[Deersniper]

You'll be busy with the Russians up there, as we will be busy with the Chinese south of the border. Rich, didn't they just cut off the roads to an isolated part of Alaska?

[SwedeSteve]

Nope, they closed a large portion of the Tongass to road building.

[Rex in OTZ]

Id suggest sitting it out and wateing for the dust to settle.

[nathangdad]

Becoming a nation could immediately pose two very large problems.

1. You would have to make a currency that would have no value either internally or externally.

2. You have no ability to defend your territory against even a third world country.

Basically, you would be just like any of the several Balkan nations. That is why the road to ruin is often called Balkinization.

[deadzero]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Mooseman684

That is a tough question to answer... First we should send all The Democrats and Liberals to the Insurrection area to see if they can Quell the situation !

that sounds like first, best option. if that fails, and all else fails, seek out a tropical island, unless you like cold winters, than Alaska would be fine.

[Cyrano]

In the matter of currency, which is a legitimate concern, there are historical precedents. After Nazi Germany fell, the occupying powers continued to use the Reichsmark as the German currency, pegged to the dollar, for a couple of years. When the Russians instituted the Berlin Blockade along with a new currency, one of the responses of the Western Allies was to create a new version of the Reichsmark, marked with the letter B, for use in Berlin. The B mark ran the Russian mark out of the marketplace to the point the Russia marks were referred to as "wallpaper marks" by the Berliners.

And when Farmer George had to stand up and declare that the former American colonies were now free and independent states, the new United States of America had English, French, Spanish and Colonial money circulating. After Independence, even large banks were issuing their own currency for about 70 years. If memory serves, it really wasn't until after the Civil War that the federal government became the sole issuer of currency for the nation, and they had to use some fairly serious threats to get the large banks to stop printing their own currency.

The problem with any currency is getting people in and outside the nation to accept it as something you can use to buy things. And I recall a time, not that long ago, inAlaska where there was so little American paper currency available that people were trading checks around as if they were paper currency of the face value of the check. Perhaps Steve and the Moose remember that time and could comment on it from experience?

Bear in mind that Alaska has gold as well as oil. If the Alaskan government were to issue an Alaskan Dollar backed by gold, people would accept it and so would foreign governments. One major reason the Swiss Franc is accepted by all nations is that it is one of the few currencies on Earth still backed by gold.

As far as an invasion: Neither Russia nor China has a serious amphibious warfare capability. We and the British learned the hard way about trying to land troops with small boats, the Brits at Gallipoli and the U.S. during the banana wars in the Caribbean basin before World War II; and the French learned from us. As far as I recall, at present these nations plus Japan are the only ones with the amphibious capability to land as much as a division onto a hostile beach. The Soviets used to have some amphib capability, but like everything else in their Navy it has languished and rusted away due to lack of training and maintenance. So that's not a real worry for the future Republic of Alaska; I'm sure the Japanese have taken Admiral Yamamoto's observation about a rifle behind every blade of grass to heart. And if things got to the point where Alaska could successfully break away from the United States, I'm certain the U.S. military would have more pressing problems to occupy it than by trying to bring Alaska back into the Union by force.

All Alaska would really need to do is to go to the Swiss Militia system for its military needs. And as far as the military bases: has anyone thought about the possibility that the troops there might decide to come over to Alaska's side? There are many folks in the military that don't think much of the current administration; perhaps enough that a change of allegiance would be possible up there.

Sure, there would be problems were Alaska to successfully break away. But the problems are not insurmountable.

[ArkansasHunter]

Seeing how the U.S. Goverment bought Alaska from Russia I would bet if Alaska tried to secede it would be stoped.
Alaska is rich in Oil, Gold and other minarials. I just can't see this happening, but if the great people of Alaska want to it's fine with me.

Another source for revenue would be to charge rent for military base's and if global warming does happen Alaska might be a nicer place to live LOL Weather wise.
I wonder what 5 to 10 acres would cost me ?...A.H

[tlarkin]

I think that any state with a federal military base of the USA on it's soil won't have any chance of leaving the union. In fact it will never happen ever, so I think we all should just get over it.

Now, if war happens, which is could and it hasn't happened in a long time on our soil. In fact, after the civil war, no war was fought on our soil. However, who is to say that it won't eventually happen?

I think that tactically the USA would be a nightmare to conquer. Too many different types of terrain and climates, and too much land. Look at all the free space we have here in this country. Sure, heavy populated cities would get hit hard but every where else would probably be fine at first.

This is all pure speculation of course.

[blaster]

during the "war of northern agression", Key West remained under union control because of the navy base and forts there.

[troy2000]

If the United States collapsed, Alaska would be screwed. The fact of the matter is that a third of the jobs there depend directly or almost directly on federal money. The feds spend about $11,000 per person per year in Alaska. If you break it down, they dump about twice as much money into Alaska as they get back in taxes. That's in direct opposition to states like California, who give the feds more than they get back.

