Confiteri: Time to Begin Anew

We must be honest with ourselves: The United States Constitution of 1787 is a failure. Politically, it granted too much power to the national government (unlimited taxing power, unlimited power to raise and maintain armies), contained too many other vague clauses (such as those dealing with interstate commerce, the general welfare, and judicial review of any law of any State or locality) that it used to augment its more clearly defined powers, afforded only the shadow of true representation, and provided no well-defined means for the States and counties, parishes, and towns to defend themselves against federal overreaches.

Culturally, that Constitution’s disestablishment of Christianity merely gave the rulers in Washington City the opportunity to impose a religion of their own upon the peoples of the States (a kind of anti-Christian materialism with the national government as deity).

If this surprises us, it only shows our lack of historical knowledge. For the Anti-Federalists at the time of the ratification debates (Melancton Smith of New York, Patrick Henry of Virginia, and the rest) foresaw all that has come to pass.

The myth-makers (William Bennett, Mark Levin, Ben Carson, et al.) who have wrapped the U. S. Constitution in a cloud of sanctity as though the Lord Himself had bestowed upon Americans, through the latter day Moses-es gathered in Philadelphia, the most perfect plan of government the world has ever or will ever know - be wary what advice you accept from them.

Rather, let us be humble enough to admit that the framers did err as we consider how to proceed from here. For the situation is very troubling. The lawlessness at home and in other countries and the attacks on Christianity here and abroad - the handiwork of the national government - have been manifest for decades. Relying on Democrat ABC or Republican XYZ to ‘fix things in Washington’ is no longer a very viable option (although if a trustworthy man appears on the ballot, by all means support him).

It is time each State peacefully left the current union. Whether they choose to establish a new one that is much more decentralized than that now existing, or whether they choose to remain independent of one another, one thing is certain: The sooner we throw off Washington City’s yoke, the better off we all will be - spiritually, politically, and economically.

To this end, we present to you a short essay written by Mr Mark Thomey of the Southern National Congress. Its focus is on Louisiana, but the principles discussed may be applied to all the States. (Similar essays on other States may be found at this web site, http://getofftitanic.com/, under the section entitled ‘Some Solutions’.)

Please share it with anyone you like, even to the point of revising it, re-posting it, handing it out as a flyer, etc.

It covers only political and economic issues, but we must begin this conversation somewhere (and those are not unimportant aspects of social life, after all).

(Please also consider a 'Secede' bumper sticker for yourself and others: http://www.zazzle.com/secede+bumperstickers)

May the Lord grant us true Christian freedom when we have made ourselves worthy of it.

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Your State Could Be an Independent Country

By Mark Thomey

Revised by David Rockett & Walt Garlington

For most Southerners who’ve suffered through twelve years of government schooling, and successive years of media indoctrination, the above statement probably appears ridiculous. Some years ago, I brought up this idea with some co-workers at the engineering firm where I worked. One young man, a recent graduate of Louisiana Tech University sarcastically replied, ‘Oh yeah, and go from being one of the poorest States to one of the poorest third world countries.’ But would that necessarily be the case? Let’s take a more critical look at my State, Louisiana, and see how my former colleague’s statement fares.

‘Small is Beautiful’

In the Yankee mentality, bigger is better. Part of their argument for holding this vast empire together by force is that in order to be a viable, stable country, we have to occupy a sizeable chunk of this vast piece of real estate called North America. However, does the reality surrounding the existence of many of the countries of the western world support this notion? Let’s see.

Louisiana covers an area of 43,562 square miles. That makes her only slightly smaller than Greece (50,942 sq. mi.) but larger than Hungary (35,919 sq. mi.), Portugal, Austria, The Czech Republic, Ireland, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and Belgium (11,780 sq. mi.). I dare say that no one in their right mind would declare any of the countries listed above to be unstable or unviable; especially since many of them have existed as countries for centuries longer than the united States. If, in typical, condescending, Yankee fashion, you would argue, ‘Yeah, but those are rinky-dink countries,’ (I suppose this is a slap at their lack of superpower military status), then consider that Louisiana is one-half the size of the United Kingdom and one-third as large as Germany (neither of which have been slouches in the military power game). On the population side, Louisiana ranks ninth on my list of ten at 4.60 million people. That places her just above Ireland (4.02 million) and well below The Netherlands (16.41 million). This places fair Louisiana in very good company compared to some of her potential neighbours, so the size argument is refuted.

