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The State of Our Disunion

By July 4, 2022Commentary

I have always felt incredibly fortunate to have been born in this country, of all possible countries.  The opportunity and optimism were unparalleled.  I try to share my sense of gratitude regularly, and especially on Independence Day, which recognizes that on this continent a group of humans sought to create to better nation, a better society, a better life for its citizens.  There are no more stirring words than those written as this brave group declared their right to self-determination and self-governance, with the goal of creating greater freedom.  The fundamental philosophy of this new nation was set forth clearly in the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness–that to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Most humans do not live in a country or political system governed by such noble ideals.  Most live in a system that allows a few people in power to determine how everyone must live–what they think, what they say, what they can do.  That is what progressives are striving to create in the United States.  It must be resisted with every fiber of our being.  The tension and conflict is literally reaching the breaking point, inflamed by traditional and social media and by our foreign adversaries, including China and Russia.  We are no longer the epitome of democracy and liberty to the rest of the free world, but a once-solid ally that has gone completely off our rocker.

There is another relevant part of the Declaration of Independence:

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

We are near that point in the United States.  It is time to seriously consider whether we would be better off with a formal split to acknowledge our fundamental disunity.  The whacko pro(re)gressives will not let up in the desire to create a totalitarian state in which everyone everywhere must think and act exactly as they determine.  And the result of their policies is to degrade every aspect of daily life.  Those who want to life in such a country should be free to do so.  The rest of us should be able to live in a nation that truly values freedom, tolerance, individual responsibility and that doesn’t treat humans as a collection of innate attributes like skin color, gender, age, ethnicity or their chosen religion or political views; and then discriminate on the basis of those characteristics.  We should recreate a country that provides for public safety, a good education that creates opportunity for meaningful work and a less vicious political dialogue.

Our geography makes a two-way split difficult, so I propose a split into three countries.  One would be called Sanity and would include the entire South, Southwest and up through the middle of the country. Alaska would almost certainly want to join this new nation.  One would be called Hollywhackoland and would consist of California, Oregon and Washington.  Hawaii may want to be part of that or just be set adrift.  The third would be called Lunaticland and would be centered in New York and Washington DC and Massachusetts and probably include Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Vermont.  New Hampshire and Maine would be reluctant to join but geography is destiny.  My home state of Minnesota is an island of whacked progressivism is the sea of Sanity, so it will get sold to Canada for what it is currently worth, which is two aptly named loonies.  Hollywhackoland and Lunaticland will be unable to raise food, create energy or otherwise provide the basic necessities of life, so Sanity will charge them a fortune to supply those essentials.  Those countries will also be unable to defend themselves, so Sanity will provide and charge for that service as well.  Travel from Hollywhackoland and Lunaticland into Sanity will be forbidden, for fear of ideological contamination, but residents of Sanity can take trips into the other nations to remind themselves of how good they have it.  Every five years a state in any of the countries can vote on whether it wants to join a different country but the receiving country has to approve any such change.  Within five years every state will want to be part of Sanity.

Dark humor aside, there is more than a touch of seriousness in this notion.  We simply cannot continue down the current path, in which we have a large group that insists on imposing its warped ideology on the entire country.  I wish I had a more optimistic message on this Independence Day, but reality is reality.

Join the discussion 6 Comments

  • Joe says:

    Have hope Kevin! Our country has been through worse in the past. Rather than thinking of abandoning the ship, we need you to continue to turn toward battling progressivism as a challenge and an opportunity.

  • Tori says:

    I am in absolute agreement that the US should be divided, but into two Countries. I have said this for years. We will never become unified. I am a Constifederalarian, and the two Parties have driven me nearly insane.

  • Pianoman says:

    Agree with Joe here — political tensions have been higher in the past, but the nation has risen above it.

    The KKK was once the “muscle” of the Democrats, and they wielded a lot of power in the South for decades. The Prohibitionists put this country through hell for over 30 years. Over 100 passed between the end of the Civil War, and the passage of the Civil Rights Act. The 60s were a decade marked by political violence, assassinations, rioting, mass protests on college campuses, and the always looming threat of nuclear confrontation with the USSR.

    In the world wars, it took years for the Allies to mobilize the response to Central Powers / Axis aggression. But once the Allies got ramped up, it was just a matter of time before the wars were ended. The current conflict with the Woke Left reminds me of that. It’s taken a while for the general public to understand what they’re dealing with, and now the public is starting to fight back. School boards are one of the battlegrounds, but there are several others.

    It’s not going to come down to secession. The Left isn’t armed, and there are far too many citizens in the US who don’t believe in Woke philosophy.

  • Joe Zoborowski says:

    Alternatively – pray for the rapture! Problem solved!

  • Erasmus says:

    Good essay. Only one quibble: I don’t think they are a large group, but they certainly are ascendent, and via the mainstream and social media have an outsized voice.

  • Jim says:

    Like you Kevin I am not optimistic. I know a lot of people have been awaken but is there enough people and are they willing to live through the nasty fight in the political arena that is required to change our current course. The people in charge are not going to go quietly.
    A real slug fest took place in Europe pre reformation and during the reformation period that laid foundational ideas of liberty and freedom expressed in our founding documents. Our founding ideas did not happen in a vacuum.
    Even if the correct people are elected you have the administrative state setting rules and regulation and undermining the republic.

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