Former American presidential candidate Ron Paul says states will eventually break away from the United States but the good news is that secession is already underway.

The former Texas congressman made the remarks during a speech at a pro-secession conference, titled “Breaking Away: The Case for Secession”, late last month. The video of Paul’s speech surfaced on Friday.

“I would like to start off by talking about the subject and the subject is secession and, uh, nullification, the breaking up of government, and the good news is it’s going to happen. It’s happening,” Paul told a gathering at the libertarian Mises Institute on January 24.

He said that Congress would not approve secession, but the process rather would be de facto.

“And it’s not going to be because there will be enough people in the US Congress to legislate it. It won’t happen. It will be de facto. You know, you’ll have a gold standard when the paper standard fails, and we’re getting awfully close to that. And people will have to resort to taking care of themselves. So when conditions break down, you know, there’s going to be an alternative. And I think that’s what we’re witnessing,” Paul stated.

He also said that the US central bank, which he considers responsible for many of the ills afflicting America, would end and the states would simply stop listening to federal laws they didn’t agree with.

The veteran American politician said the Federal Reserve “is going to end. There is going to be a de facto secession movement going on. The states are going to refuse to listen to some of the laws.”

He added that “the American people are waking up to that, and as far as I’m concerned, the more the merrier.”

Amid the growing anger with Washington, polls show that nearly a quarter of Americans want their states to break away from the United States and become an independent country.

The results of a Reuters/Ipsos poll released in September last year show that 24 percent of Americans strongly support or tend to support the idea of their state separating from the union.

Experts say last year’s Scottish vote for independence along with the falling public approval of the White House is increasing interest in breaking away among the American public.

GJH/GJH