I stumbled onto an interesting thread as I was scrolling through Twitter Thursday afternoon. ‘Activist, feminist, author’ Amy Siskind released her proposal for a North American realignment. The map (pictured below) shows the new boundaries of the United States of Canada and Jesusland. Matt Walsh replied, and I thought we had just reached a milestone in diplomatic relations.
As per usual, my hopes were unceremoniously dashed to pieces. Rush Limbaugh merely suggested that the nation’s ideological divide might be irreconcilable and that succession could be in the cards. The internet promptly exploded, and I knew the world was back to normal. Geraldo Rivera called it treasonous. Needless to say, the reactions did not get any kinder.
I don’t want to advocate for succession. Even if dividing the country turned out to be least-worst scenario, it would be a sad day when it came. I would like to explore the issue, however, because support has been creeping up on both sides. Very few Democrats will admit it now, but Ms. Siskind’s sentiment is not alone. They were ready to burn the country down if President Trump remained in office. Now they call for unity and blast any who oppose it. How did we get here?
It will be best to begin with the conservative case as I am most familiar with that perspective. Although political polarization seems to have accelerated exponentially over the past 12 years, the seeds were planted much earlier. The cultural gap between mainstream America and the ‘elites’ has been present for some time. I suspect it was manageable because they were largely independent, and the point of contact was mutual beneficial. Consider Hollywood. While it may have pushed away some conservatives, there was a symbiotic relationship that generally held us together. We wanted to be entertained; they wanted our money.
The cultural divide became most dangerous after the tech boom. The mores of coastal America found another way in, and in this case, it was inescapable. As the tech giants consolidated power, they gained a virtual monopoly over the public square. It is a machine that accelerates cultural ‘progress’ by normalizing its values and suppressing opposition. It isn’t terribly efficient, otherwise we wouldn’t be having this discussion. All the same, it has been effective in pushing people into radically incongruous positions. People are tired of being castigated as racists, bigots, homophobes, transphobes, and on and on. It is no wonder some of us have begun to question how we can survive as a nation.
I will also touch on what I see as the left-wing motivation for splitting the country. This is rather speculative, but they have given me good reason to believe it. I will start with what I find to be the more honest position. Deep down, I don’t think the left wants to split the country any more than the right. They are painfully idealistic and would like to see their progressive reign cover the whole globe. Jesusland doesn’t get them there. It is in resignation to the obstinacy of ordinary people that they would seek a divorce. Simply put, it would be better to get their ideas through somewhere than nowhere.
It is perhaps from this disappointment that their deep-seated disdain emerges. I won’t credit this to all leftists, but it is no small number either. To them, it may be like offering someone dessert only to find they don’t eat sugar (those heathens). But in all seriousness, many of them do feel this way. They believe their ideas will save the world, and the middle of the country has rejected all of them. Now, those conservatives have become like the worst of all human beings in their eyes.
This leaves us with a fractured society. To be a conservative is to hate leftism (not the leftist). To be a leftist is to hate conservatism (and maybe the conservative as well). What, then, are we to do? America does have an answer to this, and it is well worth exploring. This is, of course, federalism.
The founding fathers established a system that accounted for the diversity of not only belief, but culture as well. This is not easily come by. Most societies survive by homogeneity. If nothing else, it is quite stable. Multiculturalism has been the disaster of the modern world. It strips a nation of any identity at all. Such a nation can go many places none of them good. America was something different, something better.
For one, we had a Bill of Rights that guaranteed basic liberties. You could be a Presbyterian, Catholic, or Muslim; you just had to be an American. More relevant to our discussion, we also established a federalist system that allowed for the coexistence of diverse regions. Mississippi values could survive New York values and vice versa. To conservatives, this is preaching to the choir. Republicans have been the party of limited government and states’ rights for some time. Many progressives woke up as well after suffering through the self-induced trauma of the Trump presidency. What if the states were protected from tyrants and ‘fascists’ in the federal government? Who could have thought of such a thing? Color me skeptical moving forward, but we shall see.
As much as I love this system, I do wonder if it is sufficient for our current predicament. This is the one area where I believe conservatives are most prone to blinding idealism. Our constitution may be the greatest in the world, but it is the greatest for America. It simply wouldn’t work in the Sudan. It wouldn’t work, copy and paste, anywhere else. This is because it is a document for Americans, by Americans. If we can’t find even a semblance of agreement on what makes one an American, I don’t see how even federalism will save us.
What then are we to do? I still think it best that we fight for constitutional America whether it is the path to recovery or not. Our current dissension may not be solved by politics, but culture can be won by other means (and usually is). If we can recover a strong national identity, we may just hold this thing together. If not, we will at least be better prepared for that path as well.
In the meantime, there are three pillars that must be addressed: education, news media/spread of information, entertainment. These each deserve significant attention, but I will at least touch on them here.
Education is the easiest, although no one seems to listen. I won’t tell you not to send your kids to public school, but…if I could bring the whole thing crashing down, I absolutely would. The primary and high school education system has been terrible for some time (more on that another day). Now, it is not only lousy but infected with the most pernicious disease, teachers unions. They are corrupt and responsible for pouring radical ideas into millions of students.
Addressing the news media is complicated. President Trump did what I hope is irreparable damage to the legacy media. I am optimistic that that void will be filled more positively. The concern is around the spread of information. Certainly, if we want to have a unified culture, we can’t just retreat to Parler and call it a win. We need a free and open public square, not a conservative echo chamber. The how is too complicated to get into here.
Entertainment is downright hard. My best advice is to support companies like The Daily Wire as they begin to make content (they are coming out with a film this year). Hollywood is on the fritz with the pandemic, and it may just be the right time. Also, support Hollywood when they actually tell good stories that reflect the world God created.
I am neither a prophet nor the son a prophet, but Jesus Christ still reigns, so I will remain hopeful. We might be in for some tough times. That may be an understatement if succession really comes. Whatever happens, reality is quite different in the moment than one would have predicted, so it is best we just press on.
The Free Narnian 