I don't know how it is with states but red counties receive more money from the federal government than they contribute in taxes. It's the opposite for blue counties.

A new Confederacy would not be economically viable.

So, wait, if I understand this correctly your question is, "Who's going to pay for it?"

Where have I heard that before?

At work.

The Yank talk of 'Secession' popped up here just today in regards to Texas.

My reply was "If Texas secedes then they'll BE fekkin' "Texan Texas" and both the Democrats and the Republicans can go and get fekked."



All the best to our Yank forum members.

Secession is a non-starter. The big cities are blue and the "outback" is red. Go state by state, and in the end, it's all bluish purple. If the southeast was solid red, there might be a chance, but that will never be the case, and the nation is going blue, kicking and screaming by the white supremacists notwithstanding.

(January 12, 2021 at 11:27 pm)Fireball Wrote: Secession is a non-starter. The big cities are blue and the "outback" is red. Go state by state, and in the end, it's all bluish purple. If the southeast was solid red, there might be a chance, but that will never be the case, and the nation is going blue, kicking and screaming by the white supremacists notwithstanding.

Not to mention that it would be illegal.

Boru

(January 12, 2021 at 8:40 pm)Rev. Rye Wrote: Doubling words is only classy when it's the the word "the."

You see, they just didn't care!

The whole "Red State/Blue State" thing is meant to confuse non-USians about our actual political character, which is quite paisley.

(January 13, 2021 at 9:37 am)Gawdzilla Sama Wrote: The whole "Red State/Blue State" thing is meant to confuse non-USians about our actual political character, which is quite paisley.

Are you saying where you live all people don't have a red or blue hue?  Maybe I should get my eyes checked.

But to just play devil's advocate, why couldn't the obstacles be overcome?  Yes, most big cities lean Democrat and rural areas are heavily Republican.  If the overall number of voters lean one way or another, they can outvote the opposition.  So if some state held a referendum or ballot initiative to seek to part ways with the nation, it could pass.  We know that some people are already moving between states for political reasons, so this could be just another reason to do that.  If there were enough people pushing to do this and if enough were elected to congress, it could force a debate on the subject, potentially stalling other legislation.  What would it take for elected officials to seriously consider this if the alternative was violence?  Think about the European Union for a second.  I never expected Britain to leave the EU and even though the EU isn't the same thing as the US, the similarities are clear enough.

Understand I'm not advocating for this; just exploring what might happen given that our politics continue to split into a wider gap.

(January 12, 2021 at 11:27 pm)Fireball Wrote: Secession is a non-starter. The big cities are blue and the "outback" is red. Go state by state, and in the end, it's all bluish purple. If the southeast was solid red, there might be a chance, but that will never be the case, and the nation is going blue, kicking and screaming by the white supremacists notwithstanding.

The purpose of a political party is to mold its policies so that it captures more than 50% of the electorate.

In a two party system, you can't have the nation going either blue or red, long-term.  The losing party will re-calibrate, and as soon as the ruling party does something stupid, they are out.

The problem with the Republicans is that they are betting on a diminishing demographic.  They either have to subvert democracy to keep that demographic relevant politically, or they have to change.  So far, they have bet on the first one.

(January 13, 2021 at 9:50 am)Spongebob Wrote:

(January 13, 2021 at 9:37 am)Gawdzilla Sama Wrote: The whole "Red State/Blue State" thing is meant to confuse non-USians about our actual political character, which is quite paisley.

Are you saying where you live all people don't have a red or blue hue?  Maybe I should get my eyes checked.

But to just play devil's advocate, why couldn't the obstacles be overcome?  Yes, most big cities lean Democrat and rural areas are heavily Republican.  If the overall number of voters lean one way or another, they can outvote the opposition.  So if some state held a referendum or ballot initiative to seek to part ways with the nation, it could pass.  We know that some people are already moving between states for political reasons, so this could be just another reason to do that.  If there were enough people pushing to do this and if enough were elected to congress, it could force a debate on the subject, potentially stalling other legislation.  What would it take for elected officials to seriously consider this if the alternative was violence?  Think about the European Union for a second.  I never expected Britain to leave the EU and even though the EU isn't the same thing as the US, the similarities are clear enough.

Understand I'm not advocating for this; just exploring what might happen given that our politics continue to split into a wider gap.

Short answer: Our political character is often on a knife edge at election time and things can change quickly and suddenly. The fact that the President is the first thing people vote for shows that this tipping can happen easily. For example: