As far as this country's history of secessions go, I remind you we're currently at one out of two. And I only partially see your point in saying that to secede forces those unwilling to do so secede as well. What it forces them to do is move to a state that better suits their political views, if it means that much to them. We're the most itinerate society in the world. Let's show them what that means. Your last point--in essence--says: since states are no longer independent, they cannot be independent. (Hmm . . . .) Well, the fact that everything is interconnected is a situation that has proven to be surpassable whenever any political boundaries change.