Time for New Nations

Did you know that the United States of America does not have a real name? It has a title, a description, but it was never a real national name like Greece or Japan. The name United States of America was a descriptor for a confederation of states that had their own independent identities, laws, cultures, and titles. It was to explain, not a single nation of peoples, but as a series of United States that existed in America, aka the new world. I think this is essential to understanding how the founders of this nation saw what America was supposed to be. They understood that even then there was a diverse set of goals and cultures within the USA, and if they ever tried to exist as a unified system, it would fall apart indefinitely. Affirmed by the eventual American Civil War.

This is still very prevalent in the modern day. The United States of America, an empire that expands not just across seas, but across a continent, has become less and less unified with a government who tries to rule with blanket legislation. Like the nation at its founding, it is vastly diverse with regions and states that need different things and have different goals. We could argue that this is why we are a federation, that we have separation of governments to delegate regional and state needs to local administrations. But, as we have seen again and again in our short history, power will naturally build up at the top. The federal government has assumed an immense amount of power that was meant for the states, and it will keep accumulating more as time goes on. The parties have turned every local election into a national one and there is no respect for state or regional sovereignty or culture. It is a major contributor to the chaos we see today in our nation. Maybe we need something different. Maybe we need to recognize that federalism has failed.

It may be time for a national divorce. I loathe violence and would hope for it to be more of a velvet revolution, and if that is to be achievable, we need to be honest with ourselves. The nation as it stands does not work. As all empires have endured, the vast distance and diversity is ungovernable as what makes a nation is a unified nationhood, a citizenry, a culture. We are therefore left with two options. We either established a nationalized America that forces all states and territories into a singular cultural and governable unity. This could work, but would be made difficult, not just by the required force, but because the natural diverse needs that even something like geography creates would be impossible to erase. The second option is national divorce. We can realize we are different nations within a grand western empire, and we separate based on our own needs, goals, and cultures. This would come with its own pains and challenges, but the ability for the states to negotiate amongst themselves who they want to associate with would be much easier. In the long run, these new nations could develop into strong national cultures and economies that can better fit the needs and desires of the people.

It would be better to do this now, as our own agreed upon action, then to wait for this to inevitably occur without coordination or support. Look at the modern culture and politics of the United States and you will see that we are the brink of this event already. The nation cannot even agree as to what a woman is while socialist and nationalist gain ground in their respective states. National and international money flows into city council elections while the elites on both sides try and turn any real culture we have into strip malls and corporate chains. We are divided not just politically, but culturally and spiritually. Every day there is less and less common ground between a San Francisco lesbian couple and a Christian family in west Texas. We are not in some tough spot in national history like in the 1960s. This will not just fizzle out. Some flag waiving and a moderate President will not save us. We are in Bleeding Kansas. Patriot Front is marching on the capital while pro-trans Antifa members assassinate conservative spokesmen. The war has already started; it just hasn’t escalated fully yet. It would be better to accept the inevitable and make the process organized instead of waiting for the bloodshed and conquest to redraw the lines.

Although I do not believe in true solutions, I do believe this will be a win-win for most current Americans. The national populace is fatigued by the constant bitter fights between states and cultures across just even the contiguous US. Bible belt conservatives fighting with libertarians in Nevada over abortion and gambling. Union democrats from Michigan having to give in to socialist from Marin County. All of a while Alaska and Hawaii are having to suffer the consequences while the President is elected before their polls even open. Imagine letting Puget Sound socialist run western Washington as their “utopian paradise”, while the deep south can become a Christian nation state, all while never having a real effect on the other. Small regions governing themselves with smaller governments that make politicians more accessible. Their capitals will not be a thousand miles away in a state you’ve never been to, but close by in regions that reflect your own culture. States that want strict borders can have them, states that want legalized marijuana can have it, on a smaller, more cohesive level, accomplishments seem more accessible. These new nations will develop their own parties, their own processes, but each of which will be embedded with a more unified culture which can make them more functional. Even in today’s government, an Oregon democrat and an Oregon Republican have more in common than an Oregon Republican and a Mississippi Republican. Because power has shifted so far to the top, we focus on national politics, national policy, national identities. It blinds us to the fact that our neighbors, even with their differences, would still make good neighbors.

Now I am not a map maker. Like many who have had this thought, both in modern day and in the past, I have an idea of where the borders might be. But I only know my region. This would have to be a national discussion, with representatives who are both supportive of the idea and willing to compromise. As we are currently spread out across our vast empire, we would need to allow a few years of open immigration between the newly founded nations, to bring families and the like-minded together. Separating into where and who we need to be to be successful and at peace, before we inevitably do this in anarchy and blood. The United States of America was never supposed to look like this, be this big, or this diverse. A majority of our founders panicked when we bought the Louisiana purchase because they thought the nation was becoming unmanageably vast. Jefferson assumed the west would be an ally nation of liberty and not the western expanse of the imperium. As I have said before, I wish we had their foresight and wisdom, for our lack of it has led us to a daunting and complicated task that I hope we can accomplish.