As the 2016 election drew to a closing with Donald Trump becomIng the victor of the Electoral College, with Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote. Many have lashed out in aggression towards this undemocratic manner of electing the most disliked and inexperienced candidate who has ever ran for president.

I reject any secessionist movement, be it Texas, California, or elsewhere. I reject it for the same reason I reject moving to a different country. I do not personally accept the philosophical dilemma that justifies leaving behind the less fortunate for one's own privileged luxury. I do not condone the idea of abandoning the entire population because of the disliking of a certain segment.

The problems that face our nation would've still existed with a Clinton victory. The so called "deplorables" within the Trump supporter camp would still exist even with a Clinton victory. All antithetical organizations who thrive off of the disenfranchisement of others have always employed a divide and conquer means of oppressing entire populations. Should the western states like California, Washington, and Oregon attempt to leave the Union, the symbolism that they represent as a refuge safe haven for progressive ideas would be lost to the United State. The disproportionality in the federal government that would result would devastate the remaining progressive forces in the US. The repercussions would be greater regression of US domestic rights, dangerous influxes of nationalist movements, and increasing isolationist mentalities.

We, the United States, are a Union of States, a collective of individuals. We look out for each other, for each other's wellbeing. Separatism and secessionism once brought the Union into a schizophrenic battle against itself when the Confederate State initiated the Civil War in 1861 in an effort to retain the despotic institutions of slavery. That war proved that Unionist mentalities triumph against the forces of separation. Let us reach back into our history to solve our collective mistakes and error. Together we can revive what it truly means to be a Union. Not just of arbitrary state apparatuses, but a true Union of Peoples; Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.