We the People: The Economic Origins of the Constitution

The political impulse to attempt to separate from central government control is a feature of the post-cold war world that is alive and growing in Canada, Russia, China, Italy, Belgium, Britain, and even the United States. The contributors to this volume believe that the secessionist impulse is a vital part of classical liberal tradition that emerges when governments become too big and too ambitious. Unlike revolution, secession seeks only separation from rule, preferably through non-violent means. It is based on the moral idea articulated by Ludwig von Mises in 1919, that "no people and no part of a people shall be held against its will in a political association that it does not want". Hence, the contributors believe that the threat of secession should be revived as a bulwark against government encroachment on individual liberty and private property rights, a guarantor of international free trade, and a protection of freedom of association.