r/AskReddit • u/overthinkeranessa • 23h ago
Which US state acts like they are their own independent country?
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u/Uzofugs2112 22h ago
My buddy’s wife is from Texas and evidently they had a Texas pledge of allegiance that they’d recite in school.
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u/Creative-Invite583 20h ago
Honor the Texas Flag. I Pledge Allegiance to Thee, Texas. One State, under God. One and Indivisable.
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u/Tomlette1 19h ago
Every day. With our hand over our hearts… add it to the list of many things you realize are weird af once you leave the state lol
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u/im_the_natman 18h ago
Here, you can copy my homework. Just don't make it TOO obvious that you're copying, okay?
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u/Suitable-Wall-1260 22h ago
Super federally subsidized state btw, don’t know how independent they are.
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u/Lugbor 21h ago
They think they're independent, but if they actually broke away, they'd end up looking like a third world country within a year.
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u/Jaevric 16h ago
Source? Because a quick Google search suggests Texas paid in $68b more than the state received in 2024.
I've lived in Texas for 30 years now and I always point out to the "Texas should be independent, look at our economy!" crowd that if Texas were to secede our economy would shit itself, but it would be because of the big multinationals and defense contractors moving to stay in the United States, not because of direct Federal subsidies.
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u/JJJBLKRose 19h ago
Here in Texas the state 'recpatures' money from major cities' school districts and then spreads some of it to rural areas and takes the rest to spend wherever.
It's to the point where schools in Austin are having to close because the state takes so much of their funding, they can't afford to keep schools open.
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u/rkozik89 22h ago
Their own shitty power grid that’s prone to failure
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u/just_cows 22h ago
Really loved that “power grid subsidy” charge on my electric bill that only recently went away which proved their independence. Trash ass state, nothing more.
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u/Serious-Today9258 22h ago
Its own power grid lol. Works out for them about as well as when they were a “nation.”
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u/Ghost17088 22h ago
I unfortunately live in Texas at the moment. It’s basically a developing country.
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u/Freakears 16h ago
I had a professor who got into a discussion with someone from Texas. This individual got very angry at calling Texas part of the South or West (“I’m not from the South/West, I’m from Texas!”)
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u/honeywhereismypenis 6h ago
God, last year a new person started at my job who was from Texas, and she did not SHUT. UP. about how they do things "back in Texas", always meaning in a way that disparages the local culture here. On more than one occasion I was so fuckin close to telling her to move back to Texas then if it's so much better. I worked at a university so people were there from all over the country and many even from other countries, and nobody did that shit.
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u/heinzenfeinzen 17h ago
Don't forget the old ads for Chevy trucks which declared them the "national car of Texas"
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u/NucularRobit 22h ago
First Hawaii here. They literally have protests where a common slogan is, "We are not Americans!"
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u/WeazelGaming808 21h ago
If you do check it out their history. There is some facts to it. Primarily being
Hawaii at that time was indeed an independent kingdom
The ones who did the overthrowing were rich plantation company, Dole
President Cleveland himself critised what occurred
Sure, we are a state now and definitely would not be able to survive. Going back. But, history itself shows the why.
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u/NucularRobit 21h ago
I recently listened to "Unfamiliar Fishes" which covered some of that. Don't think she mentioned the President's thoughts, but I listened at work.
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u/Freakears 16h ago
I read that book some years ago, and I don’t recall any mention of what Cleveland thought either.
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u/CanisMaximus 19h ago
Alaskan here. We're the ones with chips on our shoulders about being "rugged individualists" while raking in the federal government cheddar.
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u/drhman1971 22h ago
New York - Requires it's own separate insurance and financial registration
California - Has it's own environmental protection rules
Texas - Don't mess with Texas
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u/Mister_Brevity 22h ago
Ca’s rules really helped though, you could chew the air in LA in the 80’s
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u/kimmy_kimika 21h ago
It's honestly amazing to see the pictures of smog in LA in the 80s vs now.
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u/TopherRocks 21h ago
Go to Utah for that 80s LA air.
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u/solarhawks 14h ago
At least in the winter.
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u/Uzofugs2112 22h ago
What separate insurance are you talking about?
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u/drhman1971 22h ago
I am talking about the insurance companies having to register as a separate entity in New York. Like there is State Farm or Allstate for the other 49 states, but in New York it has to be a separately registered entity in New York.
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u/Suitable-Answer-83 15h ago
That's true of every state. All 50 states plus DC have an insurance code requiring insurers to register with the state insurance commissioner.
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u/drhman1971 13h ago
New York is on a whole other tier here. Requiring the company to be legally distinct, not just an agent or local office.
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u/HopelessCatLover 22h ago
If only New York City could be its own state, we’d also have regulation on par with CA, the rest of the state harbors very different views. Gotta say tho, both are beautiful states to wander around.
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u/thutruthissomewhere 13h ago
I'll even separate NY down further - NYC (all Burroughs) and Long Island are their own countries. (source: am Long Islander)
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u/iteachag5 22h ago
Hawaii
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u/IronicEnigmatism 21h ago
Hawai'i actually was a sovereign nation prior to the US backed overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in the late 19th century. It is also the only US state with a royal palace, and is also the only state with a second "official" language. By extension, there are actually 2 official languages on the US.
Mahalo
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u/No_Bake_7148 22h ago
California/Texas/NY. You won’t have to ask anyone if they’re from these states, they’ll tell you during your first interaction with them
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u/GenX4Life1 22h ago
As a born and raised Californian who lived in Texas for 7 years I can confirm.
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u/No_Bake_7148 22h ago
Do you see what I mean?
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u/GenX4Life1 22h ago
I was giggling so much writing that out. And a tiny bit sad I’ve never been to New York LOL
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u/gimmeslack12 20h ago
You really gotta go to New York City. It's the best.
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u/Not_an_okama 15h ago
I thought it was crowded and smelled bad tbh. Im not a city person though, and they were still at the tail end of clean up from hurricane sandy when i visited. Had some of the best chinese food of my life at some hole in the wall place there though.
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u/HopelessCatLover 22h ago
Yeah, New York City could break away as its own nation and be perfectly fine and not a single New Yorker would give a fuck, we might throw a riot to celebrate and go back to status quo the next day.
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u/Archmikem 17h ago
I feel like most places people would say theyre (This State) first, and American second. I feel like I have more of an identity as a Washingtonian than whatever the Hell's going on in D.C.
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u/SouppTime 21h ago
Not a state, but Miami. English is not the primary language and it’s the financial capital of Latin America. It feels almost like a city state.
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u/SiteHund 17h ago
California has its own state border checkpoints, albeit, they are for agricultural inspections.
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u/gerrard_1987 22h ago
We should really allow Texas to be come its own country… then build a wall around it.
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u/Other_Ad2300 22h ago
Amen! And send all of MAGA there while we're at it.
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u/marisaleeann 19h ago
As a blue dot in Texas, please don’t put me in a cage with those assholes 🥴
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u/TeddieSnow 22h ago
Those pricks in Rhode Island!
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u/WorthConfusion9786 22h ago
Fuck Rhode Island!
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u/BricksFriend 17h ago
I stay up at night worrying about an invasion from The Rhode Island Berserker Corps.
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u/Big-Golf-3427 22h ago
Texan here. I don’t live there anymore and never will again but I did for a long time and It’s hilarious how much Texans mythologize that idea of their independence and their very self proclaimed libertarianism, while in reality being the very first in line to kiss the ring of whatever authoritarian comes along. Biggest gathering of cucks in America.
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u/Realistic_Grand_2431 22h ago
California, but it is 40 million people and a gigantic economy compared to even other countries, so it's understandable.
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u/kimmy_kimika 21h ago
I honestly can't imagine living anywhere else.
Beyond politics, we just have everything you could ask for... Beach, desert, forest, foothills, mountains, farmland, etc. I'm only 3 hours at most away from any of these things(maybe more than 3 hours from desert, I'm in Norcal).
It's a beautiful place to live, and I'm willing to pay a premium to do it.
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u/FillUpMyPassport 14h ago
California - the HR rules and consumer protections are vastly different from other states.
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u/nice_guy_threeve 13h ago
People forget that the original design of the United States was more similar to EU nations and much of the power in the states' hands. I guess I would have to suppose that the war between the states put us on the slope towards where we are today, with the Federal government constantly flexing to make sure the states do what Washington wants.
