National Divorce: Why Not A National Restructuring?
With a national divorce, things would not split along state lines, but county ones. This is already happening with the Greater Idaho Project. If political dissatisfaction is any indication, this movement will continue to grow, resulting in most contiguous Red counties seceeding from their blue states to join the growing “Red Union”, leaving behind semi-isolated islands of blue in a sea of red. But will a national divorce solve the problem, or is there a better way?
The level of hate and vitriol from “Panem”, mostly against rural white Americans, has reached historically unprecedented and absurd levels. The feeling cuts both ways. The difference in values between the two sides has become irreconcilable. Each side has non-negotiable incompatibilities. It’s foolish to think we can continue to run such a huge and deeply divided nation under a single one-size-fits-all hodge-podge of deeply unpopular federal policies, and not expect significant conflict from either side. It’s making us all miserable.
Overwhelmingly, most people in those red zones are decent folk who just want to be left alone. But if you talk to your typical progressive, “Red” people are “backwards, racist, uneducated hicks mooching off blue cities”, betraying a shocking level of ignorance towards the very people keeping them alive. Yes, you read that right, overwhelming, most of the food feeding blue cities comes from Red counties.
If history is our guide, this kind of out of touch contempt doesn’t end well for such people. It’s just not a good idea to shit on the same blue collar people repairing your shit, delivering your stuff, and putting food on your table. History is replete of collapsing empires where an out of touch “elite” forgot who and what enabled their existence in the first place. And like history before it, there’s a reckoning coming and it’s not going to be pretty. Clif High calls it the “Big Ugly”, and if the insane amount of urban cope I witnessed on Twitter the past 24 hours is any indication, they’re in for an extremely rude awakening. I tried to warn them, but they refused to listen. The very notion that a bunch of “uneducated hicks” could possibly beat them at their own game, was too much to bear. I don’t know about you, but I’d want to know eveything I could about what the “enemy” was doing — what their strengths and weaknesses are, but not this lot. That’s some serious cope! What are they afraid of? Deep down, they know. So fragile is their worldview, they will violently attack anyone who challenges it, no matter how well intended. No one said it was rational. Boy, did I steer up a lot of shit, including getting under the skin of the climate and technology adviser to Nancy Pelosi!
[Update: overwhelmingly, most of them flat out refused to read this essay, probably because they knew it would destroy that cozy illusion that let’s them sleep at night].
Interestingly, when it comes to Maslow’s hiearchy, they’ve got it all backwards. Without these “hicks” they wouldn’t eat, or have the majority of resources they now take for granted in their big box stores. In short, without the mostly conservative working class, and the majority of farmers in their ranks, they’d all die. By all measures of global supply and trade, there’s not enough overseas food supply to feed the 150 million people living inside these Democrat run cities. Should there be a “divorce", they’ll have to come begging Red country for food like hungry little children. Those who control the food supply control the nation. I don’t make the rules.
Their contemptuous view of rural Americans actually works in favor for those who want a seperation. The disdain they have for people they don’t know or understand, means more people will suport such a split. Why crams millions of people who are fundamentally opposed on basic values into the same place? Let them do their own thing.
But, it gets even worse for them. Blue is replacing all meritocracy with diversity, equity, and inclusion quotas. Imagine that: merit will no longer determine who becomes airline pilots, doctors, lawyers, and administrators. By retaining meritocracy, Red will attract the best and brightest, while the Blue will attract (I dare not speak its name). Fast foreward 20 years: Blue will implode from an incompetency cascade.
AN HONEST ACCOUNTING?
It’s distinctly possible upon an adequate accounting, they’ll realize they’re actually getting the short end of the stick. This in turn might lead them to declare war. Unfortunately most analysts have concluded Red would win a civil war in less than six months. If you don’t have time to watch it (highly recommended!), the short of it is most of the military bases, nukes, and other weapons, are found in Red dominated zones, run by mostly military enlisted folk from strong Red country backgrounds. Which means they won’t wage war against their own people. Should the military attempt a strike, they will quickly find their plans sabotaged and rapidly removed by coup. Either Red takes over, or the military implodes from the chaos.
Again, if you think the government can win a war against Red country, watch this.
Blue zones can’t function without the resources that are found almost enclusively in Red country. In aggregate, Red *counties* have almost all the farmland, all the minerals, all the the timber, and all the energy (oil and gas). Conversely, Blue zones (given their economies of density) have most of the high tech know-how.
