Will the United States exist for the remainder of human history simply because "there is no handy 'process'" by which states can secede? The idea is silly. If people actually cared about such things, the US would never have come into existence. After all, as of 1776, the question of rebellion was clearly settled by the Treason Act of 1351. There was no meaningful 'process' by which the colonies could secede. And yet the American revolution happened. It happened in the same way that history always happens. Not in strict adherence to some scrap of paper, or in accordance to a process flow chart, but off the cuff. After all, what proportion of successful secession movements in human history have followed a strictly legal process? I can only think of a few, all small nations, all in the last 100 years or so. Bismarck was right (as usual) when he said:

> Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided... but by iron and blood.

When people are determined to secede, they won't be stopped by words. They'll be stopped by "iron and blood", or they'll be on their way. I've heard many Americans express their fear of another civil war, but I have never heard a single one express their support for starting one and sacrificing hundreds of thousands of lives for the sake of preserving a polity.