Balkanization

Balkanization is the main argument against freedom to secede. The belief is that people naturally hate each other, and if they have their own little countries, they will constantly fight, just like in the Balkans.

That is rubbish. As I type I'm listening to a BBC discussion with veterans of Sarajevo. Time has passed, the dust has settled, and conclusions can be drawn. Without exception, they tell the same story. It was a simple land grab by a Serbian army. The idea that "Balkan peoples all hate each other" is simply false - it was propaganda of the time, and simply false. Studies of previous Balkan conflicts send the same message, but let us concentrate on this one for now.

The real problem is that international law is based on land ownership, and land ownership is based on force. This makes it impossible to create fair laws, or to others to judge fairly between competing claims, or for others to raise support to intervene. Until we install land rent (meaning that you only get from land the wealth you create, and the rest is shared with society), then land ownership - and hence history - will be an endless story of the strong living off the weak, occasionally punctuated by wars.