I Could Be Wrong...

Logistics Monster and Arctic Wolf had similar objections to my "Amicable Divorce" idea. You can read the original post and their comments here. I started a comment in response, but as always, it ended up a 30-page dissertation, so I figured it would be best as a post of its own.

(I know, I know, the poor guys make, like, one or two sentence comments, and I write an encyclopedia in response—but, if I didn't always have way too much to say, I wouldn't be writing this blog in the first place...)

In a nutshell, both my friends think there's no hope for a peaceful secession/separation. Both, being smart, recognize that BlueLand could not survive—at least not in the style to which they've become accustomed— without RedLand, and sensibly conclude that the Blue would not allow a peaceful withdrawal of the Red.

They may, of course, be entirely correct.

I hope not, because I'd quite prefer a peaceful settlement of our polarized conundrum to another bloody Civil War—or worse, the condemnation of freedom loving, (Red) Sovereign Citizens to a life of serfdom and bondage to the (Blue) STATE.

Arctic Wolf looks at the well-known "Red and Blue" map of America, and recognizes that in almost all States, and even in most counties, there are enough people of both sides that conflict seems inevitable, that we'd continue skirmishing endlessly for dominance in our hometowns, and states. He points to Northern Ireland as the sad historical model.

But, there is another, more recent model: Quebec. I know the situation is not exactly analogous, but it does show that a modern, civilized, and socialist, state...can divide itself peacefully if there is sufficient demand...and enough room!

Some of the differences between Northern Ireland and America include: age, culture, landmass, history, and a culture of mobility. Being an "immigration nation" has its benefits. Everyone here came from somewhere else. The idea of "seeking a better life" by pulling up stakes and moving to the "Land of the Free" is literally, in our DNA.

We are the children of insanely courageous people who traveled half-way around the world, with a couple of suitcases, very little money, no guarantees, to a strange culture with a foreign language—for the sake of freedom.

Surely we can move a couple of states over, with all our possessions, our bank accounts, our 401k's, our parents, kids, pets...at our leisure, in our own air-conditioned/heated vehicle....to a place where people are more like us than they are where we come from, with whom we share a culture, ideals, a glorious history, and a language—for the sake of freedom!

Inconvenient, disruptive? Sure. But if it's not worth a little temporary inconvenience and disruption to live free, we belong in the socialist hive, anyway.

Unlike Northern Ireland, we've got way more land than people, a wandering spirit, a history that doesn't include centuries of animosity, conquest, oppression and strife, and we don't identify ourselves by our religion.

Having separated ourselves successfully from England over 230 years ago, and remained friends and allies with them ever since, you might even say we're the Anti-Northern Ireland.

Even our terrible and costly Civil War resulted in a peaceful unity, without decades—let alone centuries—of ongoing bloody skirmishes, terrorism and hatred, to the extent that the biggest defenders of the flag they fought against, the most proudly and publicly patriotic, are our Southern brothers.

We are Americans. Not crazy Irishmen! (Full disclosure, I am part Irish. County Cork, home of the invading, then assimilating Vikings. Which, when I found out, and shared with my friends, they, to a man, nodded, saying things like, "Well, that explains it.")

Returning to the suggestion that the Blue know they cannot survive without the Red, I'm not actually sure they do know it. Consider the current situation. The way the politicians—and even many economists—are dealing with our financial mess, they clearly and demonstrably do not understand how the engine of prosperity works.

And if you don't understand how it works, you don't know which parts are necessary for function, and which parts are decorative. You don't understand that the valves are critical but the chrome valve cover is not.

Indeed, in a world of image, posing, pretension, ignorance, and "bling", the pretty, twinkling valve cover will probably be coveted more than the dull, dirty, mostly hidden valves.

And if we offer to take those dirty, boring valves, and leave them their shiny object, I have a feeling they'll greedily agree, thinking we're stupid (as always), and laugh at our backs as we leave.

In the same way, perhaps they won't complain if all the fat-cat, greedy capitalists leave. As long as they leave the windmills. They'll feel the same about gun owners, factory farmers, arms manufacturers, chemical companies, oil companies, truck makers, truck drivers, smokers, white construction workers, the military, mining, rodeo cowboys, country music...all dirty, boring, annoying, ugly parts they don't understand or care about...

The Left want a peaceful, green world of solar power, secularism, and organic farming. They insist on "natural" products, and "pure" ingredients, fair trade coffee and chocolate. They want acupuncture and homeopathy included in their "free" medical coverage. They want to open their arms, hug the earth, and buy the world a Coke.

But they don't want us sooty, dirty, noisy, smoky, grinding, cacophonous parts...

And until they are stuffing newspaper in their shoes, and eating tree bark, it will not occur to them that they might have made a mistake.

Oh...some know. And they will understand the implications. When they say "paradise", they mean "tyranny run by themselves". They know they need the factories running, and the farms growing and the banks lending. But even they, as demonstrated by the current idiocy in Washington, believe the engine of commerce can be run by force and regulation, by government decree and central planning. Even they, devious in their ambitious reach for total power, don't understand that they are designing their own ruin.

But these quasi-delusionals of the Left are far outnumbered by the totally delusional Left.

An example:

Minnesota has a problem. It has mandated the use of bio-fuel in school buses. To "save the earth", "for the children".

Bio-fuel turns to gel in cold weather.

Minnesota. Winter.

Recently, some of "the children" in Minnesota had to be hospitalized for hypothermia caused by waiting at bus-stops for buses that never came, because the energy-saving, earth-saving, child-saving bio-fuel, in the cold winter of Minnesota turns into gel and the buses won't run.

Their solution is to keep the buses running all night long so the fuel won't gel.

Burning fuel. All night long.

To save energy, and the earth, and "the children" by using bio-fuel.

These are not fringe kooks blogging from their mommy's basement, these are government officials. Totally delusional. And they're everywhere.

Who among us thinks they can make rational assessments of the requirements for prosperity—or anything else—and arrive at the correct answer?

These are not difficult minds to influence. Surely a decent PR campaign could convince them that they could achieve Utopia, if only all those nasty Redland people would get out of the way...there'd be no more aggravating "tough fights" in the legislature to get their earth-saving bio-fuel program up and running!

Not only wouldn't they stop us, they'd give us an escort to the on-ramp.

"Brer Bear, please don't throw me into that briar patch!"

Of course, I could be wrong.

The Gunslinger