I often consider the possibilities and ramifications of my home state, Texas, forming its own independent national republic. Its not that I think this will happen; its just another avenue my mind pursues while contemplating the present and future state of liberty and freedom in this nation. As something of an intellectual exercise, I have considered the matter and have come up with a model; one that I feel would benefit the United States as a whole if the people would simply take up the cause and advocate their liberty from an increasingly controlling central government.
The United States was formed as a result of the secession of the 13 colonies from the monarchy of Great Britain. Recognizing the individuality of their group, so far from the homeland, our founders formed the Articles of Association in 1774, which, when alliance with England was no longer seen as an option, paved the way for the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Two years later, the colonies solidified themselves with the Articles of Confederation, which was replaced, after due consideration, with the Constitution in 1789. Texas was on this same evolutionary path when we entered the United States in 1845.
We declared our independence from Mexico and founded our nation based on a Constitution very similar to the one in the United States. There were differences, mostly in what was added in than any philosophical differences. The constitution provided, for example, a federally sponsored education and required that all the children of Texas be educated, supposedly to some federally mandated point of completion. Many details were in place that the US Constitution does not mention. In my opinion, based on the current state of our country, the US version of the Constitution was much more on the mark in this regard if only our leaders would adhere to it. The above-mentioned public education, for example, now graduates children that know virtually nothing about the world they live in. It is merely a babysitting endeavor that drills information into the minds of our children that is soon forgotten. The idea of showing a child how to think independently has been utterly abandoned in order to homogenize everyone into one easily measurable statistic of “learning”. Any instance of the people giving over a social responsibility to the most centralized portion of government reveals the same sorts of failure. The United States operated under the Articles of Confederation for 11 years before the need to re-evaluate their government was made apparent. The Republic of Texas existed for only 9 years. It is very likely that enough time had not passed for the Texas government and people to see the “glitches” in its founding document. The persisting attacks on its border simply would not allow for the convenience of time. In order to secure the mortal safety of our citizens, Texas joined the United States of America.
When Texas entered the Union, it was given the option (still valid) to separate into multiple states due to its enormity. This is the idea that Texas needed when it was a Republic. If there are different states in the Union of the Republic, then there is no need for government monopoly on things like education. The idea of separate, independent and sovereign states are of vital necessity to ensure that the federal government remains within its boundaries and does not attempt to usurp power and force itself on the people against their will. It also provides for multiple sources of government in the form of the states that create competition to form the best possible living environment for the various peoples existing under the federal government. In addition, Texas is large enough and diverse enough to safely say that the different regions of the state are sufficiently different from a cultural standpoint to merit their individuality. The salt mines and wooded areas of east Texas are completely different from the open spaces and desert of the west. The costal region, southern region, and panhandle region have their own individuality as well. So the separation of each region should be sufficiently established so that these regions can be allowed to create a government most conducive to the happiness and welfare of the people within.
Once these governments have solidified into “nations” they should then band together under a “federal” government that exists solely for the purpose of providing that which is inadequately furnished by the smaller entities. A sort of “United Nations” in miniature, with the major exception that it remain subservient to the collective states, and that it remains contractually bound to maintain itself in a manner conducive to de-centralized republican government and the will of those states in membership. The “federal” government would not be a representative entity of the people of Texas, but a representative entity of the states of Texas, which each represent the people within their respective borders. The comparison to the United Nations in no way indicates a desire to attempt to emulate them. The socialist tendencies of that organization are overwhelmingly in opposition to the ideals behind republican government and the Enlightenment philosophies that were expressed and implemented by the founders of the United States. All international alliances should be of a temporary nature and just as limited as the states’ alliance to the central government of Texas, and should never come with a mandatory price tag.
As in the US Constitution, citizens of each state should have the benefit of crossing all borders within the Republic of Texas without need of passport or other formality. All taxation from the central body should be uniform throughout, and the right of any state to disassociate itself from the central body should be recognized. Most services and taxation should be applied at the state and local level. Any taxation on property should, for example, be determined solely by the state, and applied by the state or smaller municipalities, whichever that state decides is most suitable.
