What would California look like broken in three? Ora Republic of New England? With the federal government reaching forever more power, redrawing the map is enticing, says Paul Starobin
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Devolved America is a vision faithful both to certain postindustrialrealities as well as to the pluralistic heart of the American politicaltradition—a tradition that has been betrayed by the creepingcentralization of power in Washington over the decades but may yetreassert itself as an animating spirit for the future. Consider thisproposition: America of the 21st century, propelled by currents ofmodernity that tend to favor the little over the big, may trace a longcircle back to the original small-government ideas of the Americanexperiment. The present-day American Goliath may turn out to be a freakof a waning age of politics and economics as conducted on a super-sizedscale—too large to make any rational sense in an emerging age ofpersonal empowerment that harks back to the era of the yeoman farmer ofAmerica’s early days. The society may find blessed new life, asparadoxical as this may sound, in a return to a smaller form.
This perspective may seem especially fanciful at a time when thepolitical tides all seem to be running in the opposite direction. Inthe midst of economic troubles, an aggrandizing Washington is gatheringeven more power in its hands. The Obama Administration, whileconsidering replacing top executives at Citigroup, is newly appointinga “compensation czar” with powers to determine the retirement packagesof executives at firms accepting federal financial bailout funds.President Obama has deemed it wise for the U.S. Treasury to take amajority ownership stake in General Motors in a last-ditch effort torevive this Industrial Age brontosaurus. Even the Supreme Court isgetting in on the act: A ruling this past week awarded federal judgespowers to set the standards by which judges for state courts may recusethemselves from cases.
All of this adds up to a federal power grab that might make evenFDR’s New Dealers blush. But that’s just the point: Not surprisingly, alot of folks in the land of Jefferson are taking a stand against anapproach that stands to make an indebted citizenry yet more dependenton an already immense federal power. The backlash, already under way,is a prime stimulus for a neo-secessionist movement, the most extrememanifestation of a broader push for some form of devolution. In April,at an anti-tax “tea party” held in Austin, Governor Rick Perry of Texashad his speech interrupted by cries of “secede.” The Governor did notsound inclined to disagree. “Texas is a unique place,” he later toldreporters attending the rally. “When we came into the Union in 1845,one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided todo that.”