Recently appeared in “Culture War” with Tim Poole‘s founder Louis Marinelli to discuss the possibility of a state divorce. CalExit Campaign, a movement to establish a “Pacifica Nation in the San Francisco Bay Area.” Three weeks ago, the movement’s leader, Daniel Miller, texit movement, the program discussed the possibility of Texas seceding from the Union.in libertycon Earlier this month, Mises Institute editor Ryan McMaken and Project Liberal founder Jonathan Casey discussed whether national divorce would lead to more freedom.
Why is civil divorce such a hot topic these days? Could it be that 65% of Americans Do you believe that political candidates serve “their own interests,” but 61% believe those interests are for the wealthy?
We must empower the powerless and give representation to the unrepresented.
The reason so many Americans want a state divorce is because they feel unrepresented and powerless.
But we have tried state divorce before. It didn’t work.
The three-fifths is a compromise that determines representation and allocates taxes directly to the entire number of free people and three-fifths of all others, or slaves. This meant that southern slaveholding states had unequal representation in the House of Representatives. They can buy representatives and increase their power in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College.
The founding generation charted the path to abolishing slavery with the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Slave import prohibition law of 1807 missouri compromise Unfortunately, the founder’s successors were unable to implement the plan. Slaveholders consolidated the power of the executive branch, the Senate, and the House of Representatives into a well-funded and organized Democratic Party in order to maintain and expand slavery.
The power shift began with annexation of texas and continue mexican war And that Kansas-Nebraska state law. The Democratic Party manipulated and consolidated power to further the cause of slavery, undermining the efforts of the Founding Generation. Consolidation of power also caused a rift within the Union deeper than slavery.
The fight for the right to vote
In the period leading up to the Civil War, the majority of Americans did not support the abolition of slavery. They agreed that Southern slave owners manipulated power; economic instability and sent country at war With Mexico. Innocent Americans were dying, all in pursuit of the continued existence of slavery.
To break the power of the slaveholders who controlled the Democratic Party, other power factions were combined into the new Republican Party. Slaveholders had been in majority power for a long time and did not want to relinquish it. Once they became a minority, they left the Union Army and the Civil War broke out.
Over time, Northerners realized that the real battle was over representation. Americans were reminded of the declaration that “all men are created equal.” And for equality, each person must be given a vote. To be free, people must have a voice, or representation, in their government.
The Civil War led to the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which freed slaves, extended federal protection to state citizens, and balanced representation in the House of Representatives by expanding voting rights. It was kept.
red vs blue
What does our past domestic divorce have to do with the current debate on domestic divorce?
During the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, America experienced a significant increase in immigration. This led to a new fight over representation in the House of Representatives. City representatives supported counting everyone for apportionment purposes in the House. Representatives from rural America wanted only American citizens counted. By 1911, this led to a deadlock in Congress over apportionment, which lasted until 1929 with the enactment of the Permanent Apportionment Act, which limited the number of MPs to 435 and included no citizenship or legal status in apportionment. It was decided that everyone would be included regardless.
Since 1929, the representative-to-citizen ratio has increased from 1:220,000 to approximately 1:756,000. Power is concentrated in cities, creating an imbalance of power in the House of Representatives between rural and urban America. Americans cannot divorce because they are not divided by state interests. The lines will become blurred. It’s not North versus South or this state versus that state. It’s a red and blue conflict.
A cap on the House of Representatives concentrated power in the hands of people with connections and donations. Representatives talk to donors and insiders, not the American people. The rest of America, with busy family schedules and bills to pay, is left helpless and unrepresented.
The idea of popular sovereignty led to violence bleeding kansas. If we adopt that idea again, such as by allowing states to leave the Union, violence could erupt and lead to a new civil war. What happens if states secede from the Union, and the blue parts of California start suppressing the red parts, or the red parts of Texas start suppressing the blue parts? What would happen if it led to such violence? If the innocent Americans involved were dying, would the federal government intervene?
open the door to the house
Divorce between nations carries the potential for violence, and those who suffer most are the powerless and unrepresented American people.
in federalist 10, James Madison argued that factions are a natural part of society, and that to control their influence we need to create systems that recognize and harness their power.in federalist 55, Madison argued for the advantages and disadvantages of large and small legislative bodies. Large bodies can be confusing and inefficient, while small bodies are more efficient but come with a higher risk of breakage.
State divorce is not the solution, but representation is. Larger legislative bodies are needed to limit government corruption and allow more factions to balance a diverse society. We must empower the powerless and give representation to the unrepresented. We must take the lid off the House of Commons.
