Most Likely to Secede
by Andrew Valentin
It was December 20th, 1860 and South Carolina had passed the first ordinance of secession, stating, “We, the people of the State of South Carolina in convention assembled, do declare and ordain…that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of ‘the United States of America’ is hereby dissolved.” It is now December 2012, and we have come to a point where 675,000 signatories across 50-states in participation have petitioned to secede from the union once again. It seems that from a radical right-wing perspective, this is the wisest choice for the United States. Ironically enough, if this were to be the wisest choice for the state of our union, then there would clearly be no union for us to have called improved. To secede from our “socialist” President, as most of the petitions have cited as reason for secession would imply that state governments are the most qualified to lead themselves out of a debt of their own creation. For example, Texas, the leading state in this movement even back from 2009, routinely receives more federal aid than Texans pay annually in federal taxes; meaning that if Texas were to leave the Union, it would lose a surplus of revenue... Read More
It was December 20th, 1860 and South Carolina had passed the first ordinance of secession, stating, “We, the people of the State of South Carolina in convention assembled, do declare and ordain…that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of ‘the United States of America’ is hereby dissolved.” It is now December 2012, and we have come to a point where 675,000 signatories across 50-states in participation have petitioned to secede from the union once again. It seems that from a radical right-wing perspective, this is the wisest choice for the United States. Ironically enough, if this were to be the wisest choice for the state of our union, then there would clearly be no union for us to have called improved. To secede from our “socialist” President, as most of the petitions have cited as reason for secession would imply that state governments are the most qualified to lead themselves out of a debt of their own creation. For example, Texas, the leading state in this movement even back from 2009, routinely receives more federal aid than Texans pay annually in federal taxes; meaning that if Texas were to leave the Union, it would lose a surplus of revenue... Read More
Is It Really Our Choice?
by Andrew Valentin
With the upcoming Presidential and Senatorial elections in November, a debate has resurrected once again from the ashes of Al Gore’s 2000 defeat, and that is whether or not the Electoral College truly belongs in the democratic system.
For those unfamiliar with the Electoral College, it is a system in which Presidential candidates are chosen, with states being granted larger representation in the process. It is based off the amount of representatives there are in the House of Representatives, or more basic, by the population. Although the Electoral College is not native to a direct democracy, it is native to our representative form of government, considering the Founding Fathers’ disdain for true democracy, often equating it to “mob rule.” John Adams even once said, “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” As a result, the Electoral College, the election of Congressmen, the appointed Supreme Court justices, and the three branch system of governing, just to name a few, are Constitutional tools that prevent our political system from dissenting into rhetorical populism, which historically can account for witch trials, Holocaust, and political unrest, to simply name a few.... Read More
With the upcoming Presidential and Senatorial elections in November, a debate has resurrected once again from the ashes of Al Gore’s 2000 defeat, and that is whether or not the Electoral College truly belongs in the democratic system.
For those unfamiliar with the Electoral College, it is a system in which Presidential candidates are chosen, with states being granted larger representation in the process. It is based off the amount of representatives there are in the House of Representatives, or more basic, by the population. Although the Electoral College is not native to a direct democracy, it is native to our representative form of government, considering the Founding Fathers’ disdain for true democracy, often equating it to “mob rule.” John Adams even once said, “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” As a result, the Electoral College, the election of Congressmen, the appointed Supreme Court justices, and the three branch system of governing, just to name a few, are Constitutional tools that prevent our political system from dissenting into rhetorical populism, which historically can account for witch trials, Holocaust, and political unrest, to simply name a few.... Read More