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2013-08-20

American Secessionists Step It Up A Notch

Thus far we have seen counties break apart, but now we're going to see part of a state try to secede. This is big because there are other cases for secession out there, such as Western New York breaking away from NYC, Long Island and Westchester County. If there's a precedent here, there will be many follow on cases.

Rural Coloradans to vote on breaking away as 51st state, angered by liberal policies on guns, energy
The Weld County Commissioners voted unanimously at Monday’s meeting to place a measure on the Nov. 5 ballot asking voters whether they want the county to join other rural counties in forming another state.

If one looks at a map of America by political affiliation (based on presidential candidate votes) at the county level, one generally sees a sea of red (right-wing) with blue islands (left-wing). I have circled the potential hot spots in yellow. In the northeast, there is New York and Pennsylvania, dominated by New York City and Philadelphia. To the south is Virginia, dominated by the DC area. The strip of blue across the south in the form of a crescent are the areas with a large black population. In south Florida are the Hispanics and Northeast retirees from the blue Northeast. Further west is a dot of Hispanics on the Mexican border in Texes. Further west from there is a huge Hispanic population, plus some liberal whites, that stretches from New Mexico into Colorado. Although the fight in Colorado is about what the voters say it is, energy and gun rights, behind the shift in power is demographics from Hispanic immigration. Further west still is Hispanic dominated South California. All along the coast from California up to Canada are the liberal elites who control the country and the expensive real estate. Back towards the middle is Illinois, dominated by Chicago.

All of those states have some form of secession talk. In some cases it is rural right-wingers who are dominated by a very small geographic area. In others, there's an emerging Hispanic majority that is likely to seek to rule itself in coming years, if they are unable to fully takeover a state such as New Mexico. This is why a single success will be huge. Many states will want to effectively jettison their cities, which they disagree with strongly politically and which many see as tax eaters. There's plenty of precedent in history for city-states, and the U.S. already has Washington, D.C.


Back to the article:
“Again, folks say this can never happen. However, we are starting to hear from disenfranchised groups all over the country,” said a post on the 51st State Initiative’s website. “We are truly a divided nation. It is possible, if not likely, that we may not be the only group requesting from Congress the formation of a new state.”

This isn’t the first time disgruntled residents have explored the option of a state split. In the past few decades, movements have sprung up in favor of carving California and Washington into two states.

New York has had a host of proposals aimed at peeling off jurisdictions, including New York City, upstate New York and western New York. The most recent effort was in 2008, when the Suffolk County comptroller proposed splitting off Long Island.r
There's nothing sacred about state borders. The Founders designed the nation to be run close to the local level, so there's nothing wrong with devolving power. If I was giving a recommendation to the federal government based on socionomics, it would be to ease any opposition to this and let states break apart or merge. This will blow off a lot of tension because it will become the outlet valve for conflict. Instead of fighting, people will be free to walk away. If instead they are forced together, then there will eventually be a battle for control because the two sides are too far apart to compromise.

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