• @[email protected]
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    210 hours ago

    All this theorizing ignores the number one internal problem of the US. It’s not state versus state, it’s urban versus rural. I’m in one of the reddest states in the nation, but I live in the capital where we have a decent democrat mayor. Most people would even laugh at calling this a city, but the urban/rural cultural divide is huge even here. Leave the “cities” and there are traitor flags everywhere. Ethnic minorities do not do well out in the country.

    • @[email protected]
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      9 hours ago

      Of course. I live in a red state myself so I know what you mean about urban vs. rural. But Trump didn’t think about that when he withheld federal aid from California for the 2018 wildfires. He had to be told that he had lots of supporters in CA; they even had to show him the voter rolls to prove it to him and only then did he approve the aid. See https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/03/helene-trump-politics-natural-disaster-00182419

      “We went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas … to show him these are people who voted for you,” Harvey told Politico.

      But like I said, it’s just interesting to think about how things could go. There would necessarily be a pretty massive population redistribution both into and out of the seceding states. There would likely be a war or at least many battles over territory so many of the states’ boundaries would change as well. Then there’s all the military bases, missile silos, and other national-level facilities spread among many states to be dealt with.

      • @[email protected]
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        9 hours ago

        Right on. It’s definitely interesting to talk about. I feel like many people still have this civil war mentality of fuck the South they can have what they voted for. People argue whether my state is in the “south” but our history is secession to join the union. There were not many slaves here, therefore not wealthy slavemasters, therefore many people preferred to side with the North.

        I had heard about Trump’s revenge money bullshit before but thanks for the link to have it on hard copy.

        Population redistribution: Again interesting to talk about, but the reality is most Americans lack the money needed to move. We’re stuck with what we got. That’s just economic concerns. My wife and I have the money to move, but we can’t because we don’t want to leave her elderly mother, who will not move, behind. A third concern, for us at least, is pride. Historically our state left the Confederacy. We had labor fights here that put many to shame. Sometimes it was straight up like a war between the workers and the strikebreakers.

        We have devolved since due to propaganda, racism, and identity politics. But I do not want my state to fall to the assholes. The left here is armed and nobody will want to fight against an entrenched insurgency in these mountains.

        • @[email protected]
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          5 hours ago

          Are you talking about certain areas/counties in some of the seceding states (e.g AL, MS, TN) where people opposed secession and rebelled or otherwise refused to participate in the Confederacy? I haven’t heard of a state seceding from the confederacy.

          On people moving: As things are today, it’s too expensive for many people to be able to relocate as a practical matter, but if things ever deteriorated to the degree we’re talking about, the stakes change drastically. If there’s a war, or some people are about to get trapped where they don’t want to or are afraid to be, it’s no longer “can I find a decent job and place to live there and afford moving expenses?” but becomes “I’ve got to get out of here any way I can even if I can’t take anything with me and don’t know how I’ll get by once I’m there.” Especially people who fear for their lives or safety in a country where they are hated or considered less than human by the majority.

          • @[email protected]
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            4 hours ago

            That’s a very good point regarding refugees vs “can I afford it”.

            As to your first point it’s West Virginia baby!

            So I tried to upload a secession vote map of Virginia, which included West Virginia at the time. Hell here’s most of the story.

            Edit: ignore the bullshit about reunification at the top, the story is in the middle.

            • @[email protected]
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              23 hours ago

              Oh, I feel dumb–I should have thought of West Virginia since I knew Virginia split during the Civil war. But I never knew the details of why so TIL! Thanks for the link!

              • @[email protected]
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                12 hours ago

                Hey at least you know we exist. Once I was in the Miami airport and a very young woman kept staring at my ID, then me, on and on. Finally she says why does it say West Virginia. When I told her it was a real state she acted pretty embarrassed.