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Start giftingAmerican Secession
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Learn moreAmericans have never been more divided, and we're ripe for a breakup. The bitter partisan animosities, the legislative gridlock, the growing acceptance of violence in the name of political virtue—it all invites us to think that we'd be happier were we two different countries. In all the ways that matter, save for the naked force of law, we are already two nations. There's another reason why secession beckons, says F. H. Buckley: we're too big. In population and area, the United States is one of the biggest countries in the world, and American Secession provides data showing that smaller countries are happier and less corrupt. They're less inclined to throw their weight around militarily, and they're freer too.
Across the world, large countries are staring down secession movements. Many have already split apart. Do we imagine that we, almost alone in the world, are immune? We had a civil war to prevent a secession, and we're tempted to see that terrible precedent as proof against another effort. This book explodes that comforting belief and shows just how easy it would be for a state to exit the Union if that's what its voters wanted.
But if that isn't what we really want, Buckley proposes another option, a kind of Secession Lite, that could heal our divisions while allowing us to keep our identity as Americans.
F. H. Buckley is a foundation professor at George Mason University's Scalia School of Law. He is a frequent media guest and has appeared on Morning Joe, CNN, The Rush Limbaugh Show, C-SPAN, NPR, and numerous other outlets. He is a senior editor at the American Spectator, a columnist for the New York Post, and has written for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and many other newspapers. His books include The Republican Workers Party; The Republic of Virtue, The Way Back: Restoring the Promise of America, and The Once and Future King.
John Pruden is a professional voice actor who records audiobooks, corporate and online training narrations, animation and video game characters, and radio and TV commercials. His exposure to many people, places, and experiences throughout his life-from his wide array of jobs early in life; to his Army service as a UH-60 Black Hawk assault helicopter pilot; to his travels through forty-four U.S. states, South America, Europe, and Asia; to his experience in professional improv and competitive singing-provides a solid creative foundation from which to draw for his intelligent audiobook narrations and gritty but sensitive vocal characterizations. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner, John's audiobooks include The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, which was chosen by the Washington Post as the best audiobook of 2011.