#Texit – Is It Too Soon for Texas To Secede?

Too Soon for TEXIT?

By Don Rasmussen

In the wake of the stunning vote in the UK to leave the European Union, many Americans and Texans have begun to wonder if the time is right for Texas to follow Britain’s lead and assert its independence.

Is now the moment that Texas Nationalists have been waiting for?

The military genius Sun Zsu advised that if a battle that cannot be won, it should not be fought. The calls for an immediate referendum in Texas may feel good for secessionists, but it would be a disaster for their cause.

While I personally support Texas independence, I also recognize that pursuing such an end without properly seeding the ground will set back the nationalist cause for years, waste massive amounts of money and energy, and discourage TEXIT supporters.

The limited public polling on the issue indicates only a quarter to a third of Texans support independence. Any move to win a divorce from the US will likely require a democratic vote or at least sufficient public support to empower legislators to pursue the course. Without a huge increase in public support, such an effort will end in disaster.

While European law includes a mechanism for a member nation to withdraw from the union, secession is technically illegal under both federal and state law. Current Texas law also does not permit a referendum process. All of these obstacles would need to be overcome. The Texas legislature could revoke its obligation to the federal system and establish a means for a democratic vote on the issue, but both would still be illegal under federal law.

So what would it take for TEXIT to become a realistic option?

Any real move towards independence starts with public opinion. There are two parts to shifting a majority of Texans towards TEXIT.

First, Mounting outrages from the federal government. As more and more Texans come to view the federal government as tyrannical, inept and dangerous, public support for TEXIT will grow.

Economic mismanagement, government corruption, infringement on sovereign and individual rights and oppressive policies that humiliate and degrade Texas’s unique cultural sense of self will work to weaken the bonds that bind the Republic to the United States.

To this end, perhaps Texas Nationalists should be supporting Hillary Clinton?

A couple of anti-gun Supreme Court justices would go a long way towards convincing Texans that it is time to leave, especially after recent decisions on abortion and other hot button issues near and dear to Texan’s hearts.

Secondly, a relentless and effective persuasion campaign by TEXIT supporters including appeals to cultural pride and public policy outcomes as well as highlighting the practical costs of federal oppression.

We are very much in the “hearts and minds” phase of this battle. Texas secessionists need to make their case at the grassroots level. It needs to include both an emotional appeal to Texas’s unique culture as well as the practical case for the economic and social advantages that individuals will enjoy under the Republic. They need to answer concerns about the cost of withdrawal and provide a viable road map for achieving it. This cannot be a pie in the sky appeal to jingoism, nor an appeal to white or Southern pride that hearkens back to a bygone age.

The case for TEXIT must be practical, inclusive and thoughtful. It must address the concerns and speak to the fears and aspirations of Tejanos and inner-city blacks as well as rural and suburban whites. The economic and political cases must be as strong as the emotional in order to persuade enough Texans to reject the familiar and support their own, as well as the Republic’s potential.

Along with the shifting public opinion, other pieces need to fall into place before a withdrawal will be possible. The state took an important step by establishing the Texas bullion depository and moving towards repatriation of Texas gold. Being able to answer practical questions such as what Texas currency and banking regimes will look like is essential to the effort.

Another important step that Obama and the feds have unwittingly enabled is forcing the state to use our own resources and personnel to secure the border. Every time the feds fail, it is an opportunity for Texas to stand up. Every time Texas stands up, it answers another objection to withdrawal.

It also requires strengthening the cadre of independence-minded political leaders in Austin. Nothing will be accomplished without significant legislation. That means electing representatives willing to stick their necks out and lead. It means demanding that candidates express an openness to pursuing withdrawal under the right circumstances.

Nationalists must win the argument within the Republican Party. As the GOP goes, so goes Texas. Establishing the principle of secession in the state party’s platform lends credibility to the effort and plays powerfully on the psychology of the leave campaigners. Success begets success. Win little victories and parlay them into bigger victories.

The establishment of a regular polling test of the question as well as focus groups and qualitative analysis of which messages resonate with different demographics will allow the movement to focus resources and messaging to maximize persuasion. Such an effort will require the establishment of an infrastructure and donor class committed to independence.

Research firms will need to exist that can develop policy proposals to deal with questions of federal reparations for infrastructure such as highways and military facilities, developing a legal system and writing the extraordinary body of independent law that will be necessary to supplant federal regulations and legal regimes. Plans will need to be drawn up to address budgetary issues, taxes and federal outlays for welfare, education and a host of entitlements including Social Security and Medicare. Free trade agreements will have to be considered to guarantee access for Texas goods to international markets. International agreements will have to be re-evaluated to account for an independent Republic in the heart of North America.

Moreover, consideration of how to address resistance, both legal and, potentially, military, from the United States will have to be confronted and adjudicated in a way that allows the project to proceed.

The task is herculean and cannot be sufficiently addressed without a far-reaching and robust plan that goes beyond rabblerousing and appealing to nationalist sentiment.

Is TEXIT possible? Yes. Is it easy? No. Texas is a long way from being prepared to fight this battle and win it, but it is a goal worthy of pursuing. As the Declaration of Independence says, “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

Before there can be any serious effort at TEXIT, Texans must understand and agree as to why such an effort is practical, worthy and achievable. Until then, it’s just some people talking.

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