What would you do if your state seceded?

In My Humble Opinion
1

This is a poll for people who live in the United States.

Suppose your state decided to secede. And further suppose that while the United States government isn’t happy about the secession, they’ve agreed to it. There’ll be no war or embargo or anything openly hostile between the United States of America and the newly formed Republic of Yourstatesnamehere. (Assume these decisions have been settled and there’s nothing you can do to change them.)

But it’s not going to be particularly friendly either. Both sides have made it clear that the new country will be a foreign nation and its citizens will have no special privileges in the United States (or vice versa). You’ll be reasonably free to visit back and forth across the border but you won’t be able to conveniently reside in one country and work in the other or immigrate or live as a resident alien. You’ll generally be expected to live in, work in, own property, and be subject to the laws in one country.

There’s going to be a brief period when people can resettle before the change becomes permanent. If you choose, you can tidy up your business affairs (for the sake of argument assume you can sell your home and business for a reasonable price) and leave your home state. You can move to one of the forty-nine remaining states and remain an American citizen. But once the brief resettlement period is over, you’ll be committed - anyone still residing in the state at that point will automatically be considered to be a citizen of the new country and will lose their American citizenship.

So what would you do? Would you stay at home and become a citizen of a new country? Or move and remain an American citizen?

The voting is simple but I’d also appreciate it if people would post what state they’re in, what their reasons are for their decision, and what state they would move to if they chose to move.

2

For myself, I’m from New York. I’d leave the state because I like being an American citizen. I don’t know what state I’d move to - maybe Vermont.

3

I’d stay here in California. My home and few surviving relatives are here, and I have no great fondness for the US. And California seems like it would make a perfectly viable separate county; large, fairly diverse economy, access to the coast.

4

Mississippi: and as much as I love being here, I would leave in a heartbeat. First of all, I like being an American citizen. Second, we’re already last in everything good and first in everything bad: what reason would I think that would improve?

5

Since I live in Minnesota, I’d just hang around and wait to become Canadian.

6

I live in NSW in Australia, we have a similar federal (commonwealth) system.

The biggest city in my state has a third of the entire continent’s population, in other words, the city IS the counry.

The official national capital is just a small enclave(for lack of a better word) surounded on all sides by NSW

7

I’d move to New Zealand.

8

I’ve not voted yet, but it would largely depend on why we separated and the makeup of the new government. We’d be in a crucial position between the United States and Canada, so I can see having at least as good relations with the United States as with Canada. Of course I mean my real state – Michigan – and not Jiangsu.

9

I live in Nebraska, and while I have no problem living in the State of Nebraska that I can leave at any time, I wouldn’t want to live in Nebraskarnia. I’d get out an apply for some sort of refugee scholarship.

Also, whoever it was who decided a chunk of the most landlocked farm country in the states should secede, I don’t wanna live in the country they’re in charge of.

10

Where do you live now and what’s preventing you from moving to New Zealand?

11

We are considering moving to California, so if we were in California we would stay. If it is here in CT, we would move immediately to California.

12

You need to get out more.

13

When I went outside Sydney, all I found was roads leading to Sydney

14

As much as I love living in the US, I might take my chances here in little old Mass. We have a coastline to make trading as well as airspace issues easier. And the downside of the coastline, invasion, would probably not be allowed by our neighboring friends in the USA. We have arguably the greatest concentration of top-tier educational facilities in the Americas perhaps the world. Our hospitals are top-notch. I assume we can get our ambassadors to negotiate to let us into your NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB. With the Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Patriots (yes, we are taking the Pats, sorry rest of New England, we all know they are really ours anyway), our country will be pretty competitive sportswise.
As far as our home defense, we still have Raytheon and the [del]United States[/del] Massachusetts Army Soldier Systems Center.

15

I also live in Massachusetts, and while it would make my weekend jaunts to RI and NY a bit of a pain in the ass, assuming that I’d be able to visit the rest of the US with the same ease that I can currently visit Canada I see no reason to leave here.

16

Well, if DC declared independence, I’d probably kill myself with the laughing fit that would be inevitable.

There’s no way I would stay here. I think the population of DC would be reduced by 75%.

17

I might stay in Florida, but it would depend on what the transitional government looked like. We’ve got lots of Tea Party types and other assorted crazies here- enough to make a big mess- but also lots of lefty types and moderates.

18

We live in MD, but my husband and I both work in VA. I actually really like MD, but it’s a pretty small state and it’s economy is based pretty heavily on the federal government. Well, the part of the economy that I’m likely to participate in, at any rate. I’d be likely to move, most likely to VA.

19

I’m in California and I’d leave as long as my family would too.

I like being an American Citizen and don’t love California much anyway.

20

If Maryland seceded from the Union, first of all, my head would explode. But after I collected and reassembled the pieces, I’d move across the river to Virginia. Since I work for a Federal agency located in Maryland, I assume my job would be making a similar move.