There has been a fair amount of chatter about secession since the 2020 election. Is it a plausible solution to the problems facing a severely divided nation?
I did a post setting out general criteria for secession in 2017. Applying those criteria to America, this is what you get:
- Sensible boundaries: While the RSA (Reactionary States of America) would be a reasonably compact and solid block, the USA would be split into two widely separated areas. In addition, purple states would be up for grabs. There is no obvious solution to either of these problems.
- History of independence: Texas was, for a few years, an independent state. Parts of the RSA were included in the Confederacy. A few of the RSA states were sovereign states of a sort prior to the ratification of the Constitution. That’s it, and it isn’t enough to pass the test.
- Separate culture: There are differences, of course, but the real differences are between urban and rural residents within states. National media and massive migrations have also limited the differences between the USA and the RSA. This test isn’t met, either.
In addition, there are enormous practical issues that would have to be resolved to permit a national split. I will address these in my next post.