Not My President

The U.S. election of 1860 was one of the primary catalysts for the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln, a northerner, was the first person to be elected President without winning any of the southern states. When people in the south realized that they essentially had no voice in a national election, they chose to secede. The rationale was that if the north was calling all the shots, slavery would soon cease to exist, and that would mean economic ruin for the agricultural industry of the south. Lincoln, on the other hand, did not want to lose half of the country under his watch, so the two sides went to war.

Be excellent to each other...?

One hundred and fifty-six years later, immediately following the 2016 election, an initiative was launched in California to secede from the Union for precisely the same reason. Despite being the most populous state in the U.S., California is also among the last to vote, which means that national elections and major party nominations are usually called before their votes have even been counted. In other words, they basically have no voice in the electorate. Meanwhile, the rest of the country just elected someone who goes against the interests and beliefs of many Californians.

The difference is that last time, it was the Union that was on the right side of history.

If California was indeed a separate country, it would have the sixth largest economy in the world. They don't need the other forty-nine states... especially you, Delaware. California would do just fine on its own, thank you very much. In fact, without all the federal tax revenue that the Golden State generates, a lot of red states would even be further in the red. That is, Kansas needs California a hell of a lot more than California needs Kansas. Besides, when was the last time any good movies came out of Kansas? (And I'll remind you that The Wizard of Oz was shot in Los Angeles.) 

For what it's worth, I suspect that other states will soon follow California's lead, particularly once Trump's policies begin to be executed. Then it's no longer an abstract idea that people are standing up against. It's getting out from behind the fan before the shit goes down. That said, it's not hard to imagine Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii and Texas taking similar measures. Please note that I am not advocating for this by any means; rather, I am simply pointing out that something like this has happened before and could potentially happen again. The question in my mind is whether or not such a split could ever be achieved peacefully.