This is not a thread about the legality of secession under the US constitution. This thread assumes that secession is legal and that a generic state has seceded. It also assumes that the secession is peaceful. If you believe that a peaceful secession would only occur under certain circumstances you may assume those circumstances.
There seem to be a number of advocates of state secession here. I'm curious about some issues that would arise from secession.
For convenience I'll refer to the seceded state, the newly formed country, as Exstatia.
Upon secession:
1) should US military bases:
a) become military bases of Exstatia,
b) remain as US military bases and function like those in Germany, Japan, Korea, etc.
c) be disbanded with all personnel and equipment being transported back to the US,
d).
2) Does the ownership of nuclear weapons that have been stockpiled within Exstatia:
a) transfer to Exstatia,
b) remain with the US,
c) shared ownership.
3) should members of the US armed forces who recognised Exstatia as their home state before secession:
a) be discharged immediately,
b) be expected to continue their service to a foreign power,
c) be given the option to continue serving or to be released from duty,
d) other.
4) which of the following options should those who had identified Exstatia as their home state before secession have:
a) to become dual citizens of Exstatia and the US,
b) to refuse citizenship of Exstatia and remain as citizens of the US,
c) none of the above, they automatically lose US citizenship and all rights that go with it,
d) other.
5) How much of the US's national debt should be transferred to Exstatia:
a) none,
b) an amount related to assets of the US government in Exstatia,
c) an amount related to the historical federal taxes less federal funding for each year times the increase in US debt that year with adjustments for inflation (Assuming recent years are a good historical indicator, West Virginia - I honestly have never heard about this state until just now - and Virginia which receive more federal money than they pay in federal taxes would take on a much larger amount of debt than New Jersey).
d) other
6) How should Exstatia handle the sudden jump in unemployment (due to US government employees living within Exstatia being laid off) and the loss of federal money?
7) How should Exstatia's economy handle the loss of capital as investors and owners of fluid assets move their assets out of Exstatia into the US? Protectionism?
8) How would Exstatia's relations with other US states changes?
I don't have any problem with the notion that a US state should have the right to secede, but with the exception of a few very wealthy states with easy access to non-US markets I can't imagine why any state would want to. There are ideals that the US federal government does not meet, but the problems created by secession look so large to me that I can only imagine the most ardent idealist would view secession as a good thing.
"Idealism is the absence of pragmatism"
There seem to be a number of advocates of state secession here. I'm curious about some issues that would arise from secession.
For convenience I'll refer to the seceded state, the newly formed country, as Exstatia.
Upon secession:
1) should US military bases:
a) become military bases of Exstatia,
b) remain as US military bases and function like those in Germany, Japan, Korea, etc.
c) be disbanded with all personnel and equipment being transported back to the US,
d).
2) Does the ownership of nuclear weapons that have been stockpiled within Exstatia:
a) transfer to Exstatia,
b) remain with the US,
c) shared ownership.
3) should members of the US armed forces who recognised Exstatia as their home state before secession:
a) be discharged immediately,
b) be expected to continue their service to a foreign power,
c) be given the option to continue serving or to be released from duty,
d) other.
4) which of the following options should those who had identified Exstatia as their home state before secession have:
a) to become dual citizens of Exstatia and the US,
b) to refuse citizenship of Exstatia and remain as citizens of the US,
c) none of the above, they automatically lose US citizenship and all rights that go with it,
d) other.
5) How much of the US's national debt should be transferred to Exstatia:
a) none,
b) an amount related to assets of the US government in Exstatia,
c) an amount related to the historical federal taxes less federal funding for each year times the increase in US debt that year with adjustments for inflation (Assuming recent years are a good historical indicator, West Virginia - I honestly have never heard about this state until just now - and Virginia which receive more federal money than they pay in federal taxes would take on a much larger amount of debt than New Jersey).
d) other
6) How should Exstatia handle the sudden jump in unemployment (due to US government employees living within Exstatia being laid off) and the loss of federal money?
7) How should Exstatia's economy handle the loss of capital as investors and owners of fluid assets move their assets out of Exstatia into the US? Protectionism?
8) How would Exstatia's relations with other US states changes?
I don't have any problem with the notion that a US state should have the right to secede, but with the exception of a few very wealthy states with easy access to non-US markets I can't imagine why any state would want to. There are ideals that the US federal government does not meet, but the problems created by secession look so large to me that I can only imagine the most ardent idealist would view secession as a good thing.
"Idealism is the absence of pragmatism"
If they wanted to secede, they should have had some plans as to what to do once they are independent. If the secession was peaceful and the new country had an open access to the US market, I don't think the economic disruption would be serious, unless the state used to be dependent on federal funding. In which case I don't understand why it seceded.
