Maybe it's time to talk secession.

[wackadoo wabbit]

73. I do think that secession could work, even today, . . .

. . . but it would be with the blue states seceding this time, not the red. The west could become an Ecotopia (see the book of the same name), and the northeast could become another country yet. It's already sort of started: a couple of months ago, when it became obvious the the federal government was not going to help, the west coast started their own COVID supply consortium and the east coast did the same. When that happened, I thought, "And so it begins."

I believe that by 2035 we won't be one country any more. The rifts are just too great. Plus, the way our election system is currently set up, the few control the many; and the few are red and the many are blue.

People upthread are complaining about the chaos created by people having to move. No one has to move. If you're in a red area, you can continue living there; just be aware that that's where you'll be living (sort of like it is nationally today). Eventually, you may want to immigrate to a blue country (just as, today, people talk to immigrating to Canada).

And as for receiving your Social Security payments (I saw something upthread about this also); you'd still get them. There are plenty of Americans living in, say, Costa Rica or Mexico who receive their Social Security payments every month as Americans living abroad. And if you renounce your U.S. citizenship, you'd still be eligible to receive Social Security, as long as you have the required credits (the number of credits may differ depending on what agreement the U.S. will have with the new blue country).

So it's totally doable. It'll be uncomfortable, but it'll be kind of like birth: painful at the time but worth it afterwards.

Finally, as my late husband was fond of saying, "Lincoln was wrong. We should have let the south secede."