Politics: January 2017 Archives

One-third of Californians support Calexit « Hot Air

When two components of the same nation have starkly different ideas about what is good, true, and beautiful, maybe it's time to split up. Czechia and Slovakia had a "velvet divorce" in 1993; could the US manage a similarly peaceful split? A California departure would make it harder for the Left to reassert control over the rest of the US. Any secession policy would have to consider how to deal with military bases and other federal property (a status-of-forces agreement?), the seceding state's share of the Social Security "trust fund" and its share of the national debt (maybe we'll call it a wash), water rights (who gets how much water from the Colorado River), and trade and immigration policy. The remaining states would need to worry about access to the Pacific Ocean, particularly if Washington and Oregon left along with California. What if a section of the state prefers to remain, like West Virginia did in 1863? The newly-birthed nation would have to set up defenses, establish a currency, create a postal service (or leave it to the private sector?). California is supposed to be a donor state, so it would have plenty of money to fund its own infrastructure and social spending when it stops paying federal taxes.

If all 50 states seceded, we might be able to move back to the original idea of the USA -- sovereign, autonomous states that share little more than a common defense, a common currency, and free trade and movement.