Would Secession be Successful?

 Back in November when Obama won his re-election, several nutjobs, upset over the outcome of the election, announced they no longer wanted to be a part of this country.  But rather than go through all the effort of moving to another country, and assuming many more people felt the same way they did, they decided to petition for their state to secede from the nation.  Sure enough, every state in the country had citizens filing petitions for their state to secede from the U.S.  Because there is a lull in news after an election, the news media picked up the stories and ran with it, making a bigger deal of this secession movement than was necessary.  Eventually most people realized this was silly and more importantly infeasible (not to mention illegal) and the whole notion of seceding from the country nestled back to be the hare-brained idea of a few lone eccentrics.

                However, while reading the news today, it is apparent that secession-phobia is still going strong.  Governor Rick Perry has been working towards creating a “Fort Knox of Texas” to bring gold bullion owned by Texas back into the state, rather than being held by the Federal Reserve.  Many are speculating that this could be one of the first of many steps towards establishing Texas as an independent nation.  Granted, the Governor most likely does not have an ulterior motive in bringing Texas’ gold back into the state, but this is a move that could easily be perceived as suspicious by many who are already paranoid of a Texas secession.

                Nowhere else in the nation is the issue of secession as heated as in Texas.  Despite already having been an independent nation during the 1830s, Texas has been a prime candidate for secession due to its location, its financial stability, and abundance of resources.  However, the independent mentality of most of its citizens is what really causes many to consider the possibility of secession a possibility.

                So if Texas is capable of successfully seceding (it has its own power grid, sustainable resources, and strong economy) why hasn’t this been more of an issue?  The main obstacle against Texas’ secession is that most people in Texas don’t want to break away from the union.  And despite all the flak they give us, most of the other citizens in the US don’t want us to leave either.  While Texas secession seems to be something the people don’t want, the strongest case against it is the fact that it’s illegal.  The Supreme Court ruled in 1869 that states do not have a right to secede from the nation, making the entire issue moot.  While the idea of Texas as an independent country seems like a fun fantasy to some, it is something that will most likely never happen.