Gerald
12-10-12, 03:54 PM
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Independence movements are on the march in many Western countries, but the secessionists who have been making news in the US since last month's election are not, realistically, going anywhere. Americans are, in fact, unusually keen to stick together. Why is this?
The USA is a divided country, we're often told, polarised in a cultural civil war between the blue and red bits on its map.
Unlike almost all of their Western counterparts, however, Americans appear remarkably happy to stay together despite their differences.
While separatist parties are thriving in Canada and Europe, recent bids to take individual states out of the union have only served to demonstrate just how little appetite there is for this kind of politics in the US.
A series of petitions has been posted on the White House website calling for each of the 50 states to be allowed to secede.
So far Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio have all attracted more than 25,000 names apiece - entitling them an official response from the administration.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20633042
Note: 10 December 2012 Last updated at 00:10 GMT
Independence movements are on the march in many Western countries, but the secessionists who have been making news in the US since last month's election are not, realistically, going anywhere. Americans are, in fact, unusually keen to stick together. Why is this?
The USA is a divided country, we're often told, polarised in a cultural civil war between the blue and red bits on its map.
Unlike almost all of their Western counterparts, however, Americans appear remarkably happy to stay together despite their differences.
While separatist parties are thriving in Canada and Europe, recent bids to take individual states out of the union have only served to demonstrate just how little appetite there is for this kind of politics in the US.
A series of petitions has been posted on the White House website calling for each of the 50 states to be allowed to secede.
So far Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio have all attracted more than 25,000 names apiece - entitling them an official response from the administration.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20633042
Note: 10 December 2012 Last updated at 00:10 GMT