Re:Catalan referendum: 'Hundreds injured' in Catalan clashes
by ghaff on Sunday October 01, 2017 @11:34AM
(#15378300)
No. And I don't think any US state would seriously contemplate secession today however polarized politics are.
That said, if any state or group of states did overwhelmingly want to breakaway from the US, it seems unlikely that there would be meaningful support for the federal government to go to war to stop them.
Re:Catalan referendum: 'Hundreds injured' in Catalan clashes
by paulddraper on Sunday October 01, 2017 @11:51AM
(#15378367)
There have been the Calexit movement [1] and various movements in Texas [2]. Texas in particular has some substantial poll numbers.
Given that states rights are far less than they were in the 19th century, I expect the US government to be even more likely to prevent succession in the infinitesimal chance it would happen.
[1] http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert...
[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_secession_movements
Re:Catalan referendum: 'Hundreds injured' in Catalan clashes
by ghaff on Sunday October 01, 2017 @12:37PM
(#15378571)
I think it's one thing to tell a pollster "OMG, if Hillary wins Texas should leave the US" and it's another to actually vote for it. And, even if one supports the idea that states should be able to do this, it's still reasonable to argue that it should require a significant supermajority.
Your point about the erosion of states rights is certainly fair. In any case, it's hard to say what "prevent secession" means without the context of the circumstances.
That line of thinking is very unpopular, at least in the US since that time.