Friday, July 18, 2014

Dividing California

Apparently Californians, having nothing else compelling on their ballots, will vote in 2016 on whether or not to peaceably divide their state into six different states:  Jefferson (red), North California (olive), Silicon Valley (green), Central California (light blue), West California (dark blue), and South California (purple).  This initiative, pushed by billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper, supposedly has the required numbers of signatures of unhappy residents of the Golden State.

Will this pass?  But, also, would it pass in any of the areas of the proposed breakaway states.  My guess (from my vantage in NC) is that it has the greatest likelihood of passing in Jefferson (the red area) and slim to none in West California.

But suppose it does pass.  It would still need the approval of Congress.  Even the Lord's Prayer could not get passed in that "deliberative" body.  It is true that, one state, Texas, is Constitutionally allowed to divide into five smaller units if they see fit.  Given that the Republicans and the Democrats are strongly in competition for control of the Senate, there might be considerable reluctance to add additional states if they're likely to turn into opposition votes.


And would some of the less populous new states be economically viable?  Central California in particular?

What is troublesome is the lack of imagination in the names of the proposed states.  The proposal seems to follow the pattern found in the Carolinas, the Dakotas, and West Virginia: dividing the larger unit into smaller units by just affixing "North" or some other directional tag.  And, frankly, Silicon Valley smacks of the media and the Chamber of Commerce.

Whoops!  I am endangering two sacred cows of American society.  My bad!

Anyway, what do you all think of this idea?  You don't have to be a Californian to have an opinion.




12 comments:

Kristen Drittsekkdatter said...

Even if it passes, the Republicans in Congress will not go along with ratifying it.

Linda Kay said...

Interesting subject for discussion. Living in Texas, we do have very diverse sections, but because of the oil, there is no way that Texas will allow for that division. And really Texans are pretty united....probably would pull out of the union before they would split up! California is a whole different subject, mainly because of the financial situation they are in. I'll have to check with my friend in Northern CA to see if she has an opinion.

TexWisGirl said...

every time there's talk of texas seceding from the union, i just cringe, so i'd imagine this dividing of calif is the same.

MarkD60 said...

The red will be called the "Got any weed?" zone.

The Olive will be the "How did we get stuck with Sacremento?" Zone.

The Green will be "Let's Google It" zone

The light blue will be the "We need some water. Can you send us some water?" zone.

ANd the blue can be the movie star zone.

the purple will be "Immigrants Welcome" zone

Duckbutt said...

The voting on this will fill up a lot of air time on the news channels. Do we really need more California.

Mike said...

The directional names are the more sane names. Silicon Valley? They can't be serious.

Bilbo said...

Instead of "West California," I propose "Silicone Valley."

eViL pOp TaRt said...

Bilbo -- Touché!

Mike -- I agree; it's a dumb idea.

Mark -- Good take on the sections.

Linda Kay -- "Oil Will Keep Us Together"

TexWisGirl -- It is a far-fetched idea.

Kristen -- I don't think it's likely to pass.

Big Sky Heidi said...

California is a crazy place.

Cloudia said...

Feels sad. Devolution seems like breakup, not mere realignment




ALOHA from Honolulu (Hawaiian Islands Islands unified by Kamehameha the Great)
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= <3

Anonymous said...

what is the benefit of doing it??

eViL pOp TaRt said...

beach lad -- Possibly self-interest of some. I don't think it will pass, though.