Balkanization

My fellow Americans, the United States is a nation in risk of imminent collapse. With social conflicts, lack of confidence in our political systems, unpayable debt, lack of a strong political leader, inability to secure our borders, political gridlock in Washington, possible defeat in war, and the lack of a national identity, it is hard to see how America can survive as a single nation for much longer. What is in danger of happening to America is called Balkanization. Balkanization is the fragmentation of a nation into several smaller states. This fragmentation is usually centered on cultural and ethnic differences within the nation, as well as economic crisis. The balkanization of America is inevitable unless many drastic changes are made to America in a fairly short period of time.

In order to fix any problem, one must first understand the root of the problem. As mentioned earlier, there are many factors which contribute to the likely balkanization of America. The rise of both the Tea Party and Occupy movements has shown a great deal of tension between conflicting philosophies. These philosophies have no middle ground between them. This increased polarization is extended into Congress and makes it almost impossible to get any significant legislation passed. This has led most Americans to have a low degree of confidence in the federal government. Not only is President Obama’s approval rating below 50%, but the approval rating for Congress, whose job t is to be the voice of the people, is under 20%. This shows a fundamental lack of confidence in our federal institutions. Adding to this lack of confidence is the mishandling of two conflicts which were deemed wins at their outset. George Patton once said “Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn't give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed.” The large amount of war weariness combined with the huge financial burden brought on by fighting two wars on the other side of the world has put us in deep trouble. In addition to failures abroad, we also have trouble keeping our borders secure. Legal immigration is not a bad thing; in fact, it has helped make America the power which dominated the world for a half-century. However, when a country cannot keep its borders secure, it is a sign of a state which can no longer care for itself. The same thing happened to Rome right before its fall. The late Roman Empire was unable to keep out the many Germanic nomads which were invading from the north. This reflected not only the weakness of the Roman military, but also a loss of control by the central government. The fact that these illegal immigrants bring in firearms and narcotics with them only serves to add to the destabilizing effects. Lastly, these immigrants also tend to concentrate their settlements in the Southwest. This concentration fundamentally changes the demographic makeup of these states, and creates the kind of cultural differences which lead to balkanization. The United States is also under more than 15 trillion dollars of debt. However, the debt itself is not the problem. The real problem is the inability of politicians on both sides of the aisle to move past their own interests and start making real cuts to federal spending. The last reason, is that the United States lacks a strong enough political leader to deal with the situation. While President Obama may be the one of the best orators of our time, he is simply not the personality which could carry the United States through a crisis of this magnitude .What we need is a Lincoln, a Roosevelt, a Reagan. That is not saying that everyone should go out and vote for Newt Gingrich (or whoever the Republican flavor of the week is right now). There is not any single leader, in any party, who is strong enough to control this situation. Well, this means that the job should just fall to Congress, right? It should, but our present Congress is too divided to do anything worthwhile. The simple fact that we are still having these petty arguments while American power is collapsing shows how incompetent all of our politicians really are.

The breakup of America would happen in stages. In fact, the stages have already started. When a governor who once advocated for secession is being seriously considered as a presidential candidate, you know that there’s a problem. In addition, the issue of Federal Government power has surfaced once again. This increased backlash against Federal Government authority was one of the signs of secession in the period preceding the Civil War, as well as the time period preceding the American Revolution. As the Federal Government continues to print unsupported currency, the value of the dollar will continue to decline, which leads to the scary, but very real, possibility of hyperinflation. The inability (or unwillingness) of the Federal Government to make the needed changes could lead to an undoing of the national fabric of America. The nation might still exist on paper, but it is similar to the old Soviet Union. The nation would become unsupportable on a national level, so the country would begin to divide into regions based on the social, cultural, religious, and geographical lines mentioned earlier. The southwest states (Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) would unite, due to the strong influence of immigrants on the culture on these places. Most of the Bible Belt (most of the former Confederate States) would join together, due to the strong influence of Evangelical Protestantism in these parts. The West Coast would fuse together, isolated from the rest of the nation by the formidable Rockies. The middle of the former United States would split into the agricultural eastern and more mountainous western zones. The great lakes region and the northeastern region would complete the partitioning of America. Unlike the Civil War, when the Federal Government was able to reunite the North and South, reunion would be much more difficult, if not impossible, in this situation, for several reasons. In that time period, most of the American military was stationed in America, due to the isolationist doctrine of the times. Today, the vast majority of American soldiers are stationed on various bases around the world, making it impossible for them to intervene in this situation. Even if they were here however, it might not matter. In the Civil War, America split rather evenly, that is, into two pieces. This fragmented America would be split into seven different nations. Adding to the difficulty, the population is much larger, and spread out to both coasts. There would be no dominant power which would be capable of reuniting America, at least not right away. After a few generations of violent warfare and millions of dead? Perhaps.

All of this is not saying that America is doomed, that America has been condemned to a fate which has befallen many lesser nations. All this is saying is that the balkanization of America is a real possibility. There are actions which can be taken to prevent this. The first and most obvious option would be to change the political culture of America. This would start first with a drastic shift towards more centrist policies. The Tea Party and Occupy movements are too extreme and, in the case of the Occupy movement, too unorganized to engage in the type of politics which would help the situation. The centrist movement, in fact, has already begun to gain momentum in the form of the grassroots No Labels organization. Breaking the hyper-partisan gridlock in Washington using grassroots, commonsense solutions would go a long way towards curing the situation. The second option is what is commonly referred to as “the lesser of two evils”. In times when democracy has become ineffective, it has been shown that a substantial increase in government can help get the governmental machine’s gears grinding again. The second option would be to follow the example of Rome, and abandon the Republic which we have in favor of an Imperial Administration. The strength of the central government would allow the needed reforms to be made decisively. The government would be able to secure the borders of the nation without having to deal with different regulations. However, with this increased efficiency comes the destruction to world’s preeminent democracy. It destroys a system which has effectively administered a nation for over two centuries. However, history repeats itself, and those who fail to learn from the lessons of history are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. The third and final option is balkanization. The breakup of