Some people have been talking about “secession.” Many conservatives and libertarians are asking if it makes sense. Whether it makes “sense” or not, it will not happen. No state legislature would vote to initiate the process of secession.
This is because most modern state legislatures do not have many members angry enough. They may not liken what is going on at the federal government but not enough to support secession.
However, Americans who live in rural and some suburban areas are executing a secession of their own. They are disassociating themselves from the lifestyles, cultural mores, laws, and self-inflicted wounds exhibited in our large cities. Call it de facto secession.
Different attitudes, values, principles, and cultures
Citizens living outside of Leftist urban areas do not accept what is going on in large cities. The thinking is, “I am not one of them. They are different from me. We do not agree on basic things, like what laws should govern human conduct.”
This mental disassociation did not exist in previous times of crisis in our country. There was much more national unity. That was true in December of 1941 or even September of 2001. Then, rural Americans and city dwellers still shared many values. There is one set of laws all follow. Clearly, the similarity in culture and politics between rural and urban Americans is dying. The pace is accelerating.
Americans living in suburban areas recognize that their way of life is incompatible with that of large cities. This results in suburban dwellers venturing into cities less often. Once there, they feel unsafe and unwelcome. According to the FBI, crime rates in our urban areas are significantly higher than in suburban and rural areas.
Lawlessness is not a value
Many horrific things can happen to you in a large city without warning. You can be struck from behind in a “Knockout Attack” or struck by a stray bullet. Violent demonstrators may surround you. They may scream at you and call you evil. Your offense? Your wealth, race, religious views, or political beliefs. All of which are determined without the need of interaction with you. This is not a comfortable place that feels like home.
Over the past few decades, millions of Americans have left our large cities. Largely they are people who support traditional American values. Others have left because they value physical safety. The political corruption, high taxes and racial politics leave them in disgust. They are fed up with homelessness and the excessive politi-virus lockdown orders.
Cities
Cities like St. Louis, Detroit, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Washington D.C., and New York City are continuing to decline. These areas will simultaneously become more similar. They already have much in common politically.
Urban areas have been failing financially for many years. They have unworkable policies and massive bureaucracies and as the policies become more progressive, the costs escalate even higher.
The bureaucracy features payrolls that are too large and too expensive. Other city characteristics include broken infrastructure, rampant homelessness, and an utterly unaffordable pension system.
Enough!
How much longer will productive taxpayers living in rural and suburban communities subsidize large cities? Sooner or later, these citizens will say “Enough is enough, we want out!” They will want the urban centers to form their own “United Cities of America”. They will be welcome to have their own laws and lifestyles. Whatever they can afford.
Simultaneously, Americans living in non-urban areas will forge closer bonds of their own. More and more they recognize similarities as communication grows. A different kind of secession is already taking place.