Secession
That
one word evokes many emotions and concepts. To many in
the United States it equates to treason and rebellion.
This sad fact is a result of ignorance. If a man has the
right to vote but is always told that voting is
pointless, or worse illegal, and he believes such to be
the truth it cannot be said that he truly has such a
right.
It
has not always been so. The United States was born
during a time that secession and self determination were
not only observed as inalienable rights but were
practiced. Virginia set the example in June of 1776 by
declaring her independence from Great Britain. She
along with the twelve other colonies jointly declared
their independence the following month. These were acts
of secession and our Independence Day might rightly be
called
Secession Day.
The
charter of the
American
Secession Project
is simple. We desire to place the concept of secession
in the mainstream of political thought. Our intent is
to proclaim that secession is a viable and legal right
and a practical solution to contemporary problems.
Secondly, we desire to build a coalition of groups
seeking autonomy and independence within the current
United States. Mutual support for the concept of
self-determination and secession will eventually benefit
all groups seeking freedom.
http://www.secessionist.us/
INTRODUCTORY LETTER
In answer to a growing swell
of interest in realistic responses to the excesses of
the present American empire, The Middlebury Institute
has been launched by a group of activists and
professionals to promote the serious study of
separatism, secession, self-determination and similar
devolutionary trends and developments, on both national
and international scales.
We believe that, of the options open to those who
would dissent from the actions and institutions of a
government grown too big and unwieldy and its handmaiden
corporate sponsors grown too powerful and corrupt, the
only comprehensive and practical one is some form of
separatism. Exploring this option is not a step to be
taken lightly, because there are established forces that
will hamper and resist, and yet it is a legal and viable
enterprise, squarely in the American tradition, and of a
piece with the worldwide devolutionary current that has
seen the breakup of European empires (including the
Soviet) and the expansion of the United Nations from 51
to 193 nations in sixty years.
Moreover, the accumulating signs point to a
series of major crises that will seriously disrupt and
may even destroy the American system in the near
future. These include economic disruptions in the wake
of global “peak oil” production before 2010,
deterioration of the power of the dollar through
mounting and uncontrollable national debt and trade
imbalances, continued degradation of vital ecosystems on
which the nation depends, climate change and severe
weather causing widespread devastation of coastal
areas, extended use of military force worldwide leading
to increased terrorism and the reinstitution of the
draft, judicial takeovers at the Federal level by
........
It is for these reasons that The
Middlebury Institute hopes to foster a national movement
in the United States that will:
* place secession on the
national political agenda,
* encourage secessionist and separatist movements
here and abroad,
* develop communication among such existing and
future groups,
* create a body of scholarship to examine and
promote the ideas of separatism,
* and work carefully and thoughtfully for the
ultimate task, the peaceful dissolution of the American
empire.
To these ends we intend to issue regular papers
treating with a broad range of secessionist issues,
including the question of the constitutionality of
secession in the U.S.; reports on the status of various
secessionist movements in the U.S.; scenarios of federal
responses to states opting to secede; the ethics of
secession; the history of secession in America; the
economic consequences of secession—a cost-benefit
analysis; a history of worldwide secession and
devolution developments of the past 20 years; case
studies of individual foreign separatist movements of
modern times; and excerpts from the considerable body of
literature on separatism and secession. We will make
many of these and other resources available on our
website.
We will facilitate networking among secessionists
continentally and worldwide by sponsoring various
gatherings of activists and scholars, sending out news
releases, linking to news stories on our web site and
keeping interested parties aware of developments through
our email list.
This is a long-haul project: the task is as
immense as it is urgent, and we must go carefully, even
as we go steadily. We will need your help: contact us,
send us your email address, contribute what you can.
Ultimately the Middlebury Institute will be what its
constituents need and want, and we will serve the
movement in any way we can.
Spread the word. Join the action. Take the
battlements. And keep in touch.
Kirkpatrick Sale
Thomas Naylor
September 1, 2005
