After thinking about it a little more, I’m convinced that an amicable national divorce is impossible. An idea that initially sounded promising was a return to Federalism. Going that route, Texas could continue to embrace rugged individualism, while California could build a progressive welfare state. And both could peaceably coexist. In theory, at least.
However, if the left was actually open to a live-and-let-live solution, we wouldn’t be in this position in the first place. I find the modern progressive agenda to be so ridiculous, that I sometimes forget large swaths of the left really do buy into it. Progressivism is now the dominant faction in the Democrat Party. And for the true believers in progressivism, nothing but our subjugation will suffice. To the left, we conservatives don’t just have different opinions and priorities. We’re not even simply mistaken in our beliefs. To them, we are evil. And, they believe, evil must be confronted and defeated. Don’t believe me? Think I’m being hyperbolic? Check out this recent article from New York magazine. By a supposed “moderate” leftist. I strongly suspect it captures the majority opinion progressives will have on a national divorce.
The author starts out by acknowledging the obvious. That our divisions are “deep, bitter, and authentic.” He then cites the recent poll which found 52% of Trump voters and 41% of Biden voters favor seceding from the union. I personally found the 41% support from Biden voters most surprising. He won. Their guy is in power. Had 20,000 or so swing-state voters went the other way and Trump was still President, I bet a whole lot more than 52% of leftists would want out right about now. But the author instead attempts to attribute all the national divorce talk entirely to the pro-Trump right (i.e. the “crazies”.)
There is, moreover, an abundant literature of neo-secessionism on the political right these days, much of it coming from intensely pro-Trump quarters ranging from Glenn Beck’s Blaze Media fiefdom to the Claremont Institute. In the latter MAGA hothouse, secession is nestled within the concept of a “National Divorce,” in which the two mutually hostile sectors of the country would each go their own way.
Whatever. Wherever the idea originated, it is pretty clear that there is significant agreement on both sides that our feud has reached an impasse. The author then proceeds to declare who the good guys are:
Much like an antebellum southern aristocrat shaking his head at the Puritan fanatics of an abolitionist movement he imagined embodying the very soul of Yankeedom, Reaboi and his confederates assume that Blue America is the psychological prisoner of Woke Progressivism, which will destroy any part of the country where it is not denied
So, supporters of Donald Trump are just like the southern aristocrats of the Confederacy who condoned slavery. Get it? The subtle arrogance and self-righteousness is so typical. The author believes that Red America thinks of progressives like him as “Puritan fanatics”, and not degenerate morons. As if the right is saying to itself, “Damn you virtuous progressives. Stop ruining our system of white male supremacy with your infernal fairness and justice!” Seriously. This is what they believe. We can’t even talk to these fuckheads anymore. We’re not even on the same planet.
He continues:
More broadly, the MAGA movement resembles the proto-Confederates in that it bears a powerful sense of loss — that in Trump it had its big chance to Make America Great Again but was robbed of victory by tyrants who will now flood the land with the votes of swarthy immigrants and destroy American enterprise with a socialist administrative state.
Well, at least that part of the article is true. Trump supporters certainly believe they got shafted in the last election, myself included. And that the cabal in DC are tyrants. That they intend to cement their power through illegal immigration. That they will impose a socialist administrative state. And that the country is screwed because of it. How this makes us analogous to the Confederacy isn’t exactly clear. Nor is the relevance of how swarthy the illegal immigrants are (or are not.) Actually, the reasoning behind both statements is totally clear. They are just backhanded ways of calling us racists. Leftists reflexively believe that all conservatives are racist, and that all of our objections to illegal immigration are based solely on racism. At least the dumb ones do. The smarter ones know the race card is a convenient crutch that protects them from having to defend their otherwise indefensible policies.
The author then goes on to concede that some leftists, understandably tired of dealing with bigoted idiots for years on end, are ready to throw their hands up in frustration.
Now as then, some elements of the left are happy to let the reactionaries go in order to liberate themselves from the gridlock and paralysis that big national divisions operating under a limited-government constitution encourage.
And even admits that there would be some serious upsides:
Yes, I might derive great joy from the overthrow of the U.S. Senate and its filibuster and the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court. I would feel much safer in a progressive nation that didn’t arm its citizens to the teeth, didn’t view other nations as “shitholes” full of subhuman orcs to be subdued, and didn’t accept calamitous climate change as just the price of doing business.
It’s kind of fascinating to see what bothers this guy the most. You’ve got the Senate, which is one of the main safeguards for federalism. Then there is the Supreme Court, enforcers of the limits on government set forth in the US Constitution. And guns, the last defense against a tyrannical government. All longstanding thorns in the progressive side, so those three certainly make sense.
The “shithole” country issue is an odd one to single out. People on the right certainly believe some countries are “shitholes”, even if that isn’t a very sensitive way to put it. There are plenty of countries in the word that are racked with war, oppression, corruption, and poverty. It stands to reason that they aren’t very nice places to live. In fact, the left is constantly telling us we need to accept anyone who crosses our southern border because the countries they are fleeing are so awful. What are they then, if not “shitholes”?
