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Splitting California


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As of the time of this writing, it appears that Californians will NOT vote this November on a proposal to split their state into three parts. The state's supreme court found technical reasons for excluding it from the ballot, although it also said it wanted to hear more arguments from counsel, so this could change.

The reason I mention it here is simply that the whole idea just seems so bat-shit crazy it is amazing it even got close to being on the ballot. 

Consider that the only time in US history when anything even remotely similar to this happened there was a civil war underway. One region of Virginia firmly wanted to remain in the union and so wanted to secede from the secessionists. The motivating factor in the prospective 2018 initiative, though, seems to have been, "hey it might be fun to put on a play." 

"Uh I can't get the use of the barn for a play, guys, but how about we break up a state, instead!"

"Wowza what a great idea." 

I don't say "wowza" lightly. 
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Comments

  1. HenryAugust 5, 2018 at 5:53 AM

    Christopher,

    Far from batshit crazy, the proposal doesn't go nearly far enough. California ought to split up into 67 states. That would give its residents the same political power as the residents of Wyoming. This is because California has 67 times the population of Wyoming, yet gets the same number of U.S. senators that Wyoming does. In addition, the number of electoral votes each state gets is the sum of its representatives and senators, so Wyoming residents have more power in choosing the President as well.

    At the time of the founding of the nation, the population differences among the states were much smaller. People said "The United States are," rather than "is," because we did not think of ourselves as a unified nation in the same sense that we have since the Civil War. If we equalized representation in the Senate, we would take one important step toward becoming a democracy. Outlawing gerrymandering, overturning Citizens United (if not fully publicly financing political campaigns), strengthening the Voting Rights Act, and eliminating the Electoral College are other steps that would begin to allow majority rule in this country.

    ReplyDelete
  2. HenryAugust 5, 2018 at 6:13 AM

    By "equalized representation in the Senate," I meant, of course, "made it proportional to each state's population," as the House of Representatives is.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ChristopherAugust 5, 2018 at 8:21 AM

    I take your point, but that could obviously be addressed without splitting p any of the existing states. Further, given the complexities of straightening out such things as water rights and the management of infrastructure projects that cross the new states' new borders ... this IS batshit crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. HenryAugust 5, 2018 at 2:30 PM

    Well, maybe splitting into 67 states would be a bit crazy, but I imagine that two potential states could straighten out the complexities you mention, negotiating the details before the split. If disputes arose afterwards, well, lawyers gotta eat too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ChristopherAugust 5, 2018 at 2:54 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ChristopherAugust 6, 2018 at 5:26 PM

    THREE potential states, you mean. Unless you're counting the south-coastal one as the continuation of the existing state, and the other two as the "potential" (new) states. I think in reality they'd all be new states, starting from scratch in a chaotic scramble.

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