Hey everyone, new member here in Canada. Something to consider in the calculus when Bill is discussing the possible divorce of the two Americas problem, Canada. What many of you might not know is how many Canadians feel more American in creed than Canadian. Canada doesn’t to my knowledge have a creed worth discussing, America does and many Canadians would gladly live under that creed. Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness, and the Rule of Law is slightly more inspiring than Equality, Order, and Good Governance.
In Canada we have many of the same divisions both politically and geographically as the United States. We also have a federal government overwhelmingly controlled by a small majority of costal elites and large portion of the population that is regularly overlooked and denigrated. As in the U.S. much of the news, politics, and popular culture is set by only very few cities like L.A. and New York, we have notably Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver.
We also have “red/conservative” provinces that are the butt of all federal jokes, Alberta is Canada’s Texas, lots of oil, cows, and conservatives. British Columbia is very much like California, Washington, and Oregon all rolling into one. And unfortunately for me because I live here Ontario is like combining New York, Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Oh by the way Ontario has WAY, more debt than California. Ontario is the largest sub-sovereign debtor in the world. Specifically, California’s bonded debt was $143.9 billion as on 2011 while Ontario is $236.6 billion, two thirds larger than California.
I say all of that to say that when Bill is discussing what a potentially divided American would look like, don’t forget that Alberta has already threatened to leave Canada several times and join the U.S. most notably in the last 4 years, called the Wexit “West Exit” movement. So if the U.S. was to jettison the coasts, consider that Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan would probably be looking to join. And before you laugh at us Canadians, consider that Alberta has oil reserves to rival Texas or the Saudis, and Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are huge grain and livestock producing provinces, like rolling the a couple of midwestern states together, like having one state from the Dakotas to Oklahoma.
Just saying that its something to consider in gaming out what a future North American Continent might look like, because the unrest and discontentment with our elite overlords is not unique to the United States.
11 replies on “Something to Consider”
Hello, Sir. Welcome to our community of rationality at BWdotCOM.
I particularly enjoyed your commentary about “British Columbia is very much like California, Washington, and Oregon all rolling into one.” I grew up in Central B.C., and I recall many conversations around the hearth concerning the political divides within the province. Like California, there is a fundamental divide between the Coastal Region and the Interior. Unless something has changed significantly since I permanently left in the early 1990’s, it is likely that the eastern half of B.C. would be willing to join Alberta’s secession. I’m sure my sister, who still lives in Calgary, would enjoy the removal of the U.S./Canadian border that separates her from the rest of her blood relatives — well, maybe not me since I’m just the obnoxious older brother. 😉
I love Alberta. The Columbia Icefields Parkway is one of the most stunning routes in the world. After that, Colorado is “meh.”
I’ve long thought that if the U.S. really were to break up without actual war, it would be the east and west coasts breaking away, leaving the rump in the middle. It would be AWESOME if our new old country were to extend from sea to shining sea North to South instead of East to West, and to contain almost the entirety of the Rocky Mountains from Alaska to El Paso, at least as far as the Continental Divide (the East-West one, not the tripoint in the middle of the Columbian Icefield). From SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch pad at the mouth of the Rio Grande to the Arctic Ocean. We’d also probably have the southeast Atlantic coast (Carolinas to Florida) as well as the Alaskan Pacific coast, so southeast to northwest too!
Count me in!
One of the best parts would be establishing a brand new federal capitol in a cornfield in Nebraska or Iowa. If we added Canada we could put it in the Dakotas! (I think we should do this anyway, a subject for another essay.)
Welcome Henry. I’m in Calgary and I’m sure there are many other Albertans who admire the brilliance of the US Constitutional checks & balances and would gladly join our red state brother and sisters.
Alistair MacLean wrote one of his thrillers set on the Athabascan tar sands.
I’m not sure it would be accepted, but I’d certainly trade New Amsterdam to Quebec for anything they’d give us. If we could spin the whole west coast (short of Alaska) off into something, that would be nice bonus, though I’d need my passport to visit family in Oregon. (well unless the eastern parts of Wash and Ore join Idaho, they I wouldn’t).
Yeah, I think that if those western states seceded, big eastern chunks of them would secede from the secession. No need to join Idaho. The new states of East Washington, East Oregon, and East California could give us six more conservative senators. Oh, and South Illinois. Harder to divide up the rest of the upper midwest, but let them work it out.
I suppose that if parts of the country left the country they would get to pick new names and what stays with us keep the old names. Alternately, we could just confuse everyone world wide with OR, USA and OR, DPRU
There is enough confusing with Washington State and Wash DC or New York and New York.
Counties in Southern Oregon and Northern California had a pact to secede and form The State of Jefferson. World War Two interrupted the effort but it still hangs around in a wishful, un-serious way. Google it – excuse me; Duck, Duck, Go it, there’s more on the web.
Welcome! Definitely!
hard to disagree with the sentiments expressed.
Charles C.W. Cooke called himself (before he became a citizen) an American born in the wrong country.
I would welcome such people to this new America. And welcome here to you. Feel at home. Because you are.
Ditto!