Thursday, November 15, 2012

It Isn't Just Right Wingers That Have Talked About Secession

You will get plenty of left groups as well.  In my own area there is a group that I have seen post flyer's every once and a while, CascadiaNow!, a group that wants secession of the 'Cascadian Bioregion' from the United States and Canada.  If you have ever been to a Seattle Sounders game you see their signature flag at the soccer games. I can tell its a leftists group for one reason, they list environmental concerns as a major concern, and reason, for why the region should go its own way.

I have to admit I like the colors, don't much like the tree though.
Still I prefer the stars and stripes thank you very much.
Now this group isn't a large group or have a major following whatsoever, it has something like two thousand followers on facebook, far less than the 80,000 the Texas petition had acquired* yesterday, and even accounting for the fact that Texas is far larger than Washington and Oregon, the combined population is just under 11 million versus the 25.5 million of Texas. The fact is that 2,000 likers on facebook is not even a fraction of a percent.

As for myself, I have no desire to have my region secede and make their own country. I have made my stance on secession pretty clear. If you believe Vox's prognosis of a fracturing nation due to demographics, then it is inevitable. If you think George Friedman is right, and that the US is fundamentally sound, then it isn't. I'm torn between the two. At this point both options seem plausible in the long term, though in the short term secession has no chance.  But assuming that it is inevitable, I do not view it as a positive thing, for reason I have detailed before. Moreover, I would be even more hesitant to live in a region based on the ideals of CascadiaNows vision of a nation. 

Yes they list civil liberties, something I care deeply about, but I have often seen those same individuals, who are deeply concerned about the environment, put civil liberties to the wayside for the sake of their environmental alter. This isn't always the case, as the podcaster modern survival from The Survival Podcast is very much a libertarian, but individuals like that are currently minority of those who really list the environment as a major issue. Is this a harsh assessment? No more harsh than saying that many conservatives aren't as deeply concerned about liberty when they want to put forward their causes, patriot act anyone (And to be completely fair, I should bear some of that mark because I originally supported the patriot act and many of the actions of our government. I have since recanted. You could call me a repentant neo-conservative who has seen the light of libertarianism.)

Either way, let no one tell you that it is just right wing radicals who have talked about seceding from the United States, leftists groups have their own individuals who want to cut their ties from the rest of America. And also expect to see all this furor to die down, things aren't nearly bad enough, with enough people talking about it, and enough regional sentiment, that secession is anything more than headliner. Things could change though.

*At this point the only region or state that could make any sort of case would be Texas. Texans, unlike many other states, actually have a Texan identity. They have their own electrical system, a sound economy, and one of the more robust state militias. I know others could argue for the South or Alaska, but both regions are entirely too dependent on federal resources at this point and time to put forward a serious effort.  But even then, like I have said before, our split is urban versus rule, not regional. And until we have a real regional split, there won't be a real secessionist movement.

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Seattle resident whose real name is Kevin Daniels. This blog covers the following topics, libertarian philosophy, realpolitik, western culture, history and the pursuit of truth from the perspective of a libertarian traditionalist.