So, for things to work well, each side needs to work with the other, at least for a time. Given the inferior position this leaves Blue in, the smart move is brokering peace by forging mutually beneficial trade pacts. Then, with the dramatically reduced government that remains, Blue can be blue, and Red can be red, whatever that means. What we are left with is a sort of radical decentralized “Jeffersonian” style Federalism, where power is restored to the people themselves in their own districts, as Jefferson had intended. For an historical example, think of the Hanseatic League that existed between the 13th and 17th centuries. This federated league was composed of over a hundred principalities and city-states that were tied together in mutual trade and defense, but otherwise kept to themselves to run their own affairs. No oppressive centralized government was necessary. The benefits of mutual cooperation on matters of trade and defence were self-evident. It was such a good arrangement, that it stood out as the envy of the rest of Europe for centuries. I see no reason why such a league cannot be forged in America, along mutually beneficial lines. Together, but seperate. An American league of federated principalities, each governing their own region the way they see fit.
Like the Hanseatic League, this new restored American League could have a national defense, with stronger “state” militias, and for the Red areas, strong and uncompromising 2A protections, and strong anti-Communist, anti-Marxist policies. For those that insist on pushing Marxism within the Red zones, especially if they’re pursuing power, will be given a one-way ticket to the Blue zone of their choice.
As you can see from the above county map, the “Red” American League would keep more than half the ports — almost all of the East Coast (except NYC, Boston, and Miami), all the Gulf, most of Florida, Southern Oregon, and Southern California (except for Los Angeles).
So is a complete divorce really necessary, or can the US be restructured along lines that allow blue to be blue, and red to be red? Yes. We have the means, we just need the will. When most people hear how this would work, they support the idea. It’s an easy sell. Instead of breaking up the country, and the intense complications and conflicts that would arise around common resources like rivers and transportation systems, we keep the union intact, but with a significantly reduced federal government. The notion of one big centralized government ruling over all of us, has been disasterous for everyone. By giving more authority to people to run their own regions the way they want, makes for a happier situation for all concerned.
But, given that Red pretty much controls the bulk of the country and the weapons of war, means Red calls the shots on national defense, and border patrol. No more illegal immigrants! No more sanctuary cities. That all ends. And because of a radically reduced federal bureaucracy, local regions now handle all internal affairs. So no more Department of Education, no more nationally mandated climate rules, and no more restrictions on domestic energy production. If blue zones want to have those things, that’s their prerogative. Besides, the entire sea of Red, couldn’t make a dent on the level of carbon emissions China spews out. They’re getting close to emitting more carbon than the rest of the world combined. [Notice how Greta never says a thing about China at Davos or the UN?]
A NOTE TO PEOPLE LIKE JAMES LINDSAY
James Lindsay is opposed to a national divorce. Why? His list of reasons are extremely poor, showing an embarrassing lack of knowledge about supply chain analysis, natural resources, and game theory. His opposition is a cope. He’s operating under the illusion that somehow the US (“America”) would be weakened and more vulnerable to an attack by hostile nations like China. As you can see again from the above map, however, the level of resources and military might this new American League would command is extremely formidable. As smart as Lindsay is on some issues (CRT, DIE, ESG, etc.), it’s clear he hasn’t done his homework here. We have the strategic advantage. Why squander it? Given his influence, he’s doing his fans a huge disservice. He’s demoralizing his base because his own inability to cope with the current situation. At the end of the day, and by his own admission, he is still a liberal. He just wants to restore the US to it’s “former glory” before the woke virus captured our institutions, despite that capture happening decades before he was born. What he seems to miss, is it was precisely the conditions of “2010" that led to the current woke insanity — a deliberately designed agenda — decades in the making. The long march of Marxism through the institutions, starting with the Marxists founders of the Frankfurt School being invited into our most prestigious and influential academic institutions.
Let’s get real. We can’t go back to 2010, or even 1980. If we’re going to go back, we’ll have two go back all the way, to the root.
For starters, there’s far more Marxists now than in 2010. A full one-third of the population now says they’re woke. And they live almost exclusively in Blue Zones. And even if we could go back to 2010, 1980, or even 1950, there’s no way that 30% of the woke population will go along with the values of the other 70%. For them, such a thing is non-negotiable. That means we’re already well past the point of no return.
So what is James solution then? Force that 30% to shut up, go away, die, be thrown out of helicopters, shipped to a Communist country overseas? Those are certainly ideas thrown out by the Far Right, but it’s unnecessary. Just let them go their own way, creating whatever woke utopia suits their fancy. Be grateful those experiments will be done inside blue containment zones!
A national restructuring is the only path foreward if our goal is a peaceful resolution of an irreconcilable and divided nation. It’s folly to think the best way to run a country is to force everyone under the same roof with the same rules. Let them go their own way. It’s called freedom. Give it a try.