Independence Day Round Up

Happy 4th, folks! It is time for the closing ceremonies of Secession Week 2010. Enough theoretical contemplation. Break out the spirits. Turn up the music.  And stride out into the irresistibly lurid carnival of America with a little Dionysian yea-saying. As Patri says, let us take inspiration from the Declaration of Independence to grow bolder in our aspirations:

Nowadays the theoretical morality and practical advantages of replacing despotism with democratic self-government are widely recognized.  Those who throw off the chains of tyranny are following a well-trodden path to a known destination.  But someone had to take that first bold step into the unknown, guided by their vision of a just society and frustration with existing systems.  Without such pioneers, the world would be doomed to endlessly retread the same weary paths, ignorant of the greener pastures that might lie ahead.

Change always provokes defensiveness and suspicion from entrenched power structures and the human mental bias towards stasis.  But it would have been a terrible loss for humanity if America’s founders had resigned themselves to the status quo of monarchical tyranny.  As it would be for us today to resign ourselves to the status quo of terrestrial democracy.  So on this July 4th, let us pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor that we will not make the same mistake.

Now, in case you missed any day of these festivities, let’s recap our musings:

• Monday: Introduction, Independence is Better Than Secession
• Tuesday: The Size of Nations
• Wednesday: Culture and Secession
• Thursday: Economic Secession
• Friday: Federalism and Secession

And around the internets, others have been developing the theme. Check’em out:

• A Radical Thought Experiment
• Black Market Secession
• The Real Meaning of July 4th
• Nobody Actually Agrees with the Declaration of Independence Anymore
• Third Palmetto Republic: The Many Benefits of Secession
• Pennsylvanians, The Case for Secession
• Disallowance of Secession is Endorsement of Slavery
• Celebrating the Independence of America
• It was a civil war within a common polity
• Declaration of Singularity
• Happy Secession Day!

And if you didn’t catch last year’s secession week, there’s lots of great content:

• Monday – Secession Goes Mainstream, Intro To Secession
• Tuesday – American Secession & Independence Movements
• Wednesday – Secession vs. Revolution
• Thursday – Federalism (Secession Lite!)
• Friday – Non-Territorial Government: Secede Without Leaving
• Saturday – American Revolution, Declaration of Independence

Speaking of independence and all that, nothing says “I love liberty” more than grown men stuffing their bellies with real pork:

Thanks for tuning in this year! Many thanks to all our contributors. You’re brilliant. Keep us in mind next year, when the event will return, bigger and better. Until then!