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Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,749 posts, read 23,813,296 times
Reputation: 14660
Quote:
Originally Posted by jambo101
And of course this new realignment of the country would be along political lines.
Sounds to me you just want all the republicans to live in their part of the country and all the Democrats to live in theirs.
Wonder how long it would take before war broke out.
That would suck. A 3rd party with some real concrete influence would be nice though.
Balkanization has happened before, and will happen again. Quebec and Texas are the frontrunners for independence in North America.
Texas will likely lead other states out with it if things went that far. Most of the "red state" south would follow Texas and so would some of the mountain west states. The more polarized we get the more danger there is of a large scale secession movement becoming more than talk. If we are ignorant of history then we are doomed to repeat it. Today the south is angry and alienated by the sweeping and radical changes being implemented on this country by the federal government. Again, just as in 1860 this southern anger is being dismissed and the "change" is going ahead full steam against the will of a large number of states. (not all of them southern, some western as well) Could this lead to the same result??? secession?? even civil war or revolution?? Yes it could, I guess it all depends on how far it goes, and other contributing factors such as our economy. If the US debt collapsed the economy, and the hated socialism and liberal social policies continued then it is possible that part of the country could sever ties and call it quits. If the economy remained strong and people continued to live a high standard of living then I don't think political differences alone could trigger this kind of radical action. Americans like to think things like this would never happen in todays America, but there really is no reason to think this. If it happened before it can happen again. We are not immune from the issues that people have faced in the past, or things that have happened overseas like the rise of a dictator. If we are not vigilant, if we don't guard our freedoms, if we don't respect the rights of our citizens and states as they were granted in the constitution then we could see our country fail. It is all up to us.
Balkanization has happened before, and will happen again. Quebec and Texas are the frontrunners for independence in North America.
Texas has no real independence movement. Quebec actually got 50% vote before for independence. There is no real independence movement in the United States where as in Quebec it's a very real movement.
I kind of get a kick out of it when some here on CD (again, not common in the real world) start spewing off about secession of states such as Texas and others in the south. It's always the same crap. The government this and the government that. All things their particular state doesn't agree with so they bring up secession. You know, their part of the country doesn't like these ideas that are coming from and to a part of the country so disconnected with them. The one thing they all fail to see is that our government is made up of people from all states. Yes, people from Texas are in Washington as well as people from NY. They are all making decisions that affect us all. Of the last 3 Presidents one is from (in regards to this thread) Illinois, one is from Texas and one is from Arkansas.
Another thing that was brought up previously people tend to forget in their red state/blue state thought. All the states have a very large part of the other color. I live in MD, a solid blue state because of the Washington and Baltimore suburbs. The part I live in is as red as red can get. We even elected a republican governor this last election. Not the first time either and won't be the last. Likewise, states such as Texas have a lot of blue as well. We actually need the opposing parties and our country was set up like that intentionally. I'd say it's been working out pretty good. Perhaps not here on City Data though but this is not reality.
Texas will likely lead other states out with it if things went that far. Most of the "red state" south would follow Texas and so would some of the mountain west states. The more polarized we get the more danger there is of a large scale secession movement becoming more than talk. If we are ignorant of history then we are doomed to repeat it. Today the south is angry and alienated by the sweeping and radical changes being implemented on this country by the federal government. Again, just as in 1860 this southern anger is being dismissed and the "change" is going ahead full steam against the will of a large number of states. (not all of them southern, some western as well) Could this lead to the same result??? secession?? even civil war or revolution?? Yes it could, I guess it all depends on how far it goes, and other contributing factors such as our economy. If the US debt collapsed the economy, and the hated socialism and liberal social policies continued then it is possible that part of the country could sever ties and call it quits. If the economy remained strong and people continued to live a high standard of living then I don't think political differences alone could trigger this kind of radical action. Americans like to think things like this would never happen in todays America, but there really is no reason to think this. If it happened before it can happen again. We are not immune from the issues that people have faced in the past, or things that have happened overseas like the rise of a dictator. If we are not vigilant, if we don't guard our freedoms, if we don't respect the rights of our citizens and states as they were granted in the constitution then we could see our country fail. It is all up to us.
I agree that polarization is getting worse in this country overall. That said, I'm a bit confused as to what "sweeping and radical changes" you're referring to, given the Federal Government has been gridlocked for the past five years, and generally barely passes anything even in the best times. Could you provide more detail.
If the U.S. ever actually fell apart, I think it would be because perpetual federal gridlock breaks the government so much the states are forced to take on more for themselves, eventually leading to inter-state compacts which replace some of the services as well. This would de facto make the U.S. more similar to the European Union, but on paper the U.S. would still exist. But IMHO this is still a generation away, presuming it ever happens.
I agree that polarization is getting worse in this country overall. That said, I'm a bit confused as to what "sweeping and radical changes" you're referring to, given the Federal Government has been gridlocked for the past five years, and generally barely passes anything even in the best times. Could you provide more detail.
If the U.S. ever actually fell apart, I think it would be because perpetual federal gridlock breaks the government so much the states are forced to take on more for themselves, eventually leading to inter-state compacts which replace some of the services as well. This would de facto make the U.S. more similar to the European Union, but on paper the U.S. would still exist. But IMHO this is still a generation away, presuming it ever happens.
It should be obvious which sweeping and radical change he's referring to. It's hard to do anything without it sloppily and awkwardly being thrown in your face. It's in the news, movies, on ESPN, TV Shows, printed media, everywhere you turn. And yes, some people are getting sick and tired of having to see it all the time.
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