Tag: New England Secession

I Want to Make a Case for New England Seceding From the “United” States

A thing I think about sometimes. Maybe you do too?

I sometimes fantasize about our northeastern states seceding from the Union (capitalized for clarity and for the sake of divorcing the word from certain specific meanings) because I no longer feel that the government as constituted in Washington DC represents the interests of its citizens. It would be easy enough to claim that the problem is Stinky Don and his minions, but the issues run deeper, and are unlikely to be resolved by replacing him as head of state.

It would be hard. Crashing out comes with damage. Along with the risks, there would be some rewards, most having to do with not having to listen to and work within the whims of the cadre of corrupt billionaires who currently run too much of our lives. As such, this might not be my last post about this. I think about national divorce a bunch.

There are a number of areas of governance we would have to consider here: economics/feeding ourselves, defending ourselves/relations with our neighbors, living by the social contract/civic policy, and the thousand unknowns of going it alone seem to me to be the basics.

This map is from the US Geological Survey.

One thing I often hear talked about is that New England states are “donor states.” In truth, three New England states qualify as donor states, and three of our number are recipient states. Massachusetts and Connecticut consistently pay more in taxes than we recieve in benefits, New Hampshire is usually a donor state, though not always because they’re close to the line between donor and recipient always. Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island are consistently recipient states.

The thing to remember here is that states don’t pay federal taxes, individuals do. Massachusetts and Connecticut (and to a lesser extent, southern New Hampshire) are where the highest concentrations of wealth are. Every possible solution to the donor/recipient state disparity that I’ve heard looks like bad policy, including some “fixes” that are pure regressive taxation.

This is not something that should be thought of in making the case for secession. Honestly, the fact that the first place I went to in thinking about this is an example of right-wing framing is surprising to me, now that I’ve investigated a little bit. To get to the goal of a free New England, there’s clearly some reflection and self-deprogramming that needs to happen.

Perhaps the main reason I want to cut away from the rest of the country is that this region, in self-rule, would be more humanist and more left-leaning. A smaller system would be more likely to support the people of that system. It would be our responsibility to realign away from sheer wealth creation to making a local system of governance that respects and supports individuals in a way that the current federal government has almost completely abdicated from.

Sorry this post is so random. There’s a ton to think about here, and I will have to do a bunch of digging to even scratch the surface of how this massive historical shift could even begin to be considered. I will make little swipes at this from time to time… more so if readers of this blog show interest, of course. Does anybody else around here sometimes imagine a social-democratic New England, standing proud and free? Let me know in the comments.

Please consider liking and commenting on this post. Subscribe if you can – it costs you nothing (you no longer have to have a wordpress account to like or comment) and clicking on the buttons helps this site thrive! Also, do be a dear and share this post with those you know who might appreciate it!

Tod Maffin

Canadian Wants US Citizens to Become Canadians

I watch an inordinate amount of Youtube. I find video makers I like and I stick with them for years. I’m always finding new people to follow. My tastes are quite idiosyncratic. I do a few AMSR things — rug cleaning, pet grooming, and wood turning among them, I follow tons of lefty political pundits, different musicians, especially bass players (I play), fantasy book bloggers, prog bloggers, little town drive-arounds…

There’s such a wide range of stuff on YouTube to pay attention to, and good content doesn’t necessarily happen in particular categories. My YouTube habits do reflect my interests, of course, but I seem to regularly find new things to be interested in.

A recent find’s name is Tod Maffin. The page I linked to labels him a “Canadian Identity Commentator.” He’s a public personage “up there:” does – his website claims – 40 public events a year. Used to be a radio host on CBC radio. I suss out from the info around him that he’s fairly corporate, though not overbearingly so. Check out the video after the link above, you’ll get a pretty good idea of his schtick and why I like it.

Tod Maffin, probably on the street in Vancouver, but it sure looks like he’s in Brookline Village.

What he’s up to is pretty straightforward. He’s an ambassador for Canadian life. His most immediate call to action is to get US healthcare workers who are suffering in the current environment to relocate. My feelings about this are mixed, because I’m an American and I want good health care people to be here, but I can understand the allure of moving to a place that has a sensible and human-oriented system. I mean, Jeez, I’d like to move there myself!

From his point of view, it’s smart and compassionate work. For me, it’s bittersweet, because if we didn’t have the clowns we have running things, Maffin’s gambit would feel a lot less like a rescue operation. But we live in the world we live in. And with the terminal toddler nitwits we have running things, it’s reassuring that just to the north of me, there is a functioning society full of nice people. Not people without problems (anyone with no problems is in the cemetery,) not people living in a utopia (any country where someone like Pierre Poilievre is a prominent national politician is no utopia,) but people who do civility like they were born to it, and also people who recognize that part of civil life is the duty to take care of each other.

And that’s what Tod Maffin advocates for, and works to sell Canada as, to those who can help it become even better at that for its people. And though he focuses on healthcare workers, he’s pretty expansive. Here’s the video I saw that originally piqued my interest:

I’ve since watched a dozen or so other videos of his, and have enjoyed them all. He talks about various topics, but in every video I’ve seen, he centers Canadian identity.

He’s worth your time. Check him out. And maybe he can put in a good word for New England. I know a lot of us would happily switch over.

Please consider liking and commenting on this post. Subscribe if you can – it costs you nothing and helps this site thrive – and share this post with those you know who might appreciate it.