American Secession Project Status
El Cid
It seems appropriate at some point in the course of a project like this to step back and evaluate the progress that has been achieved. This project began in earnest on May 27, 2004. The original charter of the project is exactly the same today as it was almost three and a half years ago, that is:
...to place the concept of secession in the mainstream of political thought. Our intent is to proclaim that secession is a viable and legal right and a practical solution to contemporary problems. Secondly, we desire to build a coalition of groups seeking autonomy and independence within the current United States. Mutual support for the concept of self-determination and secession will eventually benefit all groups seeking freedom.
How exactly has the project measured up in achieving this
goal you might ask. Certainly much has been accomplished over all in terms of
placing secession closer to mainstream thought and certainly coalitions have
begun to form with the notion of mutual support. These are wonderful events,
two national Secessionist Conventions have occurred since the formation of the
ASP. It would be dishonest, and narcissistic, to believe that the ASP actually
had much or anything to do with this progress. Our great allies in this
struggle accomplished these feats; we owe much to The Middlebury Institute, The Vermont Commons, The League of The South
and the Second Vermont Republic.
One cannot mention the current secession movement in America without thinking of Kirkpatrick Sale, he
has been the most vocal advocate for secession as a legitimate and legal
resource of the people and states over the last three years. There are of
course many others that have championed this cause and forced the issue into
the national media. Cory
Burnell was the driving force and face and voice of Christian
Exodus - this forced the issue of secession into the news media. The League
of The South published the Grey Book, a manifesto for Southern Independence, and groups in Hawaii and other states expanded their
membership base. And of course we cannot fail to mention the consistent warhorse
in this struggle, Carol Moore, who has championed the cause of devolution for
many years.
Still you ask, what exactly has the ASP done to further the cause and
accomplish our charter? Our accomplishments have been small compared to our
allies - this much is certain. We are not ashamed of this, in fact we rejoice
that we are not a lone voice in the wilderness. We take great pride in being
part of something that will ultimately, we believe, change the very nature of
human liberty and government on the American continent.
Our meager accomplishment:
- 44, 315 unique visitors to our main site - this is of course a small number of hits considering the time frame but we do receive a lot of email, much from students doing research for school. A visit to our site is often the first honest treatment of secession these young minds have ever experienced.
- Published The Secessionist Papers, a collection of 20 essays dealing with numerous aspects of secession. The list of contributors that have agreed to participate includes notable authors such as Dr. Walter Brock, Dr, Thomas E. Woods, Kirkpatrick Sale and Thomas J. DiLorenzo.
- Created the States' Rights Bloggers' Alliance, a coalition of 30 blogs dealing with the issue of States' Rights specifically and secession occasionally.
- Published the Declaration of States' Rights, with 235 signatures collected thus far.
- Started an ASP Google Mail list Group with 31 members, small but growing.
- Operated four blogs with a total of 53,342 unique visitors during the period. (visit The League of The Scarlet Pimpernel for our 'freshest' content)
- Participated in two doctoral research projects concerning secession issues.
What do we hope to accomplish over the next three years (and how you can help)
- Gather 10,000 signatures for the Declaration of States' Rights. How? See below.
- Get some governmental body - state legislature or even county council - to pass a resolution supporting the Declaration of States' Rights. Why? A resolution of support would of course not make this law but it certainly would make news and it would be a step in the right direction to have a local government stand up and say that enough is enough.
- Breath life into this particular blog with regular updates on secession issues in America and around the world.
- Expand the States' Rights Bloggers' Alliance by actively engaging like minded bloggers across the blogsphere and encouraging them to join with us in this important discussion.
- Create Volume II of the Secessionist Papers , written and published for the common man.
How do you help?
- We need a blogger, someone familiar with the blogsphere that has the time, energy and commitment to dedicate to this blog and the States' Rights Bloggers' Alliance (or a team of bloggers). This person or people must be willing to update regularly to the blogs with fresh content and be willing and able to tactfully engage others on their blogs via comments and trackbacks. Interested? Please email.
- State organizations already exist in many states, The Declaration of States' Rights is an easy tool to build consensus in states where organizations do not already exist. We need people that love their states to stand up and engage their neighbors. Encourage them to sign the declaration, encourage your county council to pass a resolution supporting the Declaration. All politics are local, stand up and act locally, realizing that others will support you by acting locally in their homes and states. Real freedom in our time will not be achieve without such overt acts.
- Encourage like-minded writers, academics, and even lawyers to submit new essays for Volume II of the Secessionist Papers. Our message must cover the entire spectrum of the issue, current political troubles, historical precedence as well and legal and Constitutional interpretations. A movement like this cannot move forward without such a philosophical underpinning.
- Bottom line ---- Get Involved!
This mailing list is quiet by design. Each of you signed up because you agree in part or whole with the need for a change. That change will only occur if the progress that so many others have begun in this movement is capitalized upon. It is time to begin building real grassroots support for the concept of secession at the local level all across America. Many of us disagree on the form and manner in which secession should be pursued. There are those among us that lean toward a more libertarian approach, relying on the sovereignty of the people to create independent communities. This is a perfectly valid point of view from a philosophical perspective. It would be difficult to achieve in our current system without great upheaval and potential violence.
I suggest that we come together in terms of supporting a devolution process that might actually work if taken in steps. If you are of the persuasion that the only real solution is to re-order the nature of state (read nation-states) then I suggest one avenue to achieve that is to begin by picking apart the larger states. Does it not make more sense to work toward achieving liberty and devolution by using current systems to dismantle the larger organism? I suggest that advocacy of States’ Rights as a start, followed closely by a resurgence of nationalism at the local (state) level leading to secession if necessary to effect changes is a viable route to achieve all of our aims. If we can achieve that level of devolution it is entirely feasible to proceed to more drastic steps such as re-ordering the entire status of states as they relate to the people and communities is possible.
Great work has been accomplished by others in this struggle of ideas – their accomplishments need support by our efforts.
I ask only that you consider getting involved in the projects above, let’s work a the system to break it apart using long held legitimate governments and then talk about reshaping government itself. Your ideas are welcome, your ears and participation appreciated and your time valuable. I leave it to you to decide.
Regards,
El Cid
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