If ever an epitaph were to be written for failed governments, businesses and ideologies it would be this — "It'll never happen." There are few phrases that adequately capture the human capacity for denial like this one.
But there is one inescapable truth that is unfolding before the eyes of the world right now. "It" never happens — until "it" does.
With Scotland's independence referendum now over, the world has had a wake up call. In a country where 10 years ago, most Scots believed that a vote on independence would never happen in 2014 — it did.
And it's been happening around the world in places where the general consensus was that it would not or could not happen. At the end of the Second World War, there were 54 recognized countries on the globe. At the end of the 20th century, there were 192. And in the 21st century, the number has grown even larger.
Attention is now on the number of nations where independence movements have been steadily, and often silently, growing for years. And no place is getting attention like Texas.
In Texas, as part of our work with the Texas Nationalist Movement, we've heard "it'll never happen" more times than we can count. But, just like in the rest of the world, it is happening right now. Regardless of the incessant arguments from those opposed to Texas independence that center around "can't" and "won't," Texans are coming to the realization that it "can," it "will" and it "must."
Prior to the Scottish referendum becoming major global news, there were more websites, polls, blogs, and discussions dedicated to the issue of Texas independence than about Scottish independence.
Texas independence sentiment has been steadily rising over the last decade. This was highlighted in a recent Reuters poll. The question was asked, "Do you support or oppose the idea of your state peacefully withdrawing from the USA and the federal government?" In Texas, the numbers were surprising to some. In a state where the majority of the electorate is comprised of Republicans and Independents, among those groups, 51 percent support the independence of Texas.
Our organization, the Texas Nationalist Movement long ago surpassed every other political organization in Texas on the digital battleground — social media reach. Currently there are no other political organizations in Texas that even come close to the TNM in social media reach. Our Facebook page alone has more "LIKES" than the Republican Party of Texas, the Democratic Party of Texas, Battleground Texas and the Libertarian Party of Texas combined. Among non-partisan organizations, like the TNM, no one comes close.
But our successes have not come solely in the digital realm. Over the last three years alone, leaders and volunteers from the TNM have hosted over 1,000 events and meetings throughout Texas to spread the message of Texas independence.
This has led to greater political involvement from supporters of Texas independence including a resolution filed in the Texas House of Representatives that redeclared Texas sovereign rights, not under the United States Constitution, but under the Texas Constitution. Local-level elected officials have come out of the shadows in support of Texas independence. Openly Texas Nationalist candidates have run for state-level offices garnering, not the usual handful of protest votes received by minor parties but, votes totaling in the hundreds of thousands.
This growth has not been entirely fueled by a reaction to the current regime in Washington, D.C. Rather, there is a sense among Texans that it's just time. Even the hero of the Texas Revolution Sam Houston, after the annexation of Texas said, "Texas will again lift its head and stand among the nations." And Texans, in increasing numbers, are believing that the time is now.
Disbelief persists in the United States that it can actually happen here. Much as the government of the United Kingdom and the people of Scotland were able to sit down like adults and have rational discourse on self-determination, it's time to start having adult conversations about the relationship between Texas and the United States because regardless of the persistence of denial, it is happening.
Commentary by Daniel Miller, president of the Texas Nationalist Movement. He is a sixth generation Texan and has been personally involved in Texas independence advocacy since 1996. Follow him on Twitter @TheTexianDM.