Patrick Buchanan recently raised the issue of secession, which has been in the news in both Blue State California and Red (or maybe Purple) State North Carolina. Buchanan openly questions, given the “divisions among us, deeper and wider than ever,” whether the Right and Left actually want to avoid a civil war. He argues:
A new federalism – a devolution of power and resources away from Washington and back to states, cities, towns and citizens, to let them resolve their problems their own way and according to their own principles – may be the price of retention of the American Union.
Let California be California; let red state America be red state America.
That seems unlikely at the moment despite the #Calexit movement and other regional secessionist efforts. Trump has sent the issue of transgender bathrooms back to the States. But in general the States are mere administrative units of the US regime. They may over time begin to reassert sovereignty but the trend has been strongly away from decentralization.
Emotions are also running very high now. Wild street protests and political violence are becoming normalized. And we are only a month into the Trump era. This summer could be chaotic. If I were a betting man I would bet on a lot more political violence and unrest with even deeper divisions between Left and Right developing over the next year. In that political climate a lot more possibilities will likely open up to us. Maybe even secession.