{"id":51231,"date":"2023-03-26T08:02:50","date_gmt":"2023-03-26T15:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=51231"},"modified":"2023-03-26T08:02:50","modified_gmt":"2023-03-26T15:02:50","slug":"everyday-erinyes-363","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2023\/03\/26\/everyday-erinyes-363\/","title":{"rendered":"Everyday Erinyes #363"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto<\/strong><\/span>, Megaera<\/strong><\/span>, and Tisiphone<\/span><\/strong>. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”<\/p>\n

There has been a lot of discussion (to put it chartably) about secession lately. Red staters want to get out from under the Constitution and the Federal Government whose duty, among other duties, is to enforce it. A lot of blue staters would be happy to see them go – if only there were an obvious place for them to go which would free us from having to listen to them. What I have not heard, until now, is a theory the secession is already happening, and to an extent, has happened, except that we are still stuck with them. I’m not sure I totally buy it, but I do think it is something we should think about.
\n==============================================================<\/p>\n

Secession is here: States, cities and the wealthy are already withdrawing from\u00a0America<\/h1>\n
Acts of secession are happening across the U.S.
\nVector Illustration\/Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michael J. Lee<\/a>, College of Charleston<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, wants a \u201cnational divorce<\/a>.\u201d In her view, another Civil War is inevitable unless red and blue states form separate countries.<\/p>\n

She has plenty of company<\/a> on the right<\/a>, where a host of others \u2013 52% of Trump voters<\/a>, Donald Trump himself<\/a> and prominent Texas Republicans<\/a> \u2013 have endorsed various forms of secession in recent years. Roughly 40% of Biden voters<\/a> have fantasized about a national divorce as well. Some on the left<\/a>
\nurge a domestic breakup so that a new egalitarian nation<\/a> might be, as Lincoln said at Gettysburg, \u201cbrought forth on this continent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American Civil War was a national trauma<\/a> precipitated by the secession of 11 Southern states over slavery. It is, therefore, understandable that many pundits and commentators<\/a> would weigh in<\/a> about the legality, feasibility and wisdom<\/a> of secession<\/a> when others clamor for divorce.<\/p>\n

But all this secession talk misses a key point that every troubled couple knows. Just as there are ways to withdraw from a marriage before any formal divorce, there are also ways to exit a nation before officially seceding.<\/p>\n

I have studied secession<\/a> for 20 years, and I think that it is not just a \u201cwhat if?<\/a>\u201d scenario anymore. In \u201cWe Are Not One People: Secession and Separatism in American Politics Since 1776<\/a>,\u201d my co-author and I go beyond narrow discussions of secession and the Civil War to frame secession as an extreme end point on a scale that includes various acts of exit<\/a> that have already taken place across the U.S.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wants red and blue states to separate.<\/span>
\nAnna Moneymaker\/Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Scaled secession<\/h2>\n

This scale begins with smaller, targeted exits, like a person getting out of jury duty, and progresses to include the larger ways that communities refuse to comply with state and federal authorities.<\/p>\n

Such refusals could involve legal maneuvers like interposition<\/a>, in which a community delays or constrains the enforcement of a law it opposes, or nullification<\/a>, in which a community explicitly declares a law to be null and void within its borders. At the end of the scale, there\u2019s secession.<\/p>\n

From this wider perspective, it is clear that many acts of departure \u2013 call them secession lite, de facto secession or soft separatism \u2013 are occurring right now. Americans have responded to increasing polarization by exploring the gradations between soft separatism and hard secession.<\/p>\n

These escalating exits make sense in a polarized nation<\/a> whose citizens are sorting themselves into like-minded neighbhorhoods<\/a>. When compromise is elusive and coexistence is unpleasant, citizens have three options to get their way: Defeat the other side, eliminate the other side or get away from the other side.<\/p>\n

Imagine a national law; it could be a mandate that citizens brush their teeth twice a day or a statute criminalizing texting while driving. Then imagine that a special group of people did not have to obey that law.<\/p>\n

This quasi-secession can be achieved in several ways. Maybe this special group moves \u201coff the grid<\/a>\u201d into the boondocks where they could text and drive without fear of oversight. Maybe this special group wields political power and can buy, bribe or lawyer their way out of any legal jam. Maybe this special group has persuaded a powerful authority, say Congress or the Supreme Court, to grant them unique legal exemptions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These are hypothetical scenarios, but not imaginary ones. When groups exit public life and its civic duties and burdens, when they live under their own sets of rules, when they do not have to live with fellow citizens they have not chosen or listen to authorities they do not like, they have already seceded.<\/p>\n

