Texas secede?

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Did they have to kill English and Mexican soldiers?
Are proposing doing that to American soldiers? = Treason

Sorry, but I am not sure the point you are trying to make...

Or is it that if a people try to assert the natural right of that government derives its powers ONLY by the consent of the governed, and armed force is used to prevent it, that they are traitors for acting in their own defense...?

[malfunction]

Originally Posted by momojojo

Do any of you Texans out there think that one day TX would secede from the Union? Is that just a lot of hoo hah from a small group, or could it be a reality?

That's been tried once, but it will never really happen. No way.

[doctorjef]

I think if you look at the increasing integration of the world economy there are both inherent forces for drawing nation-states together and at the same time for allowing them to maintain limited sovereignty within overlapping layers of inter-state/international federalism or confederation. The EU is an example of this and is not without its problems and drawbacks. Canada and the US have an integrated power grid and telephone networks, as well as cross-border regulatory authorities with limited powers (in my own profession we have the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, which attempts to standardise licensure requirements amongst all the states and provinces). Those are just a couple of examples. I think that over time we could see a loosening of federal rule in the US if the states take more initiative to actually step up to the plate and assume responsibilities that in the past they've passively allowed the federal government and federal courts to assume. This really is going to take more political and social activism on the part of the states, with a greater commitment to social justice and environmentalism, among other issues. At the same time, I doubt that the federal union will wither away into nothingness, break up, or experience isolated (attempted) secessions, barring some almost unimaginable prolonged crisis of apocolyptic proportions. I think we might also see greater development of inter-state compacts between various groups of states for various specific purposes; these are constitutionally allowable but can operate in such a way that the federal government is uninvolved or minimally involved.