Payment of salary to the elected officials within the central body should be outlined in the Constitution as such; they are to be paid the national average of the closest possible private sector equivalent of the nation. A legislator, for example, should be paid yearly at a rate that reflects the average rate of pay for lawyers. The President should be paid the average amount that is made by owners of businesses. This removes any potentialities of abuse of those that would implement increased salary for themselves, and also save valuable time for the legislative body. A determination of the national average of this or that industry and wage is much more expedient than lengthy debate on the Congressional floor, and can be conducted by accountants or pollsters, leaving time for Congress to contemplate more important issues.
Each state should be required to maintain its own “militia” which would be a body of military under the direct control of the “governor” of each respective state. Each “governor” would in turn be directly accountable to the higher-ranking president of Texas as long as that state remains within the federal republic. The federal government itself should also be allowed provisions for military, but never more than the average at the disposal of any state. It should always be an assurance that the central power can never obtain control of the nation by force or act in a way that contradicts its Constitution without worry of the concern of the states and the people of those states. If, for example, the Republic of Texas divided into 5 states, there would be in actuality 6 armies. One-sixth would be in direct control of the federal government at all times. The five remaining would also be in control of the federal government so long as the states in which they are based remain in the union.
Each state would implement its own laws regarding education, welfare, and other socially collective issues as well as prosecution of all crimes not against the federal body itself. Federal crime shall consist solely of those crimes against the federal government, such as treason. As can be seen presently, federal crime bureaus are an easy means of effectively adding an army of trained military personnel, which can easily have the effect of a controlling federal power to which all states must submit.
There should be a mandate in the federal Constitution that states unequivocally that federal subsidy to private enterprise and industry be forbidden. Monies should be given to the federal entity in the amount that is required to maintain it, but no more. The federal government should not have enough money to give back, all excess amounts remaining within the states. If a state should wish to appropriate monies to a cause not endorsed by the other states, it should be allowed to do so. This includes foreign aid and similar external appropriations. Alliances between states outside the federal body should also be allowed so long as they do not impede the central power’s ability to execute its mandates. Armies, for example, cannot be utilized by the state unless that state leaves the union, since they would still be under the command of the President of the Republic. But if the people of a given state wish to contribute by way of taxation to a foreign cause, then they should be allowed to do so irrespective of the wishes of the other member states, provided that that assistance is not considered treasonous (aiding the enemy) to the Republic.
Instituting this sort of limited government, the 5 states could then experiment with different “degrees” of republican government. The competition between these states for economic success and tax paying citizens would create a “free market” effect that would ensure the inevitability of the most possible liberty and opportunity for all. If one state forbids abortion and another allows it, simply go to the state that advocates your stance. If one state has a minimum wage and the other doesn’t, go where you will make more money.
One thing that should be definitely retained from the original Constitution of Texas should be the determination that there should be no lottery sanctioned by any government body within the Republic. Government sanctioned lotteries are a means to fleece the lowest earning people of the largest amount of money and serves only to give unnecessarily large amounts of funds over to government control. Such an institution invariably strengthens and unduly centralizes government in general. The legality of privately owned lotteries and other gambling establishments should be determined at state level.
The idea of the “corporate entity” should not exist in the Republic of Texas. Companies can still be publicly owned if the free market decides such a venture to be profitable, but there must always be accountability to the ownership for the goings on of the company. If your company incurs loss, that loss is to be felt by those that own the company. There should be no separation between personal property and company property under ownership. This forces those that would go into business to remain within their means when conducting business and is a check to prevent monopoly of industry, which is a tyranny of another form. No government entity by any means should impose itself on the regulation of the free market. Entities like the Security and Exchange Commission should be rendered wholly unconstitutional. This particular commission was instituted by that pinnacle of socialism FDR, in order to get the government’s fingers into the free market. The policy of government control over that which has nothing to do with the maintenance of government in its constitutionally mandated capacity is to be removed forever from the governing body of Texas. Roads, railways, bridges, and other “internal improvements” should be completed by the private sector, as such ventures are capital intensive and invite corruption and inefficiency at the expense of tax paying citizens, not to mention the necessary growth of the central body to complete such efforts.
