Here's a case for California breaking up into four states, based on the idea that it has become too diverse, both culturally and economically, to be governable on the basis of its 1850 boundary status.
The proposed divisions are:
1. San Diego/Orange County/Inland Empire: Socially conservative, economically moderate, 45 percent Hispanic. Like New Mexico.2. Greater Los Angeles: Socially and economically very liberal, 45 percent Hispanic.
3. San Francisco/Sacramento/Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley: Socially liberal, but market-oriented. Highly educated. Like Massachusetts.
4. Northern/Central Valley: Rural, conservative values, lower costs. Like Kansas.
Does this make sense to you Californians? Are there other states that ought to be broken up for similar reasons?
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
California should become its own nation instead.
This paticular break up would not solve the problems of california. Northern California and the Central Valley are two incredibly different places. A seperate 5th state for the northern counties should be considered.
There are many other states that should be broken up
NY city/Long Island and Upstate NY should be there own states.
Upper and lower Michigan.
The Florida Peninsula and the Panhandle
I was born and raised in N. California. Its not about seperating into political states so that everyone gets thier way, or so that all of our problems are magically evaporated. Its about misrepresentation, and being heard. I don't want to see my beloved home torn apart but I DO want a say in what goes on both locally and nationally...The state is failing because they want to force it to run like a single entity when it is not. California IS a few differant states, we just get run as if we're one. I was brought up with old-time values and rural area living, being in the military has cultured me to an extent however, my wife and my children live in N. California and I expect my children to have a voice in national affairs when its thier time. I support the seperation but not in the above proposal. Anyone ever heard of the "Free State of Jefferson" look it up, might of happened if we didn't get dragged into WWII.
Although it is frustrating to work with people who have very different ideas about government than you do, retreating into enclaves will not solve this problem long-term. If I move from a "liberal" place to a "conservative" place (or vice versa) for a job, will I be subjected to a political test? Politics and culture change, sometimes rapidly. It's probably a better idea to learn how to work with people who are different than you.
Shouldn't people be organized according to their real shared interests? Communities or regions could be self-governing, except where their interests coincide. For instance, communities who live in the same watershed need to work together to ensure that they have clean water (which includes issues like pesticide use and sewage treatment), while we need to be working globally on climate change, as it affects us all.
We need government organized in such a way that it helps us solve our real problems, which aren't reflected in straight lines on a map or today's partisan divides.
Scott, I've known "The Nine Nations of North America" for a number of years now. I first read it when I was curious about the cultural divide separating Red America and my homeland of Australia from the rest of the developed world.
Whilst the book was written thirty years ago and does not take into account developments since then, it divides California into three "nations" thus:
1. MexAmerica: the coast south of Point Conception and the Central Valley up to Sacramento and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Also includes Arizona north to about Flagstaff, New Mexico except for the extreme northwest Navajo areas (Empty Quarter) and the eastern plains (Breadbasket) and Texas south of a line from Austin to Houston.
2. Ecotopia: the coast north of Point Conception, and the inland areas north of Sacramento and west of the Sierra Nevada. Also includes western Oregon, western Washington, coastal British Columbia and southeast Alaska.
3. The Empty Quarter: includes the southern Sierra Nevada from the western foothills upwards, the Owens Valley and the northern parts east of the Sierra Nevada crest. Also includes Nevada (except perhaps Vegas), northern Arizona, northern and western Colorado, a small part of New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, inland British Columbia, Alberta, and all of northern Canada (sometimes seen as part of a tenth "nation", the "Trans-Polar Inuit").
It is surprising how accurate these nations remain today, despite the liberalisation of parts of MexAmerica and the conflicts that occur in the three-"nation" border zone centered around Sacramento. Ecotopia, owing to its logging-based economy and highly unionised history, remains the most secular, "Eurasian" "nation" of North America, as well as the most bureaucratised and regulated, especially with cities like Portland. MexAmerica is also heavily unionised but at least historically has had a strong Catholic influence (César Chávez etc.) that has made parts of it distinctly conservative. In terms of US politics, MexAmerica is one of the critical swing nations, although its northwestern fringe has owing to the influence of N.W.A. become as liberal as Ecotopia. The Empty Quarter covers only a tiny fraction of California's population, and is the nation most like my Australian homeland, if not woth quite the resources. Apart from the "Jello Belt" covering most of Utah (except the eastern border counties), southeastern Idaho, northeastern Nevada, and small parts of Arizona and Wyoming, The Empty Quarter is not overtly religious, but it is still far from liberal, especially with the influence of neo-Nazi anti-immigration groups (some of which in fact extend into Ecotopia. The Empty Quarter and southern Breadbasket (effectively a satellite of the Empty Quarter) are indeed the most Republican parts of the US.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.