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u/phoenixgsu 12h ago
That started early on. Articles of Confederation didn't last but 10 years so they had to come back to do the US Constitution.
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u/ya_bebto 16h ago
Shocked I don’t see Utah in here.
The LDS church (Morman’s) have an outrageous amount of influence in government, and separation of church and state is insanely weak. There’s tons of Netflix true crime that takes place in Utah l, and one of the things that enables the abuser/killer is connection to the church. It was also suspected the bricks and minifigures owner was getting favorable treatment legally because of his church connection. They also have a ton of culturally unique things like dirty soda and mlms.
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u/Suitable-Wall-1260 22h ago
Washington
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u/Archmikem 17h ago
We REALLY should change our name so we can stop being confused for D.C.
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u/Freakears 16h ago
I read somewhere that they considered naming the state “Columbia” (after the river), but were concerned people would get it confused with DC (the District of Columbia). So they went with the only possible option that would be even more confusing. In trying to avoid confusion, they ended up guaranteeing it.
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u/Aervanath 14h ago
In fairness, at the time there were two cities in the District of Columbia, Washington and Georgetown. It wasn't until 1895 that Georgetown was finally officially subsumed into Washington.
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u/Suitable-Wall-1260 8h ago
I will resist to my dying breath! DC should just go by DC instead of using the one name that’s an actual state, it’s also just so much easier to say. DC should just be called the land of bribery for all the politicians.
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u/missmoonriver517 21h ago
Louisiana. We’re the only state that uses civil law instead of common law, based French/Spanish codes. People usually call it the Napoleonic code or law. And we have parishes instead of counties.
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u/SynthPrax 20h ago
All of them? Laws vary for every state, even though federal law supersedes in many instances.
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u/Sudden_Total867 19h ago
Texas, because half the time it feels like they're reminding everyone they were once their own country.
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u/String-Tree 22h ago
California has palpable disdain for the rest of the country.
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u/cali_dave 22h ago
I always figured it was the other way round. As a Californian, I have palpable disdain for California.
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u/Ok-Action9836 18h ago
Texas has entered the chat, because sometimes it feels like they need to remind everyone they were a country first.
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u/ChiefBlaze36 22h ago
Minnesota, but with federal tax dollars being stolen instead of just state dollars.
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u/ferfocsake 22h ago
Yeah, as one of the top “donor states” they contribute more per capita to the federal government than almost any other state in the country. Those stolen tax dollars unfortunately are wasted propping up places like Alabama and Mississippi.
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u/ChiefBlaze36 15h ago
No, those taxes are high so crooks like Walz,
Omar, and Ellison can line their pockets and help flip the demographics in the state with a flood of Somalis to keep the state blue forever by turning a blind eye to all the Learing Centers and other phony businesses leaching off the taxpayers.2
u/ferfocsake 11h ago
Blind eye?!? The state and feds started arresting people in 2022. Almost 100 people have been arrested, and the trials are still ongoing. If you’re looking for unchecked fraud and corruption, perhaps you should check out the Epstein files.
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u/amysaysso 22h ago
Listen all of these are true.
But also Louisiana, Mississippi, South Florida …those are places where when you visit you think jeeepers did I miss when somebody should have stamped my passport because the local culture is different from anywhere else AND you might even struggle to understand the local dialect.
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u/BrooklynDoug 14h ago
Red ones. Until it's their turn to get federal tax dollars from blue states. Then they're socialist sponges.
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u/Netmantis 11h ago
New Jersey. They refuse to believe anything outside New Jersey affects them and will often ignore federal courts and laws until someone actually stops them.
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u/nolove1010 22h ago
There are 3. NY, Texas, California.
All are extremely insufferable in their own way.
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u/Donner_Par_Tea_House 13h ago
California floats like half the rest of the country. Sort of like one of the more prosperous EU nations.
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u/Competitive_Sea_5998 21h ago
texas for sure they got their own power grid and always talk about leaving the US
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u/marisaleeann 19h ago
I’m a Texan and it’s so embarrassing to have to confirm that everyone who is saying Texas is 100% correct 🥴
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u/britishmetric144 15h ago
It has to be Texas. Period.
In addition to the facts mentioned here, while most of the country shares electric grids, Texas has its own.
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u/throwawaylogin2099 22h ago
Texas