In American history, the word ‘secede’ or ‘secession’ is not a popular term. Mostly we associate it with the Civil War and the bloody battles fought.
But I posit that for Edgar County, the time is ripe for us to secede from the State of Illinois. This is not political, for there have been fine administrations, both Democratic and Republican, in our storied history. And there are fine people who live, work and contribute to the nation’s fabric here in Illinois.
Now, however, those of us in Edgar County would benefit from an immediate separation from the state of Illinois. The rest of this state is so out of touch with the good folk who live here, it would lift a political burden from our weary shoulders.
Consider the last two elections. Although Hillary Clinton won the state of Illinois, we here in Edgar County voted for Donald Trump by giving him over 71% of the vote. Many downstate counties were bright red. Can anyone say Cook County and Chicago? In last fall’s election for governor, the totals were also lopsided. JB Pritzker received just 26% of our votes while Governor Bruce Rauner got 62%. (The other 11%, for those of you who are math nuts, were given to two minor candidates.) Once again, we here south of the Interstate 80 corridor were swamped by — Cook County and Chicago. Of course, that was a contest between two billionaires, neither of which can imagine what it is like to live from paycheck to paycheck, or have to wait for the Social Security check or pension payment to pay the monthly bills! Pritzker led the ticket which gave the Democrats a supermajority in both houses of the Illinois Legislature, so whatever they want, they will get.
It would be easier to secede than to float Chicago and Cook County out into Lake Michigan, although that is a tempting option.
In the first two months of the Pritzker administration, we see the following. Sevenbills limiting the 2ndAmendment have been proposed and will be passed. For us here in Edgar County, this is anathema. We love our guns and hunting. When I began teaching, I was astounded that boys in the Junior High were given excused absences when the deer season started so they could go hunting. (An interesting anecdote: one father told me, almost visibly emotionally, that it was the only time he could really ‘bond’ with his son. Wonder what his home life was like?) When I taught at Paris High, the same practice was followed. If no other reason for secession was needed, we could be an armed camp here if we seceded!
Want another reason to leave Illinois for greener (political) pastures? It is now being considered that the state will follow the lead of New York in passing an expanded ‘right’ to abortion, even up to the time of birth! If this bill gets into the Legislature, an almost to term baby can be killed, and be called an abortion. (Note: in New York, prosecutors had to change their charge against a person who killed a pregnant woman and her almost 9 month old fetus, removing the charge of murder of the baby, because of the new abortion law.) In a county free of the rest of Illinois, I doubt if this bill would even get a first reading!
Then there are the taxes. Because of the ‘tax and spend’ attitude in the present General Assembly, already there are proposals to get more money out of the populous. Infrastructure needs are in the multiple billions of dollars, so the income tax, sales tax and other ‘fees’ are being considered. But they have gone a ‘bridge too far’ when it was seriously proposed that the state take a ‘pension holiday,’ deferring what they usually give to the pensions funds. Exactly that was done in the 1990s, and helped us get into the pension shortfall, which now has reached into the many billions of dollars in unsecured pension liability. That, dear readers, is really a threat to those of us who get those pensions. To arms! To arms!
What would a secession look like in reality? First, my preference would be to attach ourselves to Indiana. We share a border with the Hoosier state, and there are some real advantages. One would be a lower tax base, both income and sales taxes are lower. In addition, Indiana is more business friendly than Illinois, as has been seen by many businesses already locating to the east. In fact, Indiana has advertised to Illinois businesses to move, much to the chagrin of Illinois politicians. We wouldn’t have to change our speaking accents, and those who support Indiana University’s basketball teams wouldn’t feel like traitors anymore. Our relationship with the federal government would not change, as Indiana would just take over those tasks Illinois has been doing. Some will talk about the strange look of the two states with a chunk out of Illini country and a bulge on the western side of Indiana. But that is not too odd. Look at the profile of New York, of Maryland, of Virginia, of Massachusetts — kids in school would get used to seeing that. Indianapolis is just as close as Springfield is to us here in Edgar County, so getting to the state capitol would not be a problem.
Some of you could not bear to become a Hoosier, so there is another option to consider. Just secede from the United States (as well as Illinois, of course) and become an independent nation. Before you have a laughing fit over this, there are many of the over 190 nations in the United Nations smaller than Edgar County. A few have populations comparable with ours, although those usually are island countries in the Pacific Ocean. We do lack access to an ocean or sea, and the only river is Sugar Creek and a couple more such bodies of water. But it can be made to work. We would have to negotiate a treaty with the U. S. and get the right to cross the states, but that can be worked out. Think of the advantages. We would be much closer to the levers of government. Our county commissioners can call themselves senators, with the townships electing representatives. Our elected President would be someone all citizens know and therefore become approachable. All our tax monies would stay in Edgar County, and we would be able to set policies for our schools and government agencies. We would enjoy the prestige of being of being on the world stage; the news media would be all over us, and we would be an inspiration to all the neglected places in the country. After all, most of the nation is ignored by the powers that be in Washington, D. C. And, very importantly, our resident hunters and CCL holders would be our militia, just like the founding fathers envisioned!
Although either scenario might seem a little unrealistic, if we undertook to separate from Illinois, other counties might become inspired to follow our example and seek to escape the high taxes, the social engineering and the gun-grabbing politicos in their states. To quote a long-dead revolutionary, ‘all we have to lose is our chains!’