“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.—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 … it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
— Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, July 1776
“The people of Virginia, in their ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America … in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, having declared that the powers granted under the said Constitution were derived from the people of the United States, and might be resumed [taken back] whensoever the same should be perverted to their injury and oppression; and the Federal Government, having perverted said powers, not only to the injury of the people of Virginia, but to the oppression of the Southern Slaveholding States.
Now, therefore, we, the people of Virginia, do declare and ordain that the ordinance adopted by the people of this State in Convention … whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and all acts of the General Assembly of this State, ratifying or adopting amendments to said Constitution, are hereby repealed and abrogated; that the Union between the State of Virginia and the other States under the Constitution aforesaid, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of Virginia is in the full possession and exercise of all the rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State.”
— Secession Ordinance of Virginia, April 1861
“With the federal government constantly stomping on the rights of the people and ignoring the cries of Texans for security on our borders, people are waking up.Texans and others are finally starting to realize that a national divorce is the only solution to the chaos and socialist Marxism being promoted and forced by the unelected bureaucrats in DC.
As of March of 2021, supporters of the Texas Nationalist Movement were called out in the media as being radicals, racist, and traitors for even suggesting that Texas should leave the union and become an independent nation. Now, less than six months later, it is finally being recognized as the only intelligent and feasible solution. …
Other states are also promoting and researching independence from DC. … Wyoming Republican Party Chairman Frank Eathorne states, ‘We are straight-talking, focused on the global scene, but we’re also focused at home. Many Western states have the ability to be self-reliant, and we’re keeping eyes on Texas, too, and their consideration of possible secession.’ “
— Texas Nationalist Movement website, September 2021
The immortal Thomas Jefferson, in 1776, used the most eloquent phraseology in describing the rights—and the duties—of people to overthrow oppressive and destructive governments. The various secession ordinances of the Southern states, in 1860 and 1861, used far less eloquent words, and they were tarnished by the issue of slavery. Nevertheless, those Southern declarations did righteously uphold the just cause of state sovereignty against an injurious federal government.
Today, in 2021, there are a number of states or parts of states involved in independence movements—independence from either the federal government or their state capitals. The state that has moved furthest along in this process is Texas, where the Texas Nationalist Movement is vigorously promoting a TEXIT referendum on independence from DC. In my own state, Illinois, several conservative downstate counties are seeking to break away from Leftist-dominated Chicago and Cook County to form a new state called New Illinois.
The Communist COVID Crackdown
I believe that such secessionist independence movements are more crucial and necessary now than ever before. The gross overreaction to the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly exposed the federal government and many state governments as authoritarian regimes that care nothing about individual rights, freedoms, and liberties. All they care about are power and control over their populations. With COVID, these tyrannical governments have discovered the secret weapon that they previously lacked—fear! Keep the public in a perpetual state of irrational fear—fueled by general public ignorance regarding science—and the people will do whatever the hell their “leaders” tell them do to, no matter how illogical or oppressive it is. Perfect control, and almost perfect destruction of liberty. Lose your job for not being vaccinated. Wear a face diaper or you can’t enter the store. Parrot the establishment line or you can’t post on social media. Voice and stand up for your own honest views and you’ll get socially isolated, personally punished and persecuted, or even legally prosecuted.
I was recently fired from my 100% work-at-home job because I refused to get the damn COVID vaccine—in violation of Biden’s illogical fascist mandate. That made me one of thousands of persecuted victims of one of the worst cases of mass injustice in American history. Who knows what is next? Anything is possible. Anything! And there is no end in sight.
The governments in DC and numerous state capitals have gotten away with this gigantic stinking BS scam, because the people, in their ignorance and fear, have allowed it. It has been so easy. Now, these governments will never give up their wondrous new fear-based powers. They will always find some excuse to continue the scare tactics and the subjugation of the people. There will always be a new variant of the virus, insufficient numbers of unvaccinated people, totally new health threats, renewed focus on alleged climate threats, dangers to various racial, sexual, or other “minority” groups, safety worries about this or that…. The BS will never end. Until we make it end.
Secession or Revolution
There are only two ways to end it. Peaceful secession. Or violent revolution. I would support and approve of either or both. There are no longer any other options. But I doubt that either will happen—certainly not in the lifetime of this 61-year-old American.
