Let’s embrace division, follow Calexit example
Pollyanna was an underrated and underappreciated, although fictional, genius. All too often, I see my empty glass as unfillable and envision a brutal death from thirst on the near horizon. We should all play The Glad Game more often.
Case in point: Our new U.S. President, the Great Divider. Never before has this country had a more divisive figure in the White House. Families and lifelong friendships ripped asunder by Trump’s virulent verbal antics. Millions of undocumented immigrants (mostly from south of the border) in imminent danger of deportation, anti-Muslim rhetoric heating up to a rolling boil, and the Police State kicking into high gear. But it’s always darkest just before the dawn and, by way of a 2 a.m. epiphany, I may have discovered a way to make sweet lemonade out of our sour political lemons.
My hometown of Santa Fe is an official Sanctuary City, with the mayor and City Council recently and unanimously passing a resolution reaffirming that this city welcomes all immigrants and refugees with open arms. More than 30 years ago, Gov. Anaya formerly declared New Mexico a Sanctuary State. Then, six years ago, Gov. Martinez, in solidarity with her conservative brethren, reversed that declaration, removing the welcome mat from our borders. But now our State Senate, in its infinite wisdom, is attempting to reinstate our lost Sanctuary State status.
So, assuming the New Mexico Legislature passes Sanctuary State legislation and overrides a likely veto from Gov. Martinez, this already poor state is likely to lose all U.S. federal funding. Now, my initial thought was that, since those withheld funds come from the tax dollars of New Mexicans, we should immediately cease paying the federal I.R.S. All New Mexico citizens would simply begin paying equivalent tax funds directly to the state Internal Revenue Service, bypassing all the federal red tape, and thumbing our collective nose at Trump’s grand plans for mass deportations and a BIG, BIG WALL along our southern border. But then somebody else had a much better idea, and it came from far beyond our western horizon.
A group of fed-up-with-Trump secessionists are calling for a Calexit. If “Yes California” gets its way and collects at least 585,407 petition signatures, California’s registered voters will have the opportunity to decide, in November of 2018, to convert their state into a separate and sovereign nation. After all, when compared to national economies, California ranks number six in the world.
Now, common wisdom tells us that this measure has little chance of growing wings strong enough to fly, but it would be the best thing that could possibly happen to Empire. So now I propose the creation of a New Mexican group, which will follow California’s fine example. “Yes New Mexico” would collect petition signatures in support of a New Mexit, with secession from the United States of America being the end result.
Jumping ahead to early 2019, past all the obvious hurdles and roadblocks, let’s assume that both the Calexit and New Mexit have been successful in the November 2018 elections. The republics of California and New Mexico have been established, and Trump’s having a conniption fit, reconfiguring the route of his BIG, BIG WALL around both California and New Mexico.
All tax income in both fledgling countries stays at home, strengthening infrastructure, boosting public education, providing public transportation, health care, housing and nutrition. Simultaneously, the coffers of the U.S.A. begin to suffer. Californians and New Mexicans are no longer paying for the wars of Empire, the overreach of multiple, so-called intelligence agencies, nor the bloated federal bureaucracy. And on the southern borders of the secessionist territories, the walls come tumbling down, establishing a friendly and open relationship with Mexico.
“Hmmm!?” say the 48 remaining states. “Not a bad idea!” Possible end result: 56 new independent countries. Fifty former states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and U.S. Virgin Islands follow suit, becoming independent and sovereign nations. The U.S.A. ceases to exist. The marble buildings and monuments of Washington, D.C., become museums. The United Nations and the International Court of Justice grow teeth, becoming the law of all lands. National borders gradually disintegrate and disappear. Multilateral nuclear disarmament is now international law. Wars of aggression are relegated to the dark recesses of history.
’Tis high time for radical change. Much common knowledge has proven to be false. You won’t likely die if you swim after eating. Your eyes won’t stay that way if you cross them. Broken mirrors and black cats don’t necessarily portend bad luck. The United States of America is neither a beacon of freedom and justice nor an exceptional nation in the eyes of any gods.
Divided we stand, united we fall. Let’s choose the path of state sovereignty and an end of Empire. Let’s play Pollyanna’s Glad Game, embrace Trump’s divisiveness, and use it to stop the caustic advance and greedy agenda of Empire. No more walls. No more wars. No more poverty, hunger or homelessness. Calexit, New Mexit ... The Untied States of Amerexit! John R. Hall is a street-trained agnotologist who writes regularly for Dissident Voice, Axis of Logic, The Greanville Post and CounterPunch from his Santa Fe home.