Gather Around the Thanksgiving Table and Spread Liberty Across New York

​There is a lot to be thankful for living in New Amsterdam (Upstate New York). We have plentiful nature, forests, mountains, lakes, and wildlife. There are many pastures with cows and horses and fields and orchards. We have small towns and villages mixed with larger urban and suburban centers. There are baseball, football, basketball, soccer, and hockey fields and stadiums, while ski resorts, hiking trails, and boat launches dot the rural landscape. New York ranks top ten in producing several agricultural items, including: apples, cheese, milk, grapes and wine, tart cherries, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, snap and green peas, maple syrup, beans, squash, and cabbage.
With plentiful harvests and wild and domesticated turkeys running around, and the ability to create our own Thanksgiving meal each year from produce grown and manufactured in New York, why are the people still feeling isolated and conquered within the political system? Could it be because there is one dictator in Albany who controls where the money goes and what individuals and businesses can do? Farmers must fork over their hard-earned dollars to the governor who will then determine where they should be used, and we the people do not get to choose where this money is sucked away to. Rather, it is a single leader, aided by a bureaucracy, who makes all of the major decisions.
The retort may be: the farmer gets to vote for his or her legislators and for the governor, right? Well, farmers may get to fill in a circle on a piece of paper to feel good about “democracy” in that moment, but when you tally up the numbers at the end of the day, the real power comes from New York City and the surrounding areas. Both the New York State Senate and Assembly are distributed out based on population alone, so if two-thirds of the population is concentrated in the New York City metropolitan area, two-thirds of both the Senate and Assembly will automatically consist of the will of that one small area. There is absolutely no chance for that rural farmer to have a real voice because there are no checks and balances on the majority party’s rule. Therefore, the governor and a supermajority of both chambers of the legislature will always be made up of Democrats, and there is no Republican check. The people have no way to challenge this besides to wait every twenty years for the Constitutional Convention to roll around and hope that people take an interest enough to demand change.
Since New York State is a one-party state with no real representation for anywhere outside of the New York City metropolitan area, Upstaters often feel a sense of hopelessness that cannot be cured through the republican process of electing representatives. “Just vote harder,” is what Democrats will tell you, as they yield complete power over the state and will not agree to any type of balance within politics (New York Democrats even stripped the Green and Libertarian Parties from ballot access).
There are very few options for Upstaters to take within the system itself, and perhaps the only real choice is to take up non-political opportunities (if you know what I mean). Demand that Governor Kathy Hochul and her Democratic friends join us at the Thanksgiving table so that we can discuss the best course of action for all New Yorkers.
Divide New York State is an organization that is attempting to give autonomy to Upstate so that we do not spoil before it is time for dinner. This Thanksgiving, at least try to bring up this idea to those seated at the table, especially if there is someone who is unfamiliar with it. Get people excited about it and spreading the ideas of liberty across the state.
Thank you for reading, and please visit our website for more information.
Regards,
Craig Peterson, Jr.
Divide NYS Treasurer

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