It’s the Economy Stupid!

Some of you may recall this phrase being bandied about during the Clinton administration. There is a kernel of truth in it, though, as a portion of the stability and viability of any country is achieved by its commerce at home and with other nations. This is the crucial attribute which can make size irrelevant. Let’s look at Louisiana’s income potential.

Louisiana’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $214 billion would make her 46^th out of 210 countries, giving her a place in the top 25 per cent of all nations – in the same league with Singapore, Hong Kong, Ireland, and Chile. This is not a bad place to begin.

And it gets better from here. As every imperial power who has ever wanted a piece of North America has known, New Orleans, and control of the mouth of the Mississippi River, is a strategic necessity. Modern air transportation has not negated the fact that the vast majority of the world’s goods are still transported by ships. The Port of New Orleans is the second busiest in North America, and the Mississippi River is the watery highway used for transporting those goods into the interior of the country.

Louisiana’s vast natural resources in oil and gas could be sold on the world market at fair prices versus the heavily controlled and regulated situation forced on us now by the U. S. It also means that Louisiana’s farmers could get out of a state of perpetual peonage to the U. S. Agriculture Department, sell their produce at world market prices, and become prosperous again. Likewise, the suffocating and outrageous regulations and procedures of the EPA, IRS, OSHA, TSA, and all the other federal bureaucracies would be gone. The advantages are legion.

But would this be sufficient to fund the government of an independent nation? The numbers say Yes.

The fiscal year 2011-2 budget for the State of Louisiana is $25.39 billion. This amount includes $11.11 billion in federal funds, meaning that Louisiana can raise at least $14.28 billion in revenue on her own ($17.28 billion with the revenue collected from the Port of New Orleans going to Baton Rouge instead of Washington City). If Louisiana’s spending were brought closer to that of other States of similar population and background (Kentucky, 4.4 million people, $9.4 billion FY 2011-2 budget; South Carolina, 4.7 million people, $6.0 billion FY 2011-2 budget; Alabama, 4.8 million people, $7.4 billion FY 2011-2 budget), revenue would not be a problem. Even if we found ourselves at the high end of the three with an annual budget of $9.4 billion, this would still leave us with a surplus of $7.88 billion to fund a modest army and navy, embassies, and the other necessities of a free nation in the world.

And these totals do not even include federal revenue from other international ports such as Baton Rouge or Lake Charles, or from the federal personal income tax and federal business tax collections ($36 billion and $1.5 billion in FY 2011, respectively) that are currently transferred from Louisiana to Washington City. These tax rates could and should be substantially reduced when under our own authority, but the numbers still serve to underscore the main point: A free Louisiana would not have any trouble raising sufficient revenue.

Get Out Now!

As this short, critical analysis shows, the notion that independence means poverty and misery for any of our Southern States is a fallacy. On the contrary, independence opens the door to prosperity for our people. The only question remaining is – what are we waiting for?!

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Have you lost your political imagination -- that vision for the good life? Tragically, Louisianians like most Americans have lost most all ability to cultivate a political vision. What is the good life, even the optimum for life in Louisiana? Sadly, we let our busy lives, the status-quo, media, even arts and sports entertainments distract us. So we don't even try. Maybe our latest roux of political scandals, corruptions, and quickly fading constitutional liberties will wake us up to new visions and possibilities. If not for us, for our children and grandchildren? We hope you will join us in the work of redeeming the time through a reinvigorated political imagination.

To learn more about the benefits of a world of smaller, culturally sound countries, please visit any of the following web sites and those like them:

The Abbeville Institute

http://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/

Alaskan Independence Party

http://www.akip.org/

Get Us off the U.S.S. Titanic

http://getofftitanic.com/

The League of the South

http://leagueofthesouth.com

http://dixienet.org/

http://LewRockwell.com

The Middlebury Institute