On the heels of a failed attempt in Scotland to separate from the UK, longtime American lawmaker Ron Paul is opening up about his take on secessionism in the United States.

Recent polling suggests that roughly a quarter of Americans support the notion of being able to have their state separate from the rest of the US, and Paul — the 79-year-old former Republican congressman and three-time presidential hopeful — says citizens who celebrate that inkling are expressing something inherently American.

“Americans who embrace secession are acting in a grand American tradition,” the ex-lawmaker wrote in an editorial published on Sunday by the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. “The Declaration of Independence was written to justify secession from Britain. Supporters of liberty should cheer the growth in support for secession, as it is the ultimate rejection of centralized government and the ideologies of Keynesianism, welfarism and militarism.”

Following up with the National Journal this week with respect to his op-ed, Paul said he was both “real pleased” and “a bit surprised” to learn that secessionist movements in the US exist to a greater degree than he had figured.

“It’s something that I think is going to grow, because the failure of the federal government is going to get much worse,” he said. “When the bankruptcy evolves, and maybe some of these pension funds are confiscated, and the wars never end, and bankruptcy comes forth, people [will say], ‘Hey, we’re getting a bad deal from this. Why don’t we leave?’ “

Would you support your state seceding from America, why or why not? Leave your comment(s) below.

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