10 Simple Steps to Achieve Independence for California
These are the supplementary steps that can be taken along with the legal and constitutional means for California to achieve secession from the United States.
By Rakesh Raman
Believe it or not, the Donald Trump presidency in the U.S. has certainly come as a blessing in disguise for the ongoing California independence movement.
The very fact that Trump is emerging as the most hated politician on the planet – after, of course, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Benito Mussolini – should provide a powerful impetus to the California secession struggle.
As it is going to be an uphill task for the leaders of the freedom struggle to establish California as an independent nation, here are the 10 steps that can be followed to achieve the desired objective.
Independence for California
Step 1. Organization
The entire struggle should come under a core group of leaders who should direct and coordinate its diverse activities. They should create an organizational structure and distribute the work of the movement among different people depending on their domain expertise.
Step 2. Messaging
The core group should develop the right messaging and customized campaign literature for the movement to target different groups of communities. The content should be delivered through a mix of traditional and new-media channels.
Step 3. Virtual Citizenship
After delivering the literature and spreading the awareness about the movement for a couple of months, the residents of California should be encouraged to formally register themselves as the citizens of the proposed nation.
Their records should be maintained in a protected central database. All the registered residents can be given the status of virtual citizens of the future independent California.
Step 4. Incentives to Virtual Citizens
Although it may not be possible to implement this step formally as California is still a part of the U.S., a tacit arrangement can be made for the entire state to give preference to virtual citizens in different spheres of activity.
For example, the preference can be given for jobs, cheaper goods, prioritized services at least at private establishments such as hotels, hospitals, restaurants, schools, and so on.
Step 5. Calfree Fund
The virtual citizens of California can be requested to contribute a paltry amount every month to a centrally managed ‘Calfree Fund’ which could be used to run the campaign.
The Fund as well as its income and expenditure should be maintained online in a totally transparent manner. The donors should be able to use their names and passwords to see the fund status anytime, anywhere.
Step 6. Shadow Governance
The core group responsible to manage the activities of the movement should chalk out a system to elect members of a shadow government. It will work in a simulated environment assuming that its officials are managing the affairs of independent California.
These shadow government heads should be different from the core group members and depending on their expertise they will make policies for different domains such as trade, infrastructure, healthcare, education, and so on. The idea is to win people’s confidence by ensuring that California can be a prosperous independent country.
Step 7. Passive Resistance
The freedom struggle should strive to build a perpetual resistance to the existing administration. In addition to the peaceful field demonstrations, the people of Calfornia must also show civil disobedience, which can be done in a number of ways.
For example, every month a particular day can be observed as the “Civil Disobedience Day.” On this day, people can wear black caps or something to express their collective opposition.
Plus, wherever possible, people in California should stop buying products that come from other U.S. states. They can also stop celebrating the common functions celebrated in other states.
Step 8. Financial Resistance
The taxpayers in California who support the freedom movement should do their tax management in such a way that they should pay the minimum possible tax to the U.S. government. They should also refuse to show their tax returns.
It is possible, as they can take a cue from Trump who has refused to show his tax returns despite demands from politicians as well as legal experts.
Step 9. Peaceful Protests
There is a likelihood that the U.S. administration would try to scuttle the efforts of the California independence movement by hook or by crook. But the campaign’s protests should always be peaceful and civilized.
Even when the supporters of the movement are provoked with vulgar remarks or obnoxious tweets, they must maintain calm.
You must use cultured language even when you have to respond to inflammatory statements from the other side. Remember, you must hate the sin; not the sinner.
Step 10. Global Support
The movement should start mobilizing global support by communicating effectively with world bodies such as the United Nations. The campaign content must be created in a customized manner to spread awareness and take support from different global organizations.
These are the supplementary steps that can be taken along with the legal and constitutional means for California to achieve secession from the United States. The other U.S. states can also follow these steps for effective outcomes.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a government award-winning journalist and runs free school for deserving children under his NGO – RMN Foundation.
Photo courtesy: Yes California
