The Likely Result of Texas Secession

By Bryce Buchmann on November 16, 2012

As of Thursday morning, over 100,000 people had signed an online petition for Texas to secede from the Union. This comes in the wake of Barack Obama’s reelection as president and represents fears that the federal government will become tyrannical under Democratic rule in the coming years. Typically reserved for history lectures and jokes about Rick Perry, talk about secession has suddenly been catapulted into the realm of semi-serious discussion. Putting aside the fact that the White House will almost certainly deny requests for secession and ignoring the likelihood that Texas voters would disapprove of such a change, I’ve decided to offer a prediction for the impact secession would have on our great state.

Source: oakridgenow.com

The petitions for secession have sprung up since Obama’s reelection, indicating that they come from frustration over Democratic leadership in Washington. Assuming that citizens of this newly formed Texas republic would be allowed to immigrate to the United States, Texas would probably see a severe drop in population due to all the people who still want to be Americans and not exclusively Texan. The people who leave Texas would most likely be liberal and moderate voters – the ones who feel they can put up with a Democratic White House for a few more years in exchange for remaining American. Those people leaving would also need to have the education and financial means to maintain a stable lifestyle in another part of North America – most of them would be somewhat wealthy and educated. This means that Texas would lose vast amounts of wealthy moderates and liberals, leaving mainly radical conservatives and those who can’t afford to emigrate from Texas. That doesn’t sound like my idea of a great nation, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

This is just my humble guess as to the effect that 21st century secession could have. Admittedly, it rests on the assumption that large amounts of Texas residents would leave the state instead of sticking around to help make the transition to independence run smoothly. I may be entirely wrong. It’s conceivable that in the event of Texas secession we could continue to operate even more prosperously than before. Creation and management of a Texas currency would support our massive economy. With a military culture like ours, establishing an army would be a piece of cake. If everyone stays, all we would need is a transfer of power from D.C. to Austin and we’d be well on our way to a glorious future of Texas independence.

But I’m not okay with that.

My family flies an American flag in front of our house and that will never change. The Union was founded on certain principles that we still adhere to today. The Declaration of Independence – which is quoted in several of the state petitions for secession – is one of the most profound documents ever written, and came in response to a monarch passing undue burdens onto his subjects on the other side of the world. Last week our democratic system elected a man whom slightly less than half of voters don’t want running the country. There is simply no comparison.

I spoke with a French woman recently who was in the United States on September 11, 2001. She told me she was blown away by the reaction of American people to the tragedy. If an attack like that had happened in Pairs, she said, the people in other parts of France would have dismissed it as a Parisian problem instead of a French one. As a college junior, I am just old enough to remember the days and weeks following 9/11, and I too was taken aback by the patriotic solidarity displayed around the country. “It was beautiful,” the French woman told me, “that’s the only way I could describe it.” As much fun as it may be to talk about independence and secession, we should all look past our political frustrations and regional differences and remember to appreciate the single nation that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It’s the only one I’m a citizen of, I’m proud to call it home, and Texans are mistaken for thinking otherwise.

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