Tempus Fugit

It is tremendously ironic that nearly 150 years after the end of the War Between the States, the Yankees are finally warming up to the idea of secession from the Union. After the near total defeat of the Democrats in the 2004 elections, the blue states are finding themselves feeling just what the grey states felt in the 1860s. Only this time, the other side would likely be fine if they left.

For a while, nothing much would change. Then, the Blue States of America would enact a socialist medicine system, and raise taxes. They’d dump more money into failing schools, and raise taxes. They’d disband their army, but instead of giving the money back to the people, they’d spread it around their various socialist programs.

In the Red States of America, the IRS would be abolished, and a fair tax system would be constructed… one that wouldn’t penalize people for working, but would tax them on how much they spent. Worker productivity would go through the roof, and the price of goods would drop, as the Red dollar would get stronger. The lack of an in-country movie-making industry wouldn’t be a handicap for long, as most of Blue America’s talent comes from Red America anyway. The Social Security system would be fixed, likely replaced with a system tied to the stock market. Speaking of the stock market, it would be moved to the Red States, where their fairer tax system would allow for much greater profits. Companies would move their headquarters and factories, one by one to the Red States where they could flourish in a pure capitalistic society.

Charitable giving in the Red States would rise sharply, as people would begin to find that they had more money. The old socialist systems would be replaced by private charities, which would compete with one another in terms of efficiency of using each donated dollar. Consequently, more charity work could be done with less money. The poor would be given a leg-up to start a self-sufficient life. And if they were just too lazy to work, they could always move to the Blue States.

Let’s check in with the Blue States. By now, many if not most of their big companies and factories would have left for greener (or redder) pastures. They would still have Hollywood, but their profits would likely be reduced as their economy begins to crumble. Everyone in the Blue States who values their living over things like electric cars would move to the Red States, causing worker productivity to fall even further. Eventually there would be a public uprising, but it wouldn’t get too far, as guns would be illegal. The Blue government would use this as an opportunity to increase the level of socialist control over the people, perhaps even moving into a communist system. Those who favored the split would likely be applauding the health care system, until they first broke a bone and had to wait 6 months to have it fixed.

As more freedoms are taken away from Blue Americans, Red America would likely refuse to trade with such a totalitarian regime. Blue America would declare war on Red America, but it wouldn’t last long, because the slashes in Blue America’s military budget would leave them weak and powerless against the military might of Red America. Blue America would again be reunited with Red America, and we’d end up back where we started.

Socialism doesn’t work unless there is a healthy dose of capitalism to keep it in check. America seems to be trending away from the things that the Left values. The Left can either intensify their hatred and pump up the level of rhetoric, or they can try to moderate their positions and attract more of “middle” America. As always, their fate is in their own hands. If all else fails, they can break away from the Union, but I’m warning them: it won’t be pretty.