Even mendacious degenerates can say something useful on occasion. John Edwards, a guy of low morals even by the standards of politics, used to campaign on the idea of there being two Americas. His formulation had one America for the lumpenproletariat and the other for the giant lizard people he promised to slay with his bare hands if only he was elected president. The lizard people were enslaving the rest of us with capitalism and false patriotism.
The oleaginous sociopath tacked on all sorts of nonsense, but the idea actually got some traction, despite it all. People feel the country is coming unglued and anything that speaks to that, gets their attention. Charles Murray has a whole big book on the idea of the country coming apart. The rapid changes in the country’s demographics means the old culture and politics must give way to a new culture and politics. Politics is downstream from culture and culture is the byproduct of biology.
When it comes from a guy like John Edwards, this talk is intended to trick people out of something, like their vote. Even when it comes from less revolting public figures, it is wise to be a little skeptical. America is a big country and that means lots of weirdness and that means lots of natural friction. The South has been vastly different from New England since the founding. California will always be a bit strange compared to the rest of the country. Diversity always brings conflict.
That said, stories like this should give everyone pause. The gun grabbing fetish will not go away, because the people behind it hate the sorts of people who own guns. The great gap in culture is now becoming a physical separation. Guns are now associated with downscale whites who hunt and shop at WalMart. Guns are southern, like Christianity and NASCAR. Odds are, most of Connecticut is happy that Gun Valley is moving south.
It is convenient to think guns are an outlier, but there are a range of issues where the country’s regions are going in different directions. Military service is one example. According to people who study these things, Southerners are much more likely to enlist than Northerners. Marriage rates and divorce rates are following a similar trend. Church attendance is the one that jumps off the page. But what strikes me about the gun issue is that people are actually moving around the country to get away from those with whom they no longer agree. We are physically self-segregating on the national level.
Maybe it is just temporary madness and it will pass. Maybe something else will come along to jam us back together. Maybe we were always this different and mass media is making it more obvious. I’m not that smart. On the other hand, maybe John Derbyshire is right and we are balkanizing. In a generation or two we will go our separate ways. Pat Buchanan has been talking about the crack-up for years.
Again, perhaps it has always been so, but it sure feels like we are coming unglued. If Texas broke away, I’d probably move there and become a Texan, rather than American. The same is true of the Old South. If New England decided to join Canada as a province, I’d shrug and wish them the best. It’s not that I’m rooting for it. I’m just tied of being around and being ruled by people who hate me. Sometimes, divorce really is the best answer.
I don’t think you are dividing the country correctly. Upstate New York has a bunch of gun owners, as does rural Penn.
I my opinion the “separation” is more city people who are use to having things “done” for them (cabs to work, no lawns to mow, ect.) and rural United States. There are less of us so the voting goes the way of city but that does not mean we are in agreement.
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As I alluded to in my earlier post. I have never found a Liberal that would agree to secession. They require require a group to hate, exploit and punish. Maybe you have contrary experiences. Also you have more exposure than I do.
Before the war of secession in 1860 it was actually talked about for the entire preceding decade. Events always follow the talk, not the other way around, so going by the talk of the last few years, one might estimate we have only a little time before we know what the catalyst will be. In 1860, it was a Presidential election during a time when Congress was already dueling with one another and coming to blows on the floor of the House.
There are several different geographical ways in which the country could “split”, based on particular ideologies: coastal elites v. heartland conservatives; urban progressives v. rural conservatives; northern elites v. southern conservatives, etc…. In fact, California now has a ballot initiative that has enough signatures to be placed on the 2016 ballot calling for splitting the state into 6 smaller states. Again, the boundaries are largely based on geography/ideology. We ARE segregating into different enclaves, and is that really such a bad thing? Let the “BLUE” folks drown in their own incompetent follies (cf. Detroit) and let the rest of us… Read more »
Catalyst will likely be a moderate to severe change in the level of comfort and hardship we endure. As long as we have beer, strippers, sports etc. prob nothing nothing will happen. Door to Door gun confiscation might also trigger it
I agree, boone. History shows that revolutions usually start on an empty stomach. But, history is also full of surprises. The Scots, for no reason other than they feel like it, are about to divorce the Brits. I would not be shocked if one day the lunatics are the ones demanding a split, which they would get if they ask for it.
Well, we’ve been in a Cold Civil War for a while now. A hot one will be what precedes or proceeds any sort of secession.
The real question is what will be the catalyst?
Secession is the only real answer. However, Boonewaxwell is probably correct. The Left will never let us go peacefully. Perhaps they think they can use their new Mexican army against us.
Do you think obama could call for troops and get enough to do the job, if the South should secede again?
I know he likes to (favorably) compare himself to Lincoln, but, he ain’t.
Great Blog Zman. I completely sympathize with the withdraw and separate sentiment. But I have never found a leftist/liberal that would be willing to allow a peaceful departure. I see it as a major difference in mindset/perception. maybe there is an introvert/extrovert element to the difference.