"Soft Secession"
The Republic Within: States Reclaiming the Constitution
POLITY - a voice for action occupies a bit of different space in the world of fierce, courageous people who are the front line of defense for the democracy we love.
It is written as a service to you: to educate, to inspire, to re-assure you that we have a path to defend this glorious democracy.
It’s your tool to the most impactful information and creative action of the moment.
Quite the Paradox
The trap:
The “end capitalism” that we now find ourselves living where Big Tech and the insidious, sinister data miners like Palantir - collectively, the oligarchs - has extorted our privacy. Personal, familial, financial, professional, relational.
How do we find our way when individual effort seems fruitless?
The paradoxical defense:
Soft secession. Blue state Attorneys General conference nearly daily to triage, divide responsibilities and share legal templates that halt the daily Republican administration’s onslaught in court. That infrastructure has been in place since December. Those legal defenses are working.
So, what’s soft secession, and why the paradox?
Blue states are passing laws that nullify federal mandates. This is the autonomy of states’ rights. States are directly accountable to their constituents’ demands and expectations and legislate accordingly.
In the words of Christopher Armitage, “The Existential Republic,” Blue states are “building parallel systems, withholding cooperation, and creating facts on the ground that render federal authority meaningless within their borders.” States’ rights. Chris:
“Oregon is stockpiling abortion medication in secret warehouses.
“Illinois is exploring digital sovereignty.
“California has $76 billion in reserves and is deciding how to deploy it.”
Most Blue states send much larger per capita contributions to the federal government than they receive. Annually, Delaware’s per capita contribution is $24,575; Massachusetts’ is $21,747; Minnesota’s is $20,728. Seven other Blue states average $14,000 per capita.
Blue states receive less than they contribute with returns ranging from $0.46 to $0.78 per dollar. Red states, by contrast, receive $1.24 or more per dollar contributed.
The net negative balance for Blue states collectively exceeds $400 billion annually. Blue states subsidize federal spending in other states.
Blue states’ residents have higher incomes, have higher education levels, generate more business activity and utilize fewer federal aid programs.
Blue states generate the majority of America’s economic output. Blue states have the cities!
States cannot be forced to implement federal programs. Red states have known and exercised this prerogative for many years. Chris Armitage:
“Yale Law Professor Heather Gerken calls it “uncooperative federalism.” States don’t have to actively resist. They can simply refuse to help. And without state cooperation, much of the federal government’s agenda becomes unenforceable.”
Next Level “Un-cooperation”
“[Gov] Pritzker has his staff exploring how to force Apple and Google to disable location tracking for anyone crossing into Illinois for medical procedures, preventing any digital trail that could be subpoenaed.
“Multiple governors are studying whether they can legally deny federal agents access to state databases, airports, and even highways for immigration enforcement.
“The discussions, according to sources, have gone as far as evaluating state authority to close airspace to federal deportation flights.
“States are creating pharmaceutical stockpiles, climate agreements, immigration policies.
“The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact has secured 209 electoral votes.
“The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s 11 states have reduced emissions by 50% while the federal government rolled back climate regulations.
“The U.S. Climate Alliance’s 24 governors represent 60% of the American economy.”
What this means more broadly is that Democratic state leadership is aggressively foiling federal fascistic overreach - using states’ rights. Legally, forcefully ignoring federal mandates that would harm their citizens. Chris:
“We’re not heading toward another Fort Sumter. We’re watching something else: states quietly walking away from each other. Blue states will protect abortion rights, support organized labor, and protect individual rights. Red states will allow Christian theocracy, suppress wages and criminalize free speech, and destroy healthcare. The federal government becomes a hollow structure that states have a moral imperative to ignore.”
The Rising Defense
State Democratic leadership is critical to thwarting the authoritarians pressing down hard; however, other successes are seeding and growing:
Labor is finally rising. The importance of this cannot be overstated. The AFL-CIO was instrumental in the “1000 Protests” over the Labor Day weekend. The Guardian:
“Whether it’s teachers or nurses or construction workers, they’re all determined to stand up and fight back, because they’re experiencing the cuts, they’re experiencing the change in policies, they’re experiencing the attacks of this White House on their unions, and so they’re determined to make their voices heard and mobilize to fight forward regardless of what’s happening around us, no matter the obstacles.”
The courts are holding. District and federal judges are finding Trump’s executive orders to be illegal on deportations, on illegal imprisonment, on the cancellation of Congressionally-mandated foreign aid, and on terminating university grants.
Please consider adding Christopher Armitage, The Existential Republic, to your reading rotation. He’s among numerous Substack authors whose contributions are well informed, well resourced - and actionable:
The Republican Party Chose Hungary’s Playbook. Here’s How that Movie Ends.
Republicans Broke Democracy. Here’s How to Fix It Without Them.
The Promise We Make to Ourselves and Each Other
The Lord of the Rings:
“… and you who travel with him no oath, nor bond is laid to go further than you will. Farewell. Hold to your purpose. May the blessings of elves, men, and all free folk go with you. The fellowship awaits the ring bearer.
“Gandalf, is it left or right? Left.
“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.
“All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you.”
Each of us has a role in defending our democracy. As citizens, we protest, we call out lies and misinformation, we make our demands to state legislators to take action - and we encourage others to do the same.
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I've been reading about this and find it fascinating, as well as encouraging. Thank you for providing details!
powerful, redemptive and inspiring. thank you.