John Stossel: Regions Around the World Want Independence - Let Them Leave!

Regions around the world want independence from countries that control them. John Stossel says if people want to secede - let them!

Source: ReasonTV YouTube channel.

Transcript:

John Stossel:

People want to govern themselves. In this part of Spain called Catalonia, lots of people want to secede from the rest of Spain.

The lawmakers in Catalonia declared independence.

John Stossel:

The vast majority of Catalonians who voted in this referendum supported that. But Spanish authorities didn’t even want them to vote.

[The Spanish government deployed thousands of police to stop the independence referendum. They assaulted polling stations. They beat senior citizens and young people.]

Michael Strong says parts of countries should be allowed to secede. For years, he's negotiated with officials in Honduras, trying to establish free zones where taxes would be low and rules simple. Five years ago, he told me we are close to a deal.

You suckered me years ago, this was about to happen in Honduras.

Michael Strong:

It happens at the pace of government, and the pace of government is slower. We've got good news, but until it's done it's not done.

John Stossel:

This is a drawing of what a free zone might look like if it's approved. It would show the world and the rest of Honduras that with simple rules and low taxes people could prosper the way they prosper in places like Hong Kong and Singapore.

Michael Strong:

Hong Kong and Singapore were two the poorest jurisdictions in 1960., now they are two of the richest.

[One of the most exciting places in the world: Hong Kong.]

John Stossel:

They prospered because they were able to govern themselves and ignore burdensome rules imposed by their parent country. However, most people around the world are not free to try those experiments.

Michael Strong:

Most of the world's 7 billion human beings are stuck in nation states that are de facto prisons. We need to allow for a lot more bits of good government to pop up and to liberate all of these billions of people from terrible governments.

John Stossel:

These Kurdish people want independence from Iraq. For years, they were persecuted by other ethnic groups, and most recently, by ISIS. In response, the Kurds formed their own army, defended their territory, and then helped drive ISIS out of Iraq. Now the Kurds want to secede from Iraq. But no other government will support them. The United States says it would disrupt the region.

Michael Strong:

Most leaders are afraid they’d have secession movements all over the place. And they might.

John Stossel:

Some left-wing Californians hate Donald Trump so much, they want California to secede from the United States. Their campaign videos show their 'naïve goals'.

Michael Strong:

California can be silly and stupid, but we need lots of experiments. It's funny — in the world of science, we believe in freedom to experiment; now we need to go to the world of government and believe in freedom to experiment. If If California was independent and had to compete with the rest of the United States, it would have to up its game. And conversely, the US might have to up its game.

Cultural wars are bitter and vicious. And if Alabama wants to do Alabama’s culture, and San Francisco wants to do San Francisco’s culture, I say let them go their own direction. 'Let people be.'

John Stossel:

'Let people be.' What a concept!