Opinion: Seceding From The Union Is Not A Good Idea
Even though the United States are still governmentally united, the States of America are not United. And though I find interest in the circus surrounding people in the fifty states of the Union petitioning to secede from the United States since President Barack Obama was reelected two weeks ago, I’ll be the first to admit that any state seceding from the Union is a terrible idea.
We are witnessing a new age – with technology, the Internet, and social media web sites – in which it takes no more than the click of a mouse and a few typed words to express an opinion on virtually anything these days. And the people who have started and signed White House petitions to have their states secede from the Union have had an extremely easy method of expressing their frustration and anger over President Barack Obama’s victory.
The fact is that Obama won his reelection bid for the White House, and no state is going anywhere. They’re here to stay – in the United States. Though the states of America do not appear to be united in many ways in 2012, they really are. Unfortunately, one way in which the states are mostly united is in their disagreement with how the federal government is being run.
Changing the issues of which they disagree with the federal government can best be done by keeping the citizens of all states united – unified – to insist on change in Washington, D.C. A united effort to keep pressure on the elected officials each state sends to Washington, D.C. is the nation’s best method, obviously, of putting on the needed pressure to get the change that is wanted.
Our politicians obviously believe that being a politician is a great livelihood as they fight long and hard – putting their entire lives in the headlines - to keep their jobs. The last thing they want is to lose an election and be sent back to their communities to be just another common citizen like the masses. Therefore, putting pressure on a politician - and letting him or her know that the only way they’ll be reelected to keep their job is to respond to the desires of the masses – is the most any citizen can do.
The circus of writing a petition or signing a petition for a state to secede might help get the anger and frustration about the latest election out. But, in reality, it does nothing substantial.
Let’s stop the signing of the petitions to the White House and, instead, beneficially direct that energy and effort toward our elected officials in our federal government. Respect that President Obama won the election – because he did whether one likes it or not – and earn the elected federal officials’ respect by intelligently communicating what you believe the federal government needs to do for you and the rest of us.
Many didn’t get the president they want for the next four years, but that doesn’t stop those persons from getting some of what they think this country should deliver. Keep writing and signing, but no petitions for secession. Write and sign something that is beneficially doable for the entire country.
About Scott Paulson
Scott Paulson writes political commentary for Examiner.com and teaches English at a community college in the Chicago area. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CBS Local.
