A Rebel Yell

Gov. Rick Perry told reporters that Texas might consider seceding from the Union if Washington’s tax and spend policies continue. Such an idea is, quite simply, silly. Further, I would say it is impossible. In the U.S. a state only exists as long as it is part of the Union. There is no such thing as a state leaving the very entity that undergirds its existence (contra the South’s argument in the Civil War). There is no succession; there is only revolution. Conservatives touting “states’ rights” need to check their history. Such a term originally stemmed from a philosophy that sought to fight the tyranny of the Federal government while denying equality to Southern slaves. A revolution, a return to the people as individuals, recognizes equality. Succession replaces the equality of persons with the equality of states, originally so slavery could be maintained. I know conservatives do not mean these ideas; yet they use the same language. Leave aside such talk. There are better terms to fight an increasingly intrusive government.