If Only We Could Get Divorced

[Cinjin]

I think it's finally come down to it. The USA needs to get divorced.

Republicans / Democrats
Conservatives / Liberals
Guns / No Guns
No Abortion /Abortion
etc. etc.


We just can't seem to work it out and sometimes divorce can be a good thing.

I propose two countries. Everyone could go live in the country they prefer to live in. Not only, could we potentially be a lot happier living under regulations we support, but we wouldn't have to be bothered by the unrelenting in-fighting we have every damn day.

Now the only question is. Where do you draw the line?

Who am I kidding? The division line alone would keep us tied up in heated debate for centuries.




I know I know. It's ridiculous.

...... but don't you still kinda want to try it?

[Something completely different]

Fun fact, conservative states are the poorest states.


If the confederacy would still exist would be a english speaking central american style failed state.

[The Grand Nudger]

Hardly, the states that formed the confederacy where the fuel for the mechanized engine of the north, without their resources it would have failed. Why do you think there was no option to allow them to leave?

They would have simply sold their wares to someone else. The benefits continued even after the civil war (and at points were blatantly intentional) as the population of the south was exploited just as effectively from the north as it was from it's former slave drivers.

(most people don't realize this but for the majority of US history textiles were all we had - let me rephrase - the single most important thing in the US was hemp/cotton.)

[Something completely different]

And where is that great fuel gone now?

Industry moved to the north.

Cotton is gone, and Texas is the only state which pays more to the federal goverment than it receives.

Oh and slavery is seen as inmoral and wrong today.

[Psykhronic]

I think we need to divide it up more than just two regions. There's a lot of variation across America. We can use the current regional divides as a starting point (Mid-Atlantic region, etc).

I want New England to be its own country, or join up with Canada.

[The Grand Nudger]

And where is that great fuel gone now?

Industry moved to the north.

Cotton is gone, and Texas is the only state which pays more to the federal goverment than it receives.

Oh and slavery is seen as inmoral and wrong today.

Actually that's where industry started, it's moving south now (to exploit the lower wages expected by the average southerner). The automotive industry, for example, mass migration southward. It makes sense for them. They will of course return northward if conditions improve. They rarely pay anything for these moves, cities counties and states bend over backwards to accomodate.

Yes, slavery is wrong and immoral............(and)?

[TaraJo]

When you're trans, and poor and a student, there is no way in hell I'd want to be anywhere near the conservative part of the nation. Can you imagine what states like Alabama or Mississippi would do to me if not for the fact that the constitution is holding them back?

[Something completely different]

Give Texas, Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas and New Mexico back to Spain.
Alaska back to Russia.
Louisana, Mississipi, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa back to the French.
The east coast to the British.
Hawai to the Germans.

And you can keep the rest.

---

Actually that's where industry started, it's moving south now (to exploit the lower wages expected by the average southerner). The automotive industry, for example, mass migration southward. It makes sense for them. They will of course return northward if conditions improve. They rarely pay anything for these moves, cities counties and states bend over backwards to accomodate.

Really? Industry in north amercia is outsourcing to the south because wages are lower there?

Like if the south was a third world country?

Yes, slavery is wrong and immoral............(and)?

Have you never asked yourself how long the confederacy could have kept slavery legal?

[jonb]

If you look at 'advanced societies', what sets them apart from less progressed societies is not that every individual in them is in agreement, but the opposite. The more dissension a society can contain the more likely it is to be technically and educationally advanced. As such this would be a recipe for disaster.
What can you learn from voices that say the same as you?

For a democracy to thrive it needs disagreement.

[The Grand Nudger]

Really? Industry in north amercia is outsourcing to the south because wages are lower there?

Like if the south was a third world country?

Well, they outsource anywhere that it's cheaper, third world country or not...but yes, In a sense. The thing that deserves mention here is that the north actually treated the south as a third world country and endeavored to make it so. Not just the south, of course, but the south, frontiers, etc. All of the regions that are now so conveniently conservative. Exploiting a cultural identity and experience is often very useful when you want to build a base for an ideology.

Have you never asked yourself how long the confederacy could have kept slavery legal?

Would be difficult to say, could have kept it legal for quite some time....I'd like to think that by now, with southerners like myself - it would become difficult, but who knows. Whether or not they could have kept it legal they could not have kept it viable. Mechanization.

Think of my being a dyed in the wool southerner a bit like your being a dyed in the wool german. You can accept without reservation that the period surrounding the second world war was a huge misstep for your country-and still discuss how it came to pass, correct? I'm in a similar situation. I could give you examples of what it means to be "southern" that are uplifting and important and contribute in a hefty way to what it means to be american overall while simultaneously recognizing that this does not excuse something like slavery. That particular subject is just a given, my extolling the virtues of the south, or the predation upon it by the north, should in no way be taken as a justification for such a thing.