Devolution USA
Will
the United States survive as a highly centralized, bureaucratic nation state? This
memo assumes the nation will fracture in the near future. What do Americans really want? Do their choices, and their votes, matter?
Hundreds
of thousands of Californians and New Yorkers have ‘voted with their feet’ and
moved mostly to Texas and Florida. Many
Texans, for example, want to leave the Union again [1] and become an
independent nation again. [2] The USA seems to be coming apart at the seams.
So it might be time to
revisit the foundational document of the federal system: the Declaration of
Independence.
"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." -- United States Declaration of Independence
For the first time in a century and two thirds Americans face the real prospect of irreparable differences among large geographic areas of the federation. Many fear that we are on an irreversible path toward a civil war between the over-populated coastal urban centers and the food and fuel producing interior regions they depend upon.
This map shows states supporting Texas’ efforts to secure the international border as the federal authorities fail to do so.
A second civil war would be a struggle for control by the urban elites or autonomy for the interior regions. The electorate appears nearly evenly divided, with no clear majority, although I suspect in 2020 the Regime Uniparty ‘transferred’ about 5 million votes from the Green and Libertarian Parties to put the Biden Remime in power. It currently looks like the Regime holds all the levers of Federal power... Congress, the presidency and the highest courts are all compromised.
This time it must not be like what happened in 1860/65 when the Federal Government destroyed dozens of American cities and about a million and a half Americans died in the war and subsequent famine (mostly, BTW, former slaves) during a failed attempt to split the Federation.
Furthermore, the Law of Nations has evolved substantially since the War Between the States, with the right of national self-determination generally trumping ‘recognized’ nation-state boundaries.
Would people support an Institute for Peaceful Secession [the IPS] which would study how peaceful secession and dismantling of the Union could occur?
The Institute could study relatively peaceful examples from history, like the Czechoslovak "Velvet Revolution" and the break-up of the USSR or British Empire.
What would we actually have to do to peacefully replace the United States of America and its authoritarian legislative, judicial, executive/military bureaucracy with true guardians for our liberties?
Maybe that new structure could be called the American States' Common Market or the New American Confederation.
A new Declaration of Full Independence is needed, clearly protecting those states that choose to move from subservience to federal authority and, for example, gaining power to opt-out of international agencies such as the WHO.
Americans would most likely need a free trade treaty among the States. This could include joint international border controls, but free internal travel and trade for citizens of the States. States with similar policies might form collaborating blocks, coordinating activities. Or they might not. Freedom for individuals and localities should be primary.
That was the original concept of the Confederation that existed before the Constitution of 1787 and is within the purview of the Declaration of Independence which reserves to the people the "...right, [the] duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
Americans have lived under three separate polities since declaring independence: the Continental Congress [1774 – 1781], the Confederation [1781 – 1789], and the Federation under the Constitution of 1787 [1789 – present]. Planning for a Fourth Republic should not be unthinkable.
The first step toward making a New American Confederal Republic a reality would be studying and publicizing how to do it peacefully.
A bit over twenty-five years ago the arguable most powerful and largest imperial government on earth, that of the USSR, disappeared -- nearly without warning and, surprisingly, with little bloodshed.
Many areas, like Ukraine, which had been part of the empire since the 1700s, became independent nations again.
It was just a few years before that the head of the Red Army bragged that the "correlation of forces" had shifted decisively to the USSR and against the West. We all know what happened and the suffering of millions as the old regime collapsed without any planning.
While the peoples of the former USSR are now much better off than before, it took a quarter century for them to be able to enjoy the freedoms their resistance to Red Tyranny had at least partially regained.
We could face similar horrific hardship unless we plan for the devolution of the Third Republic.
There is already a state-supported body known as the Uniform Law Commission which can serve as a model. It developed the Uniform Commercial Code among other model state laws and is an example of cooperation among the States. [3]
Another approach would be for those States, like Texas, that are distressed by the CCP-backed Coup of 6 January 2021, when Congress was panicked into approving the stolen election, leading to the current border crisis, to demand the convening of a Convention of the States to revise the Constitution of 1787, as provided in that document. [4]
That body could reform the Federal System and, perhaps, preserve the Union. While we all hope saner leaders prevail, we must face the historic fact that every nation has changed over time, often in revolutionary ways. What is the average longevity of a Republic? Even the strongest last just a couple of centuries. [5]
Change will happen. The alternative to destructive change is preparation -- prepping for the inevitable.
What basic principles could inspire a movement for the peaceful Devolution USA?
Here are some that
might be considered:
1. Do No Harm; one Civil War was enough.
2. Keep the national common market with no
internal tariffs and external tariffs limited to funding ports and border
control.
3. Common national security based primarily on
State forces and militias; maintain the Marines & Space Force.
4. Common peaceful international relations, no
overseas bases, with the States retaining power to opt-out of Federal regulations
or treaties and other international agreements that require State action to
implement.
5. Allowing of market-based currencies free from
political and central bank manipulation.
6. Devolve all government activities not explicitly
stated in Article One, Section 8 of the Constitution of 1787 from the national
government to the States; strictly enforce the 9th and 10th
Amendments.
7. Maintain the Bill of Rights (first ten
amendments), the 13th and other personal rights amendments.
8. Collaboration among the States, without requiring Federal approval.
The Free Republic can be re-imagined for the modern world with its global communications and markets, but only if the stultifying power of the Federal Bureaucracy is abolished.
Comments?
If you are interested in further exploring Devolution USA, please follow this Group on Telegram: https://t.me/+jjRoN9E9zYdiYjJh
By: Ralph Fucetola JD
Retired Attorney at Law
ralph.fucetola@gmail.com
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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Independence_Referendum_Act
[2] Texas Declaration
of Independence, 1836 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5872/m1/1071
[3] "The Uniform
Law Commission, also called the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform
State Laws, is a non-profit, American unincorporated association. Established
in 1892, the ULC aims to provide U.S. states with well-researched and drafted
legislation to bring clarity and stability to critical areas of statutory law
across jurisdictions" https://uniformlaws.org/home
[4] https://conventionofstates.com/
Ver 1.1 / 8Feb24
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