A Gentle Suggestion

Isn't it time to begin talking about two Americas in a more concrete way than the one John Edwards used? The United States of America is no longer one country if it ever was. It seems to consist of two countries totally different in beliefs and desires.

The Red states appear to have large majorities believing in minimal government and a very strong fundamentalist type of Christianity. The Blue states appear to have majorities varying in size that believe in more government and a strict separation of church and state. The decisions that please the Reds will anger the Blues and vice versa.

We have come to a point of extreme division, and as I have been writing many times, this is almost totally the fault of the right-wing pundits and others who benefit from fomenting fear and hatred among the fundamentalists. Still, what is done is done. The results are obvious: we spend enormous amounts of time and resources in Washington fighting and bickering over these basic divisions, and each side sees it as a war to pretty much death. Think how much money and energy we are wasting on something that may not be fixable.

The correct solution would be to reorganize the country into two separate nations and let each of these run their lives as they wish.
Life would be so much more pleasant for all of us, and both countries could spend their legislative time and effort on questions that really need to be addressed in each country.

This is completely along the lines of the Republican states-rights movement, so I suspect that they'd be happy to hear about this idea. So simple, so obviously correct, and probably so terribly illegal. Who knows? But it seems ridiculous to beat about the bush (!) when the facts are very clear to everybody.

We are no longer in the same country, and we'd all be much happier if there were two countries. We in the Coastal states could start working on the issues we find important and creating a good and just society for all. Those who live in the Inland states could ban abortion and birth control and install madrassa-like religious schools and also get what they regard as a just society.

The fly in the soup is money, of course. We in the Blue states are supporting the Red states, and it's not very likely that the Red staters will let us go. But they should. It really is the sensible and fair solution to everybody.