There once was a time in the United States that the states that are inside its borders did not feel that they belong to the same ideology of the rest of the country. This was the civil war. Our country was effectively two seperate countries.
The reasons of which this occurred were somewhat numerous, but when reduced down to its basic roots, they are all based on an extreme difference of political views held by the parts that seek succession and the rest of the country.
This is known history, and infact should be just that. There should not be a point that a state needs to separate itself from the rest of the nation to eliminate the oppression and control that is being felt by it that comes from the national government.
Though I say should, this is not the case. From a time that started directly after the civil war there were people in the south that screamed that the south would "rise again", proclaiming to the rest of the world that the power of the south would once again exist as a separate entity. These people have existed in small numbers in the past. Few people, including themselves, really saw this as a possible occurance. This is because we as a nation have maintained our strength by embracing multiple points of view.
This is why the results of a recent poll shocks me, and disturbs me. Rasmussen Reports did a telephone survey, the results from the survey consisted of a few basic questions about the aporval of the government, but among these questions were questions that were far more specific and had much more specific answers. One question was whetether people thought that a succession of states was likely within the next 25 years. %28 said that it was somewhat likely, versus a %64 that said that it was unlikely. Within the survey group %12 said that it was highly likely, and only %22 that said it was highly unlikely.
This is troubling to me that over one in ten would think that its likely to occur, and that almost three in ten think that it's a possibility. This goes beyond the idea that people think its possible, but unlikely. Something tells me that the people that claim it to be likely are not saying it somewhat likely in the same way that the sun being made of cream cheese is some likely. No, something has changed over the years.
The statitistics gatherd from this survey are made that much more interesting when you see the results of another set of questions. this one involved asking the participants if states even had the right to leave the union. %18 said that the states had the right to leave, %19 were unsure if they had the right. This leaves a total of %63 who think that the states don't have the right to leave. I cant help but compare the %64 who said it was unlikely with the %63 who said they had no right to.
I would like to see this question rephrased to state that the right to leave is assumed. I wonder how those groups would fluctuate.
This is frightening to me, not that the states would attempt to leave, but that a growing number of people are thinking that this is an acceptable solution.
Thinking that this is an acceptable solution is a strong sign that the people have not only lost all faith in their government, thinks that it has reached a point that it is not even correctable and that the only solution would be to separate the union. There is something terrible wrong with this, there is something terribly wrong in accepting that all hope is gone for a better American future and that the only hope for a future is to separate from its neighbors. This is sad, very very sad.
For links to other articles I've written
http://rlwoodsiii.blogspot.com/For the original article
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_c...