American Secession: The Looming Threat of a National Breakup

Americans have never been more divided, and we're ripe for a breakup. The bitter partisan animosities, the legislative gridlock, the growing acceptance of violence in the name of political virtue--it all invites us to think that we'd be happier were we two different countries. In all the ways that matter, save for the naked force of law, we are already two nations. There's another reason why secession beckons, says F.H. Buckley: we're too big. In population and area, the United States is one of the biggest countries in the world, and American Secession provides data showing that smaller countries are happier and less corrupt. They're less inclined to throw their weight around militarily, and they're freer too. There are advantages to bigness, certainly, but the costs exceed the benefits. On many counts, bigness is badness.

Across the world, large countries are staring down secession movements. Many have already split apart. Do we imagine that we, almost alone in the world, are immune? We had a civil war to prevent a secession, and we're tempted to see that terrible precedent as proof against another effort. This book explodes that comforting belief and shows just how easy it would be for a state to exit the Union if that's what its voters wanted.

But if that isn't what we really want, Buckley proposes another option, a kind of Secession Lite, that could heal our divisions while allowing us to keep our identity as Americans.

ISBN-13: 9781641770804

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Encounter Books

Publication Date: 01-14-2020

Pages: 184

Product Dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

Age Range: 18 Years

F.H. Buckley is a Foundation Professor at George Mason University’s Scalia School of Law. He is a frequent media guest and has appeared on Morning Joe, CNN, The Rush Limbaugh Show, C‑SPAN, NPR and numerous other outlets. He is a senior editor at the American Spectator, a columnist for the New York Post, and has written for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and many other newspapers. His most recent books are The Republican Workers Party (2018); The Republic of Virtue (2017); The Way Back: Restoring the Promise of America (2016); and The Once and Future King (2015). His current project is a book on curiosity.