# US Dopers: what political changes would make you consider secession for your state... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-what-political-changes-would-make-you-consider-secession-for-your-state/494769 "2009-04-29T20:52:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-what-political-changes-would-make-you-consider-secession-for-your-state/494769/1 "2009-04-29T20:52:01Z")
or exile for yourself? You needn’t restrict yourself to changes you think LIKELY. I’m talking about things that are CONCEIVABLE. Anybody? Bueller? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-what-political-changes-would-make-you-consider-secession-for-your-state/494769/2 "2009-04-29T21:09:25Z")
IMO, secession is out, no matter what. It’s totally illegal and unconstitutional, so it’s a good way to get your state reduced to rubble. Sherman’s march to the sea is nothing compared with what a crowd of B-52s can do. As for my personal exile, wiping out the Bill Of Rights might do it. If the company I retired from disintegrates, leaving me with no pension or health insurance, I might decide that poverty in a country with universal health care is better than poverty here. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-what-political-changes-would-make-you-consider-secession-for-your-state/494769/3 "2009-04-29T21:14:09Z")
Further enshrinement of fundamentalist dogma into law would lead to self-exile. No exact point, but replacing the state court system with one that runs on biblical principals (Christian sharia law, if you will) would probably do it. ETA Never mind. I thought you meant exile from one state to one of the others, not exile from the US as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-what-political-changes-would-make-you-consider-secession-for-your-state/494769/4 "2009-04-29T21:17:27Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > IMO, secession is out, no matter what. It’s totally illegal and unconstitutional, so it’s a good way to get your state reduced to rubble. I’ve never entirely bought the idea that secession is unconstitutional. Not that I favor the South’s position in the Civil War, but I just don’t believe that any of the original 13 states–and certainly not South Carolina–would ever have joined the union without thinking that they could leave if it came down to it. I’m also not as sure that we have the stomach for putting down a rebellion in a bloody fashion that Americans did in 1861. I don’t think the people of Tennessee, Massachusetts, and so forth are going to want to see their sons & daughters dying to keep California in the Union. But I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong, like, 17 times today. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-what-political-changes-would-make-you-consider-secession-for-your-state/494769/5 "2009-04-29T22:13:28Z")
Consensual secession might be legal, i.e., if Congress and the affected state(s) agree. I may be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-what-political-changes-would-make-you-consider-secession-for-your-state/494769/6 "2009-04-29T23:41:56Z")
Despite loving the South, I’m totally opposite the typical Tennessean in most sociopolitical senses, so if it were to secede (again), I would never support it, and would leave without looking back if it were to happen.