pros and cons of splitting the US into 2 countries?

[brianmanahan]

since the republican and democrat parties are agreeing less and less on everything, i can see in the not-too-distant future a time in which US citizens may want to split into completely separate countries.

what do you think the pros and cons of such a move might be?

some pros i can think of:

- people will get to live with only people who agree with them
- they will be able to see if their ideology is really better than the other one

some cons i can think of:

- many people will have to move and might not want to

 

[Sonikku]

I think a problem with this is how population is concentrated. Even among so called "blue" states, most of the districts are red. It is often that the cities are so loaded to the gills with liberals that they can single handedly outvote all the conservatives living in rural America all around the state.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

If nothing else it can't work because neither population is contiguous. For example how can you put CA and NY in the same nation if you separate Reps from Dems? It just wouldn't physically work.

 

[Jaskalas]

If nothing else it can't work because neither population is contiguous. For example how can you put CA and NY in the same nation if you separate Reps from Dems? It just wouldn't physically work.

Give them both to Canada.

 

[nickqt]

I think a problem with this is how population is concentrated. Even among so called "blue" states, most of the districts are red. It is often that the cities are so loaded to the gills with liberals that they can single handedly outvote all the conservatives living in rural America all around the state.

You have it almost entirely backwards. Unless liberals are spread out relatively well outside of cities, there are many more districts than cities. And those sparsely populated districts have just as many representatives as a city district with a lot more people.

For a national example, please see: Electoral College winner 2000, 2016.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Give them both to Canada.

Those were examples.

 

[Jaskalas]

pros and cons of splitting the US into 2 countries?

Secession is a form of liberty I support, in a general sense. And I'd support it for the United States if I lacked hope for our future.
Instead, I want us united to continue our strong economy for the purpose of evolving it to actually benefit our people.
I fear dividing it would only weaken our prospects.

 

[Moonbeam]

Maybe we should wait until we master bio engineering and we can all live in trees that produce everything we need to live, in roomy comfy pods with nipples. There are no conservatives in a world without fear.

 

[jackstar7]

One of them will quickly succumb to a series of meth-lab explosions.

Hint: Not the one full of people smoking weed.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Give them both to Canada.

No thanks.

 

[Indus]

This is totally feasible. Remember the Roman Empire split into Eastern and Western Roman Empire and they had cordial relations.

 

[bbhaag]

Really? There are no pros to splitting our nation in half or quarters or thirds. There is not a single pro I can think of not a single fucking one. There are only cons. Mass amounts of death, famine, mass relocations, civil war that could last years, lower standard of living for all Americans, lack of leadership on the world stage. I can go on and on why this is a terrible idea. I can't believe you guys are seriously thinking this would be worth even considering. It would just be bad for all of us and not just us but bad for the entire world.

 

[Puffnstuff]

This is totally feasible. Remember the Roman Empire split into Eastern and Western Roman Empire and they had cordial relations.

While there are a lot of similarities between ancient Rome and us right now splitting up didn't work the first time we tried it and is something that we still haven't gotten over.
https://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-reasons-why-rome-fell

 

[compuwiz1]

Mother nature might take care of California. The big one is due and that would make Arizona the shipping port. Just give me 12 hours notice, to get the hell out.

 

[cytg111]

You need to teach people the necessity for unity and respect for people people doing things differently from yourself. Every single peep needs to take responsibility for the planet and understand that the only way to the future is together.

 

[Ventanni]

There is absolutely no pro for splitting the United States. Only a massive list of cons.

 

[Ventanni]

Edit - Wrong thread.

 

[WelshBloke]

Really? There are no pros to splitting our nation in half or quarters or thirds. There is not a single pro I can think of not a single fucking one. There are only cons. Mass amounts of death, famine, mass relocations, civil war that could last years, lower standard of living for all Americans, lack of leadership on the world stage. I can go on and on why this is a terrible idea. I can't believe you guys are seriously thinking this would be worth even considering. It would just be bad for all of us and not just us but bad for the entire world.

While I think that it would be a terrible idea "Mass amounts of death, famine, mass relocations, civil war that could last years..." is a bit overblown!
If/when Scotland leaves the UK I'm not expecting mass casualties!

 

[Perknose]

since the republican and democrat parties are agreeing less and less on everything, i can see in the not-too-distant future a time in which US citizens may want to split into completely separate countries.

what do you think the pros and cons of such a move might be?

some pros i can think of:

- people will get to live with only people who agree with them
- they will be able to see if their ideology is really better than the other one

some cons i can think of:

- many people will have to move and might not want to

You're not a particularly deep thinker, are you?

 

[Starbuck1975]

This is totally feasible. Remember the Roman Empire split into Eastern and Western Roman Empire and they had cordial relations.

Until both collapsed

 

[fskimospy]

This is one of those ideas that sounds appealing until you realize the consequences. The conservative states in the US generally depend on subsidies from liberal states and without them they would be in a lot of trouble. I’m sure that some people would think ‘ha, serves them right!’ but you have to remember there are an awful lot of people in those states who DON’T want these policies and you’re going to be screwing them over the hardest. We are supposed to watch out for each other and that’s the opposite.

The better thing to do for America isn’t to split it in two, it’s to reform the electoral process so that conservatives get less electoral welfare and have to compete more evenly for votes and policy. The reason why most Americans are so unhappy with the direction of the country is that policy is run by a minority party which is itself driven by a radical minority within itself. We can solve that problem.

 

[brianmanahan]

You're not a particularly deep thinker, are you?

i've always preferred breadth to depth

 

[pmv]

I think a problem with this is how population is concentrated. Even among so called "blue" states, most of the districts are red. It is often that the cities are so loaded to the gills with liberals that they can single handedly outvote all the conservatives living in rural America all around the state.

Surely that's completely back-to-front? The problem is that liberals are concentrated in high-density areas like cities, but the US electoral system is generally designed to give disproportionate weight to low-population density areas, so the smaller number of conservatives in rural America are over-represented. This seems to be an increasing problem as the divergence between the two increases.

Your comment suggests you think area of land is important rather than number of people. That seems an odd way of looking at democracy. I mean, what do you mean by 'single handedly'? The whole point is the cities have a lot more than a single pair of hands!

It does sometimes seem that the US is like a feuding couple who make not only each other, but everyone around them, miserable, and just need to separate. But it's a bit of a knee-jerk reaction and cartoon version of what's probably a much more complex reality. For one thing I'm not convinced the division between 'liberals' and 'conservatives' is as fundamental or as deep as it can seem. Other divisions exist.

 

[SKORPI0]

https://www.quora.com/Why-dont-we-s...es-with-trade-and-defense-pacts-that-form-USA

 

[pmv]

While I think that it would be a terrible idea "Mass amounts of death, famine, mass relocations, civil war that could last years..." is a bit overblown!
If/when Scotland leaves the UK I'm not expecting mass casualties!

Scotland and the rest of the UK have clearly-delineated and accepted borders though. The same is not really true of liberal vs conservative America. They are a trifle intermingled.