Tell me you haven’t been thinking about it.
Secession.
I.e. a “Blue” withdrawal from the paradoxically named “United” States.
[sorry Barack, your farewell speech was laudable, but as your mom said, Reality has a Way of Catching Up with You.]
I realize there are many practical obstacles to this split, of which the two biggest are:
(A) Geographic. North Dakota, Montana, and a finger of Idaho break up a Blue Northern Arc extending from Virginia to California. Boundaries could be especially problematic there. If the other side started building walls, access between regions might be managed through Canada.
(B) Asymmetry of Resources & Money:
- The non-Blue portion of What Was the United States (WUSS) has most of the physical resources: oil, coal, natural gas, solar, and land-based wind energy, and most important—if push came to shove—most of the armaments, from handguns to ICBMs.
- The Blue Arc has most of the financial wealth, intellectual property, and potential for innovation. You can see where the above-mentioned asymmetry would interact with this one. But, with enough tribute paid to the non-Blue states—continuing an existing de facto practice—the Blue Arc could minimize the use of force. The Blue Arc, if it joined NATO, would shine among the other NATO countries, in actually paying its way.
Think I’m joking? I’m not sure. I actually don’t believe Secession’s time has come. Yet. But it is time to start thinking about it so that future generations might not have to endure the charade of creating a More Perfect Union from the schizophrenic nation that exists now.