That sounds kind of harsh, and I didn't mean it that way. I'm too lazy to rewrite the paragraph; bedtime's coming u fast. But I'm not slammng Alaskans when I say it, or implying they're a bunch of leeches; there are good reasons for things being that way. Militarily, Alaska is our first line of defense against anything coming from the general direction of Asia. so a whole lot of military dollars head that wayAlso, it didn't become a state until 1959, and it was way behind on infrastructure. There are a small number of people living in a very large area, dealing with problems of terrain and weather. About twenty percent of the population is indigenous, and the feds spend a lot of money dealing with them.

As a matter of fact, honest statisticians could probably balance out that federal-funds-per-person number, just by showing us one for federal-funds-per-square-mile, federal-funds-per-average-mile-between-settlements, etc.

But to get back to the point (yes, I started out to make one), Alaska would be screwed for a while, if the Union fell apart. Although it has a whole lot of self-sufficient individuals, it's far from being a self-sufficient state. Things would get very painful for a while.

[SwedeSteve]

I agree. But I also think that there is a road to self-sufficiency. Our greatest problem would be food. We would have to trade with Canada I think. Anchorage would be hardest hit. At any one time, we have about 3 days worth of food in the city. That's pretty scary when you think about it.

Another consideration would be medical care. How would we secure supplies ??

[troy2000]

Quote:       Originally Posted by SwedeSteve

I agree. But I also think that there is a road to self-sufficiency. Our greatest problem would be food. We would have to trade with Canada I think. Anchorage would be hardest hit. At any one time, we have about 3 days worth of food in the city. That's pretty scary when you think about it. Another consideration would be medical care. How would we secure supplies ??

Yeah, the food issue is one I thought of right off the bat; medical care and supplies didn't occur to me.

Of course, you'd still have your petroleum industry and reserves. I suppose you could do a Cesar Chavez and nationalize them....

[tlarkin]

Quote:       Originally Posted by troy2000

Yeah, the food issue is one I thought of right off the bat; medical care and supplies didn't occur to me. Of course, you'd still have your petroleum industry and reserves. I suppose you could do a Cesar Chavez and nationalize them....

Actually, no you couldn't that is the US government's oil. Remember if you find oil in Alaska or have some on your property it is automatically the government's and then you get your little dividend check for being an Alaskan citizen.

Think of leaving the union? First I laugh at the thought because it isn't legal. The US government will not recognize it and military action will be taken against you. Don't believe me? Read up on the mining colony in West Virginia that tried similar things and then met the US military and yes they were over ran by the military and yes they were citizens. In the end it was a coal mining company behind it, but coal mining companies are small fish compared to oil companies.

This is all just fantasy talk because it would never happen. That oil is not Alaska's, it is property paid for by the US government.

[ArkansasHunter]

If it All Crumbles What Do We Do ??

You can start NOW buying up property to resell to the folks in the lower 48 that run up there, at a huge profit.
This is Capitalism at it's best LOL

Want be a problem at tall, the people will gladly pay it...A.H

[waterdog]

13 colonies belonged, to England . If a total meltdown ocurreddo you really think the military, is going to not be effected ? Obama wants 1500 Nat. guard troops at the Mexician border, not armed or payed,bet that'll be LONG line of vols. nothings imposable

[SwedeSteve]

tlarkin- "In fact, after the civil war, no war was fought on our soil."

You're forgetting WWII !! Think Alaska...

tlarkin-"Actually, no you couldn't that is the US government's oil. Remember if you find oil in Alaska or have some on your property it is automatically the government's and then you get your little dividend check for being an Alaskan citizen."

Actually, only the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A) belongs to the US. Which only comprises a very small percentage of our total 365,500,000 acres(To compare, MO is about 44,000,000). All other oil belongs to the State. Period...

Every man, women and child receives a "little" check (last year it was $2,069 and Palin kicked in an additional $1200) from the 5 year average of interest on investments made for the State by the Permanent Fund. If you don't mind, i'll keep my "little" check, LOL !!

[tlarkin]

There was actually war fought on Alaska's soil during WWII? I need to look that up because I was unaware of that.

[troy2000]

Quote:       Originally Posted by tlarkin

There was actually war fought on Alaska's soil during WWII? I need to look that up because I was unaware of that.

Yes. The Japanese never landed on the mainland, but they occupied Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands, and it took a year to dislodge them. It was some nasty fighting; we took about 4,000 casualties on Attu, and there were also naval and air battles.

[tlarkin]

Quote:       Originally Posted by troy2000

Yes. The Japanese never landed on the mainland, but they occupied Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands, and it took a year to dislodge them. It was some nasty fighting; we took about 4,000 casualties on Attu, and there were also naval and air battles.

Well looks like I got some reading to do then.

[Chad xXx]

Quote:       Originally Posted by swedesteve

given our geographical isolation, what would you consider to be the best path for our state to take if there is a large scale revolt outside ?? 1. Immediately secede and form a new govt 2. Immediately declare a state of emergency by a hand vote of the state legislature and order the national guard and territorial guard to defend our borders. 3. Do one of the above and seize all foreign and federal assets. 4. Wait and hold what we got.

1.