The Existentialist Republic

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Soft Secession

67 articles · 9 calls to action

Soft secession moves one direction, towards refusal and non-cooperation. A state builds something on its own authority and its own revenue to make a self-sufficient safety net, or maybe withholds its officers from federal tasks it disagrees with, and leaves the federal government to react.

From “It’s (Still) Time for Americans to Talk About the “Soft Secession” Actively Underway”, Sept. 18, 2026.

Further reading: What is soft secession? Christopher Armitage’s explainer · Soft Secession: The Legal Architecture of State Noncooperation, on Gavel Grab

Calls to action on Soft Secession All →

Sept. 28 · Soft Secession

Who you are contacting

One of your state legislators or your governor’s office

What you are asking for

Ask your governor to create, or your legislator to publicly call for, a task force staffed by state law enforcement that investigates federal agents and federal officeholders for any unlawful, fraudulent, or unconstitutional conduct in violation of your state’s laws and refers cases for prosecution.

Email · Phone · Letter · In person

From “The Legal Path to a Blue State Coalition” →

Sept. 13 · Soft Secession

Who you are contacting

Your state legislators

What you are asking for

Ask your state legislators for four things:

  1. No new relocation or expansion incentives: no tax credits, cash grants, free land, or infrastructure built for one company to bring it in or keep it from leaving.
  2. Every existing deal published, by company, with the jobs promised next to the jobs delivered.
  3. Every dollar recovered from every company that missed its number, the way Wisconsin’s renegotiated Foxconn contract lets the state recover all incentives paid in any year the company defaults.
  4. A preference for businesses based in your state when the state buys goods and services.

Email · Phone · Fax · Mail

From “Scored on the CIA's Instability Model, the United States Is in the Highest-Risk Category for Civil War, Coup, or Collapse” →

  1. Soft SecessionSept. 27

    Blue States Can Withhold Taxes From the Federal Government and I Can Prove It

    Call to action

  2. Soft SecessionSept. 18

    It’s (Still) Time for Americans to Talk About the “Soft Secession” Actively Underway

  3. Soft SecessionSept. 13

    Scored on the CIA's Instability Model, the United States Is in the Highest-Risk Category for Civil War, Coup, or Collapse

    Call to action

  4. Soft SecessionSept. 11

    Odious Monopolies: Founding-Era Anti-Monopoly Principles as a Basis for State and Municipal Antitrust Enforcement

More on Soft Secession

  1. Aug. 28

    Soft Secession

    THE STATES’ NEW DEAL: A PROGRAM FOR THE CRISIS, BUILT FROM INSTITUTIONS AMERICA ALREADY OWNS AT A PROFIT

    A practical answer to the question “What can we do?”

    Call to action

  2. Aug. 23

    Soft Secession

    Every State Can Afford Universal Health Care: A Taxonomy of Public Health Care Options

    Four models for state-level universal coverage, and how each one works.

    Call to action

  3. Aug. 22

    Soft Secession

    Trump Cut Domestic Violence Victim Services Funding. This NC State Senator Wants Offenders to Pay It Back.

    Senate Bill 719 starts replacing the money with criminal court costs and marriage license fees. No new taxes, no waiting on the federal government, and any state can file it.

    Call to action

  4. Aug. 18

    Soft Secession

    America Has the Parts to Build What the EU Built: A Toolkit for Beating Autocrats.

    Money, courts, standards, and standing are proven tools for bringing autocratic states back to democratic restoration.

    Call to action

  5. Aug. 15

    Soft Secession

    Can We Stop a Coup With State of Emergency Declarations?

    The founders built fifty state governments to protect us in crisis such as these.

    Call to action

  6. Aug. 11

    Soft Secession

    Pitch to the Legislators: The Virginia Contest Other States Should Replicate

    The first in a new series highlighting city and state leaders.

    Call to action

  7. Aug. 7

    Soft Secession

    The Regime Durability Variable: Four Frameworks on Ending Authoritarian Capture From Within

    A primer for understanding regime durability, how these regimes actually fall, and what we can do about it starting immediately.

  8. Aug. 5

    Soft Secession

    Experts Say Blue States Can Stop Paying Federal Taxes. There’s Precedent

    If we could use nullification for people to get stoned, why can’t we use it to protect human rights and stop fascism?

  9. July 24

    Soft Secession

    Could A U.S. State Pass a 30 Hour Work Week?

    The Senate passed one in 1933 by 53 to 30. Roosevelt withdrew his support twenty-five days later, and the forty-hour week is what remained.

  10. July 17

    Soft Secession

    Soft Secession, Another Unhinged Speech, and the Question of What Scraps Remain of the Federal Government

    Waiting for the GOP to lose is a plan the polling does not support, nor does the Heritage Foundation election theft infrastructure.

  11. July 13

    Soft Secession

    Could Your City Build Its Own Public Option Alternative To Amazon?

    Musk deleted free tax filing. Mamdani is building city grocery stores. California makes $11 insulin. The military runs childcare. Online retail could be next.

  12. June 24

    Soft Secession

    When Is the Rolling Coup Dangerous Enough to Require States Declaring a State of Emergency?

    GOP Seizure of Elections, Illegal Wars, and the Most Expansive Unpunished Corruption Scandals in U.S. History, at what point do we need to respond more rapidly?

  13. June 23

    Soft Secession

    A New Era of State Legislative Opposition Has Arrived

    Four New Laws That Can Fight Fascism

  14. June 12

    Soft Secession

    The American Reformation: My New Book, Available Now

    The entire legal framework for how states and citizens can break authoritarian capture is in one place now, and the PDF is free.

  15. June 10

    Soft Secession

    States Can Build Their Own Alternatives to Social Security and Medicaid

    Mike Johnson calls these programs the drivers of the federal debt and says Republicans have a plan for them next year. Fifteen states have already built part of the alternative.

  16. June 7

    Soft Secession

    Inevitable Failures: How the Privatization Machine Manufactures Budget Crises

    Public banks, public power, public broadband. Each one already makes money in the states and cities that run it, and the companies that profit from privatization spend millions to keep that list short

  17. June 2

    Soft Secession

    Two New Democratic Governors Just Betrayed the People Who Elected Them. Here’s How We Make It Cost Something.

    We aren't helpless and we aren't hopeless. Time to act.

  18. May 31

    Soft Secession

    What Blue States Can Learn from the European Union about Using Soft Power to Break Authoritarian Capture

    Money, influence, trade, criminal lawfare, are all proven methods for bringing autocratic states to democratic restoration.

  19. May 29

    Soft Secession

    The Road to Trump Runs Through States Investigating and Charging the People Below Him Who Will Flip.

  20. May 13

    Soft Secession

    Federalism For Anti-Fascists

    Soft Secession, Oppositional Federalism, and the Constitutional Architecture of State Opposition.

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