession are acting in a grand American tradition. The Declaration of Independence was written to justify secession from Britain,” opined Paul. “Supporters of liberty should cheer the growth in support for secession, as it is the ultimate rejection of centralized government and the ideologies of Keynesianism, welfarism, and militarism.”
In addition, secession can solve a lot of problems. For instance, Paul noted that the only potential way of resolving the conflict in Ukraine is if the people decide to separate into two parts: the east and the west. Whatever they choose, it should be resolved domestically as opposed to international interference, says Paul.
“The possibility that people will break away from an oppressive government is one of the most effective checks on the growth of government. It is no coincidence that the transformation of America from a limited republic to a monolithic welfare-warfare state coincided with the discrediting of secession as an appropriate response to excessive government,” wrote Paul. “Devolving government into smaller units promotes economic growth. The smaller the size of government, the less power it has to hobble free enterprise with taxes and regulations.”
Of course, secession is a major part of states’ rights, something that is hated by proponents of centralized governments. Former German Chancellor Adolf Hitler despised states’ rights because he had less control over those areas – any tyrants hate states’ rights and secession. According to Paul, decentralizing a government can increase free trade and diminish “managed trade” by specialist interest groups, civil servants and politicians.
“Devolution of power to smaller levels of government should also make it easier for individuals to use a currency of their choice, instead of a currency favored by central bankers and politicians,” concluded Paul. “The growth of support for secession should cheer all supporters of freedom, as devolving power to smaller units of government is one of the best ways to guarantee peace, property, liberty — and even cheap whiskey!”
If a state doesn’t want to be held accountable for the mistakes of the federal government, whether it is debt, budget deficits or inflation, then why shouldn’t it be allowed to become its own country? Secession creates smaller government and thus lessens the burdens of taxes, regulations and government intervention into the private lives of individuals. Smaller government equals less power.
Soon after the 2012 presidential election, a dozen or so states filed petitions to the White House to secede from the union.
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