Lets Put Politics Aside for Thanksgiving

I enjoy a spirited debate about many things, but lets put politics aside for Thanksgiving and think about things we should all be thankful for on this day. Let's forget about the reasons and history of the day for now, which I might get into another time.  I'm just going to focus on celebrating the things we should be happy about, and I think we all have a lot of those. It doesn't matter what your faith (or lack thereof) or politics are.

This country is a great country, where we still have the opportunity to express ourselves.  I am thankful to live in a place that lets me be open about what I feel and express it to anyone. I can do so with little fear of becoming a political prisoner.

I am thankful to live in a place where there exists fewer barriers to rise in socio-economic status and have more opportunity for myself and provide more for my future children. Most countries in this world cannot provide their citizens with that much opportunity, despite leaps and bounds in their economic growth.

I am thankful to be able to share a country with a diverse set of individuals, many of whom I may disagree with. It is only through having the chance of spirited debate that doesn't devolve into violence that we can learn from each other. And I have learned so much more from disagreeing with others, than from agreement. For this, I am also thankful.

I am thankful to be with someone that admires, respects, trusts, and loves me. Of course they do more things, and the list is not all inclusive. Few of us have the opportunity to meet someone that is such a perfect match for them. I myself did not expect to ever meet someone as perfect for me as I have.

So many people don't have a family to spend Thanksgiving with, or they are estranged from theirs. For this I am thankful. Even though we may not agree, or choose our families  they are ours. Though I myself have disagreed and even cursed my family at times, I am grateful to have them.

I'm sure there are so many things that I have missed that I am, or should be, thankful for. The goal of my post was not to be all inclusive, but to inspire us to think about these things on this day. Happy Thanksgiving.

How pro-America do you have to be to Break up the United States of America?

I hope that the people in states with petitions to secede from the union get their wish.  I know it's unconstitutional, but frankly I think we should make a Constitutional exception this time.  And with it, the Federal government can withdraw funding for education, the National Guard, FEMA, and earmarks for politicians among other things.  Give them all what they want.

Maybe it's a good thing that we go the way of Europe.  Perhaps it does make sense to divide the US into different countries.  It does seem like we are becoming more than one country.  So I say, let them have what they want.  Perhaps it will help them understand the err of their rugged individualism when they go broke.  Will they issue their own currency?  Of course, it will be interesting to see what happens in the event of a disaster.  Or perhaps a terrorist attack?  I wonder if they will want the help of the US military if terrorists attack their state.  Will they have enough of an economy and infrastructure to provide for the defense of their citizens against such events without the US Armed Forces?

Honestly I await with interest in finding out how this plays out.  However, like previous secession cries, they just seem like more hot air.  To me it shows that they don't believe their own rhetoric about individualism, since they subconsciously know better.  They know damn well they would be destitute, and it would be nightmare to establish currency, commerce would be destroyed.  A random question comes to mind as well--how un-American is it to break up the United States of America?  People that want to secede have revoked their justification to ever call anyone un-American ever again.  Have they ever though of trying to fix the country they are in?  Just more divisiveness, and more walls.

There have been novels written in the cyberpunk literature about a new US civil war.  Many Japanese anime that take place in the near future, portray the US as a fractured state in civil war.  It is funny how prophetic these authors might turn out to be.  How the culture war, might actually turn into a real war.
I wouldn't want a civil war--it would be stupid to devolve to that point.  It would be best to grant those that want to secede, the right to leave the union.  I feel it is, frankly, to their own demise.  I'm not buying that any of the states that would secede would be able to compete by themselves in the global marketplace, or against other states when pitted against each other.  Sadly, there is no precedent, except civil war (perhaps this might be a good thing, to discourage this.)  Statehood cannot be revoked, it is one of the reasons why there used to be so much back and forth about Puerto Rico becoming a state.  Many people wanted to, but were weary they could not turn back from the decision.