Decentralization and Secession

Harry Jaffa suggested that Americans should adopt a “civil religion,” with Lincoln as a quasi-divine figure. This, of course, makes the state into a quasi-divine institution. 

Democracy is the watchword with the ruling classes, yet a democratic political system does not protect individual freedoms. Indeed, democracy often has become the main road to socialism. It‘s time for some honest discussion.

Passed in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was intended to further centralize governance away from the old decentralized political model. It still is accomplishing that purpose.

William Rawle was a well-respected lawyer, legal scholar, an abolitionist, and a believer in the right of states to secede. He described this in A View of the Constitution of the United States of America, which many claimed to have read while at West Point prior to the Civil War.

In the post-Civil War South during Reconstruction, federal troops attempted to impose their will in part by pitting recently-freed slaves against southern whites. The outcome was obvious, leading to more than a century of violent racial clashes, all the while strengthening federal power.

William Rawle was a well-respected lawyer, legal scholar, an abolitionist, and a believer in the right of states to secede. He described this in A View of the Constitution of the United States of America, which many claimed to have read while at West Point prior to the Civil War.

Democracy is the watchword with the ruling classes, yet a democratic political system does not protect individual freedoms. Indeed, democracy often has become the main road to socialism. It‘s time for some honest discussion.

In the post-Civil War South during Reconstruction, federal troops attempted to impose their will in part by pitting recently-freed slaves against southern whites. The outcome was obvious, leading to more than a century of violent racial clashes, all the while strengthening federal power.

While men like Murray Rothbard and Ludwig von Mises believed in “just” war, nonetheless, they did not believe that wars lead to “just” outcomes, as war leads to destruction of civilization. The outcome of the American war of secession proved that point eloquently.

Voting is controversial among Austro-Libertarians for many reasons. However, if one does choose to vote, one should understand that the state is never constrained by the voters and cannot be “reformed.”