Toward Southern Independence
by
Michael Stephens
Copyright 2003 Michael Stephens
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Foreword to the Internet Edition
Welcome to the official e-publication website of Toward Southern Independence, one of the most uncompromising books yet written in support of modern Southern nationalism. Toward Southern Independence asserts that there is an urgent need for the South to separate itself politically from the United States. It rejects the hopeful but illusory belief of many Southern nationalists that a reaffirmation of States' rights, however extensive, would protect the South from the encroaching federal government. Northern dominance and Southern subjugation are, in my view, innate characteristics of the "one-sided union of South and North" which has endured since the Southern states unwisely agreed to the centralizing United States constitution. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the United States is on the cusp of an accelerated slide into socialism and authoritarian government. I argue that to prevent the South's being dragged into an even worse situation than the current one, the South should become a "completely sovereign and independent country politically and unassociated with the United States in any way."
Toward Southern Independence envisions a South free of racism, big government, and intellectual backwardness. Unlike the reactionary ideas - protectionism, immigration prohibition, voting restrictions, and so on - common among Southern nationalists, this work insists that tolerance and individual liberty must be the guiding principles of the South. The South of Toward Southern Independence would definitely be a libertarian conservative country, an oasis of freedom in an overgoverned world.
The most important contribution of Toward Southern Independence is that it provides a concrete plan for preparing the South for independence. It shows how ordinary Southerners can change and radicalize the South by making beneficial changes in their cultural and economic practices. Individual action by millions of Southerners is seen as the key to prying the South free of the North's grasp. When the South has been thoroughly strengthened and reformed from within, Southerners will be both prepared and determined to reassert their nation's independence.
Toward Southern Independence also confronts a dreadful and almost universally ignored danger: the possibility that the North might use violence to coerce seceding Southern states. After some soul-searching, I decided to address this issue, believing it too important to omit. The resulting chapter explains how the South can prepare for its own defense, and by doing so help ensure a peaceful secession.
The entire text of Toward Southern Independence is available on this website. Please feel free to download and print this book, and to distribute it noncommercially in whole or part. (Please acknowledge my authorship of Toward Southern Independence whenever reproducing it for distribution.) Readers are also encouraged to e-mail me at southern_secessionist@yahoo.com with any comments or questions they may have.
Please excuse the few errors in the text. When the files were converted from the original format (this book was originally composed on a laughably primitive word processor), all underlining was lost. Also, superscript notation was not possible on my old machine, meaning that notation is in normal characters. Both these problems are gradually being corrected, and in any case should not affect the readability of the text.
Introduction I. The Need for an Independent South II. Economic Reform III. Cultural Revival IV. Military Preparation V. A Few Thoughts on the Future of the South Notes Bibliography
Introduction I. The Need for an Independent South II. Economic Reform III. Cultural Revival IV. Military Preparation V. A Few Thoughts on the Future of the South Notes Bibliography
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