Calls for the State of California to secede and form an independent republic has been amplified since the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. The rationale of secession is that the federal government will act as an antithetical force given the new administration's and Congress's philosophy of an objectively regressive nature compared to the Californian progressive policies. Striking differences between federal and California perspective around handling of immigrants, climate change, etc. are now in the focal point. While resisting regression is of the utmost importance, the argument of secession is still the same as it was during the Civil War. While there is complete ideological opposites between the potential California Republic and the former Confederate states of America; the argument for secession is still illegitimate. The federal government is not a league from which states can join and leave as they see fit. Separating and dividing will never solve the issues that Californians are concerned over, and will likely exacerbate them.

The basis of unionism is that the federal government consists as a union between the states. As time has evolved, corruption and abuse of arbitrary powers have corroded the legitimacy in institutions of both state and federal apparatuses. As a result, the need for massive restructuring would be required to persevere a federal union. Federalization of local government administrations that allow for representation in the federal congress to consist of every city, town, and settlement would be able to preserve the multicultural principle of a federal union and greatly expand on "progressive" perspectives and policies by ensuring federal constitutional rights to every community.

The United States has grappled with the regressive and progressive conflict that has struggled between a hegemonic and a multicultural civilization. We have faced the prospect of secession and separation; time and again we have declared the unity of our common heritage. If California truly wishes to protect its legacy, and Californians wish to progress as a multicultural society; then it is time to embrace Neo-unionism, not secessionism. It is time for the United States to transcend simply being a Union of States, and legitimately become a Union of Peoples.