Let's see. The South seceded, there was a war. California secedes, they have no guns, the war should take about 20 minutes.

I have recently been reading about minimalism after watching a netflix documentary by the same name. Basic tenet is that everything in your life should be judged by the net improvement that it brings to your life. I suspect the rural dwellers are happier and are less distracted from real living by dealing with the complexities of urban living.
I would go for a dissolution of the USA federal government and a return to free states, perhaps relegating the federal government to the role of enhancing commerce between the states, and maybe arranging for some sort of common defense in the event one state was invaded by some foreign power.

The initial vision of the United States of America was very similar to this concept. It held that the majority of power rested in the States and that the various peoples of the individual States would be free to move from States with bad policies to States with good policies and this encourage the general development and adoption of good policies. What has happened instead is that a few decisions such as the 17th Amendment have dramatically eroded the sovereign powers of the States. Combine that with the sharp growth of the regulatory state (via bureaucracy) and I completely agree with you that the Federal Government has assumed many powers that the Founding Fathers would have strongly rejected as belonging to the purview of the Federal Government.

How about ONE state seceding and adopting at least libertarian principles. I dont really care which one it would be- I would move there.

Unfortunately, the entire state is defunct. San Francisco is beyond all hope, and Los Angeles is filled with illegals and legals from socialist south american countries, not to mention super liberal celebrities. Its over for California, which is a shame in that its a beautiful state (I used to live there). It is a manifestation of the rotten oak tree in AS at this point tho.

No president or congress would allow California to secede, although it would be nice if ALL the states seceded in principle, stripping the federal government of most of its powers (which needs to happen).

I happen to think, politically incorrectly of course, that the USA should be 50 independent states at this point, with governmental competition among then. The federal "government" would be relegated to a trade organization helping to encourage free commerce among the states. BUT, each state would have its own laws, and suffer from or benefit from them individually. The 'good' states would be attractive and encourage immigration, with the bad states losing good people.

There would be lots to work out, but I am tired of the large federal governemnt, and I even think its too large to be workable any more.

Its a little like the idea of one 'god' who looks after and responds to EVERY person on earth. How would that even work ? Same with the federal government.

From Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffers...

From The Daily News (New York City):

http://interactive.nydailynews.com/20...

From Russia Today:

https://www.rt.com/usa/183680-state-c...

Can you give more information to those of us who have little or no information about this "State of Jefferson"?

If the majority of urban and rural citizens wants lower spending, it's shame spending keeps growing. It's easier to lobby for spending that benefits one's self than to lobby for across-the-board cuts. Politicians who want to be reelected need to find a way divide people into groups (e.g. urban/rural) and blame the other group. Telling people to tighten their belts doesn't work politically.

My Obama?
We have people like you here in the land of the 0.0004% to.

Some of them do, one way or another, not begging for spare change, but taking handouts nonetheless.

We have allowed about five or six of them, all of whom we thought were friends until we found out otherwise, to stay with us for a while. Crooks all. Sometimes sweet and loving crooks, buying us gifts with stolen money (some stolen from us), occasionally helping us around the farm. But still crooks.

I used to be for phasing out the "welfare" schemes slowly. Now I think it would be better to end them as fast as possible. Who would pick up the slack? Why the churches, and (one hopes) the do-gooders who currently clamor for my money.

I would like to see California split into 2 maybe 3 States or perhaps parts could be absorbed by other States. Too many people suffer the Liberal dictates of a small part of the State. Barring that we still have The San Andreas Fault. Perhaps faith will make it a mute point.

I came to the conclusion a while back that the reason big city dwellers tend to be liberal and Democrats is they live in big cities because they want to live somewhere where government takes care of everything.

I've written elsewhere I think it would be best for the rest of the country for California to secede with all the idiots that live here. We're a bad influence. Heck, the rest of the country should throw California out, if that's possible.

So long as the State of Jefferson can form, out of northern California and southern Oregon.

I think you have that exactly backwards. It is the urban settings which are clamoring for the welfare state - not the rural settings. Rural people are far more self-sufficient than those in urban settings. You don't find panhandlers going from farmhouse to farmhouse...

Clownofumenia.

Your Obama, https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress... curtesy of O.A.

Speak for yourself, not me.

Badgers are pretty bad-ass, according to the video. :) :)

This is like a circle game.

It's odd the they sell the exact same line to urban people. The urban people are about enabling capitalism, while the rural people focus on social issues and end up dependent on programs funded predominantly by urban areas. It's the exact same line.

How do you explain the apparent urban/rural divide? It appears to exist based on voting patterns.

Honey badger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wH...