US policies give rise to 'secession' talks
PressTv, 12 Oct 2009 19:28:43 GMT
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Washington's handling of Afghan and Iraq wars, economy and civil rights raise calls for secession. |
Amid the increasing unpopularity of the US government's policies on war, economy and civil rights, a growing number of Americans are advocating the secession and defiance of federal laws, a report says.
Secessionists, such as the Second Vermont Republic movement and the Texas Nationalist Movement, and states rights advocates believe the federal government has lost its authority.
"The US government has lost its moral authority," Thomas Naylor, a retired economics professor who heads the Second Vermont Republic movement, told AFP. "Our government is operated and owned by Wall Street and corporate America."
"The empire is going down — do you want to go down with the Titanic, or seek other options while they are still on the table?"
The anger behind the secession movements is provoked by two ongoing wars in far-away countries, a contentious decision to bail out failed Wall Street bankers driven by "arrogance and greed" — as US President Barack Obama described the roots of the global financial crisis —, and executive laws signed by the administration which challenge civil liberties.
Dave Mundy, a spokesman for the Texas Nationalist Movement, was quoted by AFP as saying that "secession" is the only answer to the current crisis, which cannot be "repaired in the current political system."
There are reportedly active secessionist groups in at least 10 US states, including Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska and Texas.
"There is more talk today about nullification (invalidating federal laws) and secession... than any time since 1865," said Kirkpatrick Sale, whose South Carolina-based Middlebury Institute studies separatism, secession, and self-determination.
Texas, which was an independent republic from 1836 to 1845, last seceded in 1861 and joined 10 other southern states to form the Confederate States of America.
The secession provoked the Civil War and it took the union four years to restore order. Some 620,000 Americans lost their lives in the war.
The United States declared its independence in 1776.
The report comes as tensions in the country grow over healthcare reform, with 15 states mulling over laws that would exempt them from federal healthcare regulations.
The anti-tax, anti-big government "Tea Party" movements, meanwhile, are also on the rise with Republicans seeking popular support to counter Democrats in the White House and Congress.
MD/HGH
Secessionists, such as the Second Vermont Republic movement and the Texas Nationalist Movement, and states rights advocates believe the federal government has lost its authority.
"The US government has lost its moral authority," Thomas Naylor, a retired economics professor who heads the Second Vermont Republic movement, told AFP. "Our government is operated and owned by Wall Street and corporate America."
"The empire is going down — do you want to go down with the Titanic, or seek other options while they are still on the table?"
The anger behind the secession movements is provoked by two ongoing wars in far-away countries, a contentious decision to bail out failed Wall Street bankers driven by "arrogance and greed" — as US President Barack Obama described the roots of the global financial crisis —, and executive laws signed by the administration which challenge civil liberties.
Dave Mundy, a spokesman for the Texas Nationalist Movement, was quoted by AFP as saying that "secession" is the only answer to the current crisis, which cannot be "repaired in the current political system."
There are reportedly active secessionist groups in at least 10 US states, including Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska and Texas.
"There is more talk today about nullification (invalidating federal laws) and secession... than any time since 1865," said Kirkpatrick Sale, whose South Carolina-based Middlebury Institute studies separatism, secession, and self-determination.
Texas, which was an independent republic from 1836 to 1845, last seceded in 1861 and joined 10 other southern states to form the Confederate States of America.
The secession provoked the Civil War and it took the union four years to restore order. Some 620,000 Americans lost their lives in the war.
The United States declared its independence in 1776.
The report comes as tensions in the country grow over healthcare reform, with 15 states mulling over laws that would exempt them from federal healthcare regulations.
The anti-tax, anti-big government "Tea Party" movements, meanwhile, are also on the rise with Republicans seeking popular support to counter Democrats in the White House and Congress.
MD/HGH
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