Elections are obviously no longer viable options. The Left has perfected the art of stealing elections. They got away with it big-time in 2020, so they will keep doing it, again and again, in the most important races. In any case, there are usually few, if any, meaningful options among candidates, because most Republicans are feckless and, in the end, just as bad as Democrats when it comes to policies. Trump was the big exception; he truly was a strong independent voice. That’s why the Establishment of both parties had to destroy him. Voting in a nation that is controlled by a corrupt authoritarian Deep-State Establishment is a pointless exercise in futility. It might make you feel good, but it will accomplish nothing.
Over the past few decades, the power of authoritarian Leftists in America has been cemented by their increasingly firm control of every major institution, including the mass media, social media, the education system, the legal/judicial system, the publishing industry, large corporations, popular culture, and even the military to a large extent. The Left is now solidly in control of the Establishment—and they will remain firmly in charge of America for as long as I can see.
We (conservatives and libertarians) cannot beat them anymore by playing the game according to the standard rules.
Thus, we have the remaining options of stretching the rules through secession efforts and civil disobedience, and/or totally breaking the rules through acts of violence, insurrection, rebellion, revolution, and war. But my main question is this: Are there enough brave, freedom-loving Americans left in 2021 to allow either of those options to work? I don’t know. I would like to think so. But I tend to doubt it. I suspect that most Americans—even those who proclaim themselves to be conservative or libertarian—are sufficiently pacified through material goodies, technological gadgets, and online wonders to forever delay the revolution, regardless of how much their genuine freedoms shrink. Most people don’t know what it means to have independent personal opinions and to freely express them anyway. They get their views from The View, Anderson Cooper, social media “influencers,” or some other vapid or corrupted source. And they are fine with just going along with the mainstream flow.
Gutless Modern Americans
Furthermore, Americans today do not have the guts or the stamina of Americans of yesterday.
The Revolutionary War required eight years of hard struggle, deep sacrifice, and horrific bloodshed, from the battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775 to the British recognition of American independence in September 1783.
The War for Southern Independence (Civil War) began with the secession of 11 Southern states between December 1860 and April 1861. The ultimately futile Southern effort ended with the surrender of Lee to Grant at Appomattox in April 1865. In between those dates, more than 258,000 Southerners and more than 360,000 Northerners lost their lives.
Does anyone seriously believe that modern-day Americans, in the 2020s, would have the will to put forth such a tremendous effort and sustain such vast casualties? Or to tolerate the losses of World War II (405,000 killed) or World War I (116,000 killed)? Surely, those historic fights would be ended prematurely today, with acceptance of American defeat, for one rationalized reason or another—like “I was not going to extend this forever war.”
I think it unlikely that sufficient numbers of Americans today would be willing to mount a new Revolutionary War even if government agents invaded their homes to force them to wear full hazmat suits 24 hours a day and get shot up with a new experimental vaccine against some imaginary virus twice every week. As long as they got to keep their credit cards and Amazon accounts, they would be okay with it.
Unrealistic Hopes (for the Foreseeable Future)
All peaceful secession efforts to form new breakaway states would presumably require public referendums in elections, state legislative actions, and ultimately congressional approval or acquiescence. I suppose that such a scenario might eventually become realistically possible in certain cases (such the formation of downstate counties into New Illinois). But would Congress ever let whole states, like Texas, break away entirely from DC’s control to form their own independent nations? No? Well, then we would be forced back to the unrealistic option of war, right? Nevertheless, I still support the modern-day secessionist movements, despite their probably unrealistic hopes.
The unlikelihood of success for these movements is depressing to contemplate. We seem to be stuck with no realistic options to regain our constitutional and natural freedoms and liberties. I suppose that those of us who are persecuted individuals from Illinois or New York could move to relatively free states, such as Texas or Florida. And that might work for us for a while—until those states are inevitably also taken over by the ever-scheming and deviously clever Leftist Democrats. But even under good Republican governors, such states (e.g., Texas, Florida, the hypothetical New Illinois) will still be under the thumb of the Deep-State Marxists of Washington, DC. I don’t see how to get around that reality.
As long as the vast majority of Americans remain weak, ignorant, and frightened—and as long as the Left remains the Establishment—it seems to me that the rest of us are stuck living as subjugated, persecuted victims of increasingly authoritarian and corrupt state and federal regimes. I am posting this essay today, because I might not be able to do so tomorrow.
Give me liberty or give me death? I better pick out my coffin.
However, perhaps realistic hope of a return to the Spirit of 1776 with be restored after people live through the ongoing American Marxist dystopian nightmare for another several decades. After all, there is only so much shit that even compliant sheep are willing to tolerate. Maybe a new American Revolution could realistically be launched by about 2100? Who knows. I will be long gone, but I wish much luck to any future patriots willing to fire a new “shot heard round the world.”
