Shortly after the results of the presidential election of 2012 were made known to America, many disgruntled Americans took to their laptops and smart phones and posted their two cents in the world of social media. Since the election is now over, a new Internet sensation has captivated our attention: states are petitioning to secede from the union.
Hearing of individuals wanting to secede from the union is nothing new. For example, some of our friends and fellow staff members from the state of Texas assured us rumors of secession have been murmuring for years.
However, thanks to the White House’s very own petition site called “We the People” and the sensational realm of social media, people have posted their signatures to petition for secession from the union.
“We the People” was created by the Obama administration to serve as a means to hear the voice of American citizens. “Giving all Americans a way to engage their government on the issues that matter to them” is the description stated on the home page of the website, petions.whitehouse.gov.
To us here at The Reflector, this whole situation compares beautifully to that of a second grader who threatens to run away from home.  People in support of petitioning to leave the union are talking a good talk; they sign the online petition, post about it on Facebook and are rallied in support of others who think secession is a good idea. The government is all wrong, and they believe they can run a country better on their own.
While we understand states will in no way succeed in their petitions, we can’t help but wonder what life would be like for these states if they were to secede from the union. 
According to an article from abcnews.com, census records show six of the seven states who acquired more than 25,000 signatures to petition took more than $10 million in revenue from the federal government that year. The seven states who will receive a response from the president – Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina – took more than 23 percent of all federal revenue allotted to the states that year.
How would these states run an independent nation with $10 million less than they usually receive?
And how about the military? What would happen to the armed forces? What would happen to the military if states really did begin to secede?
That’s right – nothing will happen. Because however unhappy these individuals may be, they will realize, much like the hypothetical second grader, life is much better at home. These petitioning Americans live in a country that grants them freedom like no other country on Earth. No leader or administration will ever be perfect, but life in the U.S. is much better than life in other places around the world.
We were sad to see thousands of signatures appear to leave the union on, of all days, Veteran’s Day – the day we set aside to remember those who served our country and continue to protect its freedom today.
The moral of our story is this: to those who signed petitions to secede from the union, think long and hard about what that signature implies. Abraham Lincoln once said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
President Lincoln endured one of the most trying times in our nation’s history. Brother turned against brother, friend against friend and a civil war left the American South in ruins. State secession is not some Internet sensation to take part in and support without understanding the serious implications behind a signature on a petition.