Schools to taxes<\/h2>\n

Present-day America offers numerous hard examples of soft separatism.<\/p>\n

Over the past two decades, scores<\/a> of wealthy white communities have separated from more diverse school districts. Advocates cite local control to justify these acts of school secession. But the result is the creation of parallel<\/a> school districts, both relatively homogeneous but vastly different in racial makeup and economic background.<\/p>\n

Several prominent district exits have occurred in the South \u2013 places like St. George, Louisiana<\/a> \u2013 but instances from northern Maine to Southern California<\/a> show that school splintering is happening nationwide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As one reporter wrote<\/a>, \u201cIf you didn\u2019t want to attend school with certain people in your district, you just needed to find a way to put a district line between you and them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many other examples of legalized separatism revolve around taxes. Disney World, for example, was classified as a \u201cspecial tax district<\/a>\u201d in Florida in 1967. These special districts are functionally separate local governments and can provide public services and build and maintain their own infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The company has saved millions by avoiding typical zoning, permitting and inspection processes for decades, although Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has recently challenged<\/a> Disney\u2019s special designation. Disney was only one of 1,800 special tax districts in Florida; there are over 35,000<\/a> in the nation.<\/p>\n

Jeff Bezos paid no federal income taxes in 2011. Elon Musk paid almost none<\/a> in 2018. Tales of wealthy individuals avoiding taxes<\/a> are as common as stories of rich Americans buying their way out<\/a> of jail. \u201cWealthier Americans,\u201d Robert Reich lamented<\/a> as far back as the early 1990s, \u201chave been withdrawing into their own neighborhoods and clubs for generations.\u201d Reich worried that a \u201cnew secession\u201d allowed the rich to \u201cinhabit a different economy from other Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the nation\u2019s wealthiest citizens pay an effective tax rate<\/a> close to zero<\/a>. As one investigative reporter put it, the ultrawealthy \u201csidestep the system in an entirely legal way<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Spectators applaud after the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors unanimously votes to pass a Second Amendment sanctuary resolution at a meeting in Buckingham, Va., Dec. 9, 2019.<\/span>
\nAP Photo\/Steve Helber<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One nation, divisible<\/h2>\n

Schools and taxes are just a start.<\/p>\n

Eleven states dub themselves \u201cSecond Amendment sanctuaries<\/a>\u201d and refuse to enforce federal gun restrictions. Movements aiming to carve off rural, more politically conservative portions of blue states are growing<\/a>; 11 counties in Eastern Oregon support seceding<\/a> and reclassifying themselves<\/a> as \u201cGreater Idaho,\u201d a move that Idaho\u2019s state government supports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hoping to become a separate state independent of Chicago\u2019s political influence, over two dozen rural Illinois counties have passed pro-secession referendums<\/a>. Some Texas<\/a> Republicans back \u201cTexit,\u201d where the state becomes an independent nation.<\/p>\n

Separatist ideas<\/a> come from the Left, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cCal-exit<\/a>,\u201d a plan for California to leave the union after 2016, was the most acute recent attempt at secession.<\/p>\n

And separatist acts have reshaped life and law in many states. Since 2012, 21 states<\/a> have legalized marijuana, which is federally illegal<\/a>. Sanctuary cities and states<\/a> have emerged since 2016 to combat aggressive federal immigration laws and policies. Some prosecutors and judges refuse<\/a> to prosecute women and medical providers for newly illegal abortions in some states.<\/p>\n

Estimates vary, but some Americans are increasingly opting out of hypermodern, hyperpolarized life entirely. \u201cIntentional communities,\u201d rural, sustainable, cooperative communes like East Wind in the Ozarks<\/a>, are, as The New York Times reported in 2020, proliferating \u201cacross the country<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In many ways, America is already broken apart. When secession is portrayed in its strictest sense, as a group of people declaring independence and taking a portion of a nation as they depart, the discussion is myopic, and current acts of exit hide in plain sight. When it comes to secession, the question is not just \u201cWhat if?\u201d but \u201cWhat now?\u201d\"The<\/p>\n

Michael J. Lee<\/a>, Professor of Communication, College of Charleston<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

==============================================================
\nAlecto<\/strong><\/span>, Megaera<\/strong><\/span>, and Tisiphone<\/span><\/strong>, is this actually happening? Has it happened? Some of the passive-aggressive tactics are in my opinion simply irresponsible, such as not voting. Others involve breaking laws, so far mostly at such a low level as to fly under the radar and avoid prosecution. Some, such as actions which restrict voting and other rights guaranteed by the Constitution, are frankly horrendous. None address the problem that, whether secesion is individual and passive-aggressve, or by states with or without bloodshed, there is no way to make them work without innocent people getting hurt.<\/p>\n

The Furies and I will be back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":50367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3729,5354,4215],"class_list":["post-51231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-furies","tag-passive-aggressive","tag-secession","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}