By now we all know that Great Britain has remained Great Britain and the United Kingdom has remained the United Kingdom, instead of becoming somewhat not-so-Great Britain and less-than-United Kingdom. But what about the United States? Well, look here.
Coming to you from the hotbed of secessionist sentiment … those southeasterners can’t even match Idaho unless they embrace the margin of error. 🙂
Crossroads 
I love polls like this. It’s a “freebie” for people to vent with no consequences. At least the Scottish vote required people to actually take a real risk. Not surprisingly, it was defeated by a somewhat larger margin than the polls had been indicating. The voters had to deal with the real possibility of consequences such as the large banks (and jobs) heading south, currency questions and issues, etc. Walking into the voting booth and actually pulling the lever seems to have moved those concerns to the forefront and knocked those really cool scenes from Braveheart onto the cutting room floor..
Number one, the first thing a state would loose if it seceded would be exorbitant privilege,it would no longer have a currency that’s the international reserve currency.Two,It would have to start from scratch negotiating international trade treaties. That’s just the start , I could go on and on. Secession of a state in 2014 is not piratical.
practical I meant
When you look at the people who want secession to happen, things that matter in reality are not on their list of considerations. These people are not intellectual heavyweights. In fact, most of them do not have a college education.
You mention finance. That right there is a prime point. Let’s look at Texas which of all the possible states would have the best chance of making it on their own. First of all, they would immediately lose one of the prime reasons corporations make their headquarters there: low to no state taxes. What would Texas do to fund the things a modern nation requires? They would not have the US doing it for them any more. Hello Taxes….goodbye corporate headquarters.
See that Ogallala Aquifer out there? Texas would no longer be drawing more than what lies under its borders. Let’s see if anyone involved in agriculture has thought that one through.
What is the main resource of Texas? Oil. Since the pinheads who advocate secession are also adherents of mythology as history, it would be pretty fair to say that most of them do not know that before Oil Texas was one of the poorest states in the US. Oil would be Texas’ main export. Now people can point to other sectors of the economy for diversification, but US defense spending as well as space/aeronautics funding make up a huge chunk of that. There is no way in hell the US would spend $1 on any of that in Texas if it seceded. Texas has been able to use its oil revenues to offset negative things like taxes, but a US pull out would be devastating to Texas. It would have to start having taxes.
Also, let’s consider the wealth income gap. The wealth in Texas is very poorly distributed. Tourism is a major industry as well. The need for passports and other international travel issues would become a hindrance to its convention business. They would want US citizens to come spend money there. I would want my US government to have nothing to do with Texas. Let them do everything on their own with their own money.
Basically, Texas enjoys some major advantages for being in the US. Losing those would hurt a lot. Texas might be able to pull it off, but they would not have the same things they have right now that make Texas economically attractive. Also, consider what would happen if oil loses its place in the energy world. We are making huge strides in natural energy such as wind, wave, and solar power. Eventually humanity is going to end its reliance on fossil fuels for so much of its energy needs. When that happens oil is going to be an industry that becomes a shadow of its former self. How will Texas fare in a new global energy market? As part of the US it would probably do well. As an independent nation, it would have to do its own research and development or purchase it from others…at a higher cost.
Now, consider the other states with a sizable population that think secession is a good idea. None of them come close to having the resources that Texas has. Most would be landlocked nations and that would be crippling to their national economies. Few have more exports than imports. Most are subsidized by the federal taxes.
Looking at the map where residents want to secede:
New Mexico: $2.05
Arizona: $1.60
Oklahoma: $1.30
Montana: $1.77
Idaho: $1.61
Wyoming: $1.11
Of all of the states in the Southeast all but Virginia are subsidized states. That means of all the states that had a 25% or higher secession preference, only four states paid more in federal taxes than it got back. Of those four states only Colorado was below $0.90.
The chart is here http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/02/is-your-state-a-net-giver-or-taker-of-federal-taxes/
Let’s face it, those that advocate secession just are not thinking.
Which gets back to my point. These polls are meaningless because there’s no cost to saying “I want to secede”. Another example – Arizona thinks it has a growing water problem now. If I recall correctly, the Colorado River starts in, um, Colorado. And it then saunters through Utah. Imagine if the Cactus State bolts and Colorado and/or Utah decide they want to hold on to the water. Genius!
“See that Ogallala Aquifer out there? Texas would no longer be drawing more than what lies under its borders. Let’s see if anyone involved in agriculture has thought that one through.”
Why, Jimmy! You’re sounding like an environmental historian. I think you missed your calling.
They should ask “Would you like another region to secede so that the US was no longer saddled with that backwards electorate.”
Ha!
Polls are as good as the sample of people who agree to take time to participate…. and by the quality and bank-account health of the pollster. We’d need multiple polls to be showing this outcome to indicate a majority of those polled want out. With technology advancing ever more greatly, maybe someday there will be a truly acccurate way to judge public opinion.
PS… I’ve always felt that if I could meet my great grandparents the first thing I’d do is thank them for leaving the “old country” and coming here.