Then there is the subhuman orcs conservatives apparently want to subdue. I honestly don’t even know what he is talking about here. I guess it could be just another ham-handed insinuation that all conservatives are racist. Being unfortunate enough to be born in a “shithole” country doesn’t make you subhuman. I don’t know anybody who thinks it does. And conservatives certainly don’t want to subdue those people. Supporters of Trump tend to be isolationists, if anything. Trump was all about putting a stop to the stupid endless wars and wasting billions on nation-building. The only people we are looking to subdue are the ones trying to illegally cross our border. Not because we think they are somehow subhuman or too brown or whatever other slanderous motive the left can dream up. But because you can’t have a country with no borders and no sovereignty. The United States can’t possibly allow every person born in a less prosperous country to just waltz right in and make themselves at home and still be viable as a nation. There certainly isn’t anything humane or compassionate about the current situation at our southern border. You might even describe the conditions as sub-human. But the influx is good for the future electoral prospects of the left, and that is what really matters to the progressives. You certainly won’t see any photo-ops with AOC crying outside the over-flowing detention centers now.
And finally, we have the obligatory climate change canard. The existential crisis where the very last chance to act is always tomorrow. The crisis so dire, the politicians and media need to constantly lie and fear monger just to convince people it is actually a real thing. And of course, the “solution” to the climate “crisis” just happens to align perfectly with the political goals of the globalist left. What are the odds???Though, as far as leftist hoaxes go, I must admit global warming climate disruption climate change is brilliant. It can’t be positively disproven by pesky evidence for an entire century. So, point conceded, the vast majority of conservatives aren’t hip on voluntarily enslaving themselves because your computer models say Gaia is crying.
Despite all the positives, Kilgore points out that allowing the Red States to secede would have a dire consequence. They would actually be allowed to govern themselves in accordance with their (evil) culture and values.
But how could I happily accept the accelerated subjugation of women and people of color in a new, adjacent Red America, any more than abolitionists could accept the continuation and expansion of the slavery they hated? Would it really be safe to live near a carbon-mad country in which the denial of climate change was an article of faith? And could I ever trust that a “neighbor” whose leadership and citizens believed their policies reflected the unchanging ancient will of the Almighty would leave our fences intact?
Again, I have no idea what this shit stain is even talking about. The subjugation of women and people of color? Is that really what this turd thinks conservatives want? Apparently, treating everybody the same regardless of skin tone is the new Jim Crow. And protecting the lives of the unborn is just like the Handmaid’s Tale. Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of the science behind CO2 and global warming knows that proximity to the source is irrelevant. Even if you actually were concerned about such things. Oh, and of course the rednecks will be tempted to invade once they see how awesome the left’s socialist utopia turns out to be and they get super jealous.
However, there is a small problem for our potential leftist overlords. If the Red States did decide to secede, our friend isn’t so sure the soy-boys of the left would have the intestinal fortitude to stop them.
I don’t know if the hypothetical leaders of an America facing red-state secession would have the unshakable will of a Lincoln. And it’s not at all clear that young men and women in Blue America would be willing to take up arms in large numbers to resist secession with fire and blood.
At least he isn’t completely divorced from reality. Your average young leftists are accustomed to whining and crying to get their way. They fall to pieces if someone mis-genders them. Odds are they wouldn’t hold up too well under battle. Then there are the left’s shock troops of Antifa. However, Antifa like beating up on helpless victims and cos-playing as revolutionaries. They don’t like targets that can fight back and generally prefer to be back in mom’s basement by morning so they don’t miss out on playing video games.
Finally, then the author finishes up with the main point of his article:
So I say to the would-be secessionists: Please don’t go. And if it’s somehow in my power, I won’t let you go. I have no illusions of compromises yet untried or “third ways” left unexplored. So let’s have it out right here in America as peacefully as we can manage. Perhaps if we continue to battle for control of our common country, one side or the other might win a popular mandate to exercise real power and change the facts on the ground, breaking the perpetual stalemate. If not, then let’s consider the wisdom of those who crushed the Confederacy in the belief that the misery of political conflict is better than the literal civic death of national disunion.
After many paragraphs of pure vitriol aimed at Red America, the author then states that separation is not an option. Is it just me, or does this seem like a strange position to hold? He doesn’t even pretend there is common ground to be found. Why insist on sticking with a bunch of science-denying racists? Why share a country with people you clearly can’t stand? People you actually consider to be evil? The answer is actually rather obvious from the context: to subjugate them. To bring them to heel and control them. The idea of allowing conservatism to survive in America is anathema to progressive ideologues like the author.
So what does this all mean for an amicable national divorce? In short, it ain’t happening. No way. The bottom line is that the American left feels like they are winning. The election of Donald Trump gave them quite a scare, and it had them panicked for a while. But they have regained their composure, and once again feel confident that the arc of history is on their side. The left won’t make the same mistakes they made with Trump. They have made their way through all of America’s institutions. They dominate pop culture, the media, big tech, and the education system. They have finally sowed enough self-doubt and division in our citizenry to erode our national confidence and rot this great country from within. And they have inundated key voting regions with foreign invaders who have no understanding or appreciation of our nation’s founding, history, values, traditions, and culture. All of this smells like victory to the left. So a simple divorce won’t do. They don’t hate living with us. They hate us. Period. After spending decades working to bring us down, they aren’t going to let us peacefully go our separate way now. Not when they are so close to delivering that final coup de grâce they have dreamed of for so long. Or, so they think.
Make no mistake, a progressive like Ed Kilgore wouldn’t be so gung-ho for a final decisive showdown if he thought his side might actually lose. When he talks about one side exercising real power and fundamentally transforming the country, it is blatantly clear which side he envisions vanquishing the other. “Breaking the perpetual stalemate” is his euphemism for destroying conservatism and America-as-founded forever. To Kilgore and his ilk, it is a moral imperative akin to defeating the Confederacy to end slavery.
Diversity of political perspectives is one thing the left absolutely can not tolerate. There won’t be any “coexist” bumper stickers for conservatives or Red America. They want us eradicated.