Is It Time to Part Ways?

Not very long ago, anyone speaking about the dissolution of the United States of America into smaller, independent nations was thought to be a fool, conspiracy theorist or stupid. But since 2016, and especially in the last two years, more and more perfectly sane and educated individuals are confessing they’re beginning to see no way forward for our country. Why? Because we’ve become a divided nation comprised of two large groups with irreconcilable differences.

We’re no longer one nation under God. Faith, family and community, institutions that once anchored our constitutional republic along with a shared set of principles and values, have either been destroyed or disregarded. I’ve not seen America so divided in my six decades of existence. What’s more, the split is pretty even in terms of numbers. On one side are political so-called “progressives”, the largely urban inhabitants of “blue” states and counties. On the other are the so-called “conservatives” in largely suburban and rural areas in “red” states and counties. Tensions come when one side tells the other how they ought to live.

In the last week alone, I’ve heard four commentators on mainstream podcasts wonder aloud if it’s not time to break up America in as bloodless a way as possible before open civil war breaks out.

In the 1990s, a Soviet academic named Igor Panarin predicted the downfall of America and the separation of the U.S. into four new and independent countries: the Atlantic Republic heavily influenced by Europe, the Texas Republic encompassing much of the South and influenced by Mexico, the California Republic under the influence of China, and the Central North American Republic aligned with Canada. More recently and, I believe, more aligned with the current political situation on the continent, some suggest the coming division will result in the U.S., Canada and Mexico breaking up into more than 10 independent nations.

Before we dismiss this as impossible, consider what happened to the old Soviet Union in the 1990s. It partitioned into several nations, and though sectarian violence did arise in the process here and there, the partitioning was largely bloodless until Vladimir Putin decided he wanted some old Soviet territory back years later.

But a breakup of America would be more difficult and dangerous that what we saw with the old Soviet bloc because their new boundaries tended to follow those of previously established nations and geography features or terrain.

A political map of America shows the overwhelming amount of its land is occupied by a solid “red majority” with a couple dozen islands of densely populated urban “blue” territory. While the concept of independent utopian city states in a sea of red might appeal to some progressive ideologues, it’s clear they haven’t thought things through. Nearly all of the food sources, energy production and nice recreation spots are in red counties, and it would be very easy to cut access to these in the event of a conflict.

No. It is far better for us to redouble our efforts to peaceably live with one another because if we don’t, the bloodshed will make the last civil war look like child’s play.