In the wake of “Brexit” — the UK’s decision to leave the EU — secession is in the air. Supporters of a Texas secession, or “Texit”, have been energized by the referendum across the pond and are ramping up their calls for Texas to leave the United States and become an independent republic.
“It is now important for Texas to look to #Brexit as an inspiration and an example that Texans can also take control of our destiny,” Texas Nationalist Movement President Daniel Miller said in statement. “It is time for Texans to rally with us and fight for the right to become a self-governing nation.”
The group claims to have a petition with 264,000 signatures calling for a Texas secession. And Google searches for “Texit” and “Texas secession” both spiked in the wake of the Brexit news breaking.
A commonly cited statistic by the pro-Texit camp is the Lone Star State’s $1.6 trillion economy. The state would instantly become one of the top 10 economies in the world if it was its own country, they say. Of course, this doesn’t take into account all the Texas-based businesses that are relying on being part of the U.S., all the shipping that runs through Texas with the idea that it won’t have to cross a border and other potential fallout from a Texas secession. Ask the British pound about economic consequences of a potential secession.
Presumably, a Republic of Texas will rely on its hard-earned bumper sticker reputation to keep people from messing with it, as it shares massive borders with the most militaristic country in the world in the north and one of the most murderous to the south and has no military of its own.
Best of luck to them, we’ll be over here working with Bugs Bunny on a Flaxit.
(via New York Daily News)