Even though it ultimately failed at the ballot box, the recent campaign for
Scottish independence should cheer supporters of the numerous secession movements
springing up around the globe.
In the weeks leading up to the referendum, it appeared that the people of
Scotland were poised to vote to secede from the United Kingdom. Defeating the
referendum required British political elites to co-opt secession forces by
promising greater self-rule for Scotland, as well as launching a massive campaign
to convince the Scots that secession would plunge them into economic depression.
The people of Scotland were even warned that secession would damage the international
market for one of Scotland's main exports, whiskey. Considering the lengths
to which opponents went to discredit secession, it is amazing that almost 45
percent of the Scottish people still voted in favor of it.
The Scottish referendum result has done little to discourage other secessionist
movements spreading across Europe, in countries ranging from Norway to Italy.
Just days after the Scottish referendum, the people of Catalonia voted to hold
their own referendum measuring popular support for secession from Spain.
Support for secession is also growing in America. According to a recent poll,
one in four Americans would support their state seceding from the federal government.
Movements and organizations advocating that state governments secede from the
federal government, that local governments secede from state governments, or
that local governments secede from both the federal and state governments,
are springing up around the country. This year, over one million Californians
signed a ballot access petition in support of splitting California into six
states. While the proposal did not meet the requirements necessary to appear
on the ballot, the effort to split California continues to gain support.
Americans who embrace secession are acting in a grand American tradition.
The Declaration of Independence was written to justify secession from Britain.
Supporters of liberty should cheer the growth in support for secession, as
it is the ultimate rejection of centralized government and the ideologies of
Keynesianism, welfarism, and militarism.
Widespread acceptance of the principle of peaceful secession and self-determination
could resolve many ongoing conflicts. For instance, allowing the people of
eastern Ukraine and western Ukraine to decide for themselves whether to spilt
into two separate nations may be the only way to resolve their differences.
The possibility that people will break away from an oppressive government
is one of the most effective checks on the growth of government. It is no coincidence
that the transformation of America from a limited republic to a monolithic
welfare-warfare state coincided with the discrediting of secession as an appropriate
response to excessive government.
Devolving government into smaller units promotes economic growth. The smaller
the size of government, the less power it has to hobble free enterprise with
taxes and regulations.
Just because people do not wish to live under the same government does not
mean they are unwilling or unable to engage in mutually beneficial trade. By
eliminating political conflicts, secession could actually make people more
interested in trading with each other. Decentralizing government power would
thus promote true free trade as opposed to "managed trade" controlled by bureaucrats,
politicians, and special interests.
Devolution of power to smaller levels of government should also make it easier
for individuals to use a currency of their choice, instead of a currency favored
by central bankers and politicians.
The growth of support for secession should cheer all supporters of freedom,
as devolving power to smaller units of government is one of the best ways to
guarantee peace, property, liberty -- and even cheap whiskey!
