Veterans' Day

It is Veterans’ Day again, a time when we recognize those who have served our country and defended our borders. Many people claim that the men and women in our armed services fight to protect “our freedom(s)”. The phrase has been commandeered by statists and military apologists recently, to the detriment of those who do serve bravely. Beside failing to make the leap from protecting our freedom to forcibly spreading ‘democracy’ (read: rule by a party or cartel of parties of which the current American administration approves) around the world, those on the left and the right ignore the “freedoms” they do not like or would prefer not to confront.

One such right came up this election cycle when it was reported that Gov. Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd, allegedly had been a member of an Alaskan secessionist party. The party was decried in the media, especially on the left, and the word ‘secessionist’ was derided with a contemptuous sneer each time the issue arose. The very mention of ‘secession’ was mocked, when the real problem with the Alaskan Independence Party is that the party’s founder was a violent secessionists, promoting secession specifically through armed revolt. Peaceable secession is nothing to be mocked. In fact, it is the basis of our society. The party now claims that a referendum on Alaskan independence would be accepted by its members, regardless of the result. That sounds much more like reasonable discourse on the legitimacy of our government than a group of crazy, gun-toting Yosemite Sams in snowshoes.

Thomas Jefferson wrote prodigiously on the issue of the “consent of the governed,” which even appears in the Declaration of Independence, America’s own secessionist document. How can a secular state, which has no Divine Right or other external claims to legitimacy, not recognize that the people are allowed, and even obligated, to change or disband their government when it no longer serves the people? Without the people the government does not exist; as Jefferson writes, it is the people “to whom all authority belongs.”

Zogby put out a poll in July which found that 22% of Americans think peaceable secession is a right for states or regions. Of those polled, fewer said they would support such a movement, which is a great sign that people are thinking about the issue rationally, as showing support for a right which one does not personally advocate displays empathy, logic and fairness. Interestingly, 44% of those polled felt that the United States governmental system is broken and cannot be fixed by two-parties and elections. If the last point is not a clear indication that the American people are becoming aware that the two parties have an alliance to protect their power, I’m afraid we’ll never have one.

In all, secession is not likely, whether by a state, like Alaska or California, or a region, as the case of Jefferson, a proposed state consisting of parts of Oregon and northern California; however, the right to do so is pre-American, and every veteran who has fought to preserve the rights of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and spirit of America has done so to protect that ability as well.



EDIT: here's an article from lewrockwell.com on changes they'd like to see over there.