An immigration policy that is both equitable and sustainable should be implemented by the central power. More importantly, that policy should be enforced by means that the collective states find appropriate. States should not be responsible for the maintenance of those borders which are aligned with foreign nations, but will be maintained by the central power at the expense of the states within the Republic.
Common law should remain in effect throughout the Republic. The ability of a jury to determine not only the legality of a case, but the context of the infraction and the validity of the law itself should be expressly stated prior to the hearing of any case. As with the US Constitution, the accused should be considered innocent until proven guilty, retaining all those rights that law-abiding citizens retain. Un-necessarily large bail should be forbidden, also as per the US Constitution.
There should be no numerical designation or other means of national identification in the Republic of Texas, as the central power should have no constitutional need for this information. The states of the Republic should be free to decide the extent to which identification is established. Certificates of citizenship or birth should be retained at state level. The state has the option to relinquish this to smaller municipalities if it deems necessary or appropriate as determined by the governing body of that state (as all laws not under the jurisdiction of the federal power should). The state-recognized form of identification should be considered appropriate identification as a member of the Republic of Texas, and should be accepted as such within the borders of the Republic. The only provision in the Constitution of the central power regarding identification should be that the state determine a means of identification.
A temporary provision would have to be established to facilitate those within the state that are currently or soon will be dependent upon socialist programs like Social Security and Medicare. This would have specific limitations (those born before a particular year) on those that would be eligible. Those that would receive compensation would have to apply for it and meet certain criteria establishing the need for that compensation (those that can support themselves must be required to do so). Every member of the Republic of Texas must relinquish all rights to the monies contributed to the United States for these socialist entitlement programs. The Republic will carry the burden only for those already dependent upon them or very soon will be.
Health care will be administered in the free market. There will be no government intervention in this issue. Issues of poverty and welfare will be administered by the private sector, which is invariably much more efficient and effective. Prerequisites for the practice of medicine, law, education, and all other professions should be established at state level. Religious groups and humanitarian organizations will administer to those in need. This would take the career humanitarian out of the political world and place them in the private sector where their efforts would be much better rewarded in terms of aiding the needy. An additional benefit of this situation would be that those that pursue humanitarian avenues for personal power, financial gain, or other selfish motives would be naturally discouraged from using humanitarian aid as a vehicle for self-serving reasons.
Voting should always be done by paper ballot or other physical means that can be adequately monitored and tested for accuracy. All mention of race or gender should be absent from the Constitution of the central government. All people should be indicated to be equal under the law. People should be defined as those that fall under the category homo sapiens sapiens. The central federal judicial system should address only those cases which affect the laws and mandates clearly itemized in the Constitution and no others. There should be a specific clause that forbids the central power from amending the constitution in any way that increases its scope (adds responsibilities to its enumerated powers). All amendments should be limited to furthering existing mandates and nothing more.
Each state should be allowed to create its own Bill of Rights, with the condition that it doesn’t impede the central government’s enumerated powers. The central government must then abide by those rights set forth by the states, unless the people of those states agree by vote to amend them. Once the Bill of Rights for each state is established, representatives of each state would be brought together to work out the details of the post-provisional Constitution of the Republic of Texas. Any changes to the states’ Bills of Rights would result in an adjournment of the delegation, so that the state representatives can return to their respective states for reconsideration of their enumeration of rights. Only when all parties agree upon a Constitution that does not infringe on the rights of the citizens of the various states should the central power be set in place. Until such time as that happens, a provisional government should be installed to tend to administrative and other necessary tasks, which would petition the states for funds to complete.
In summation, if Texas formed an independent republic, it should create it so that it firstly maintains a form resembling that of the founders of the United States, and secondly averts the danger of diversion from that form of government in the future, as has happened in the United States on massive scale. It should be, to borrow a phrase, “a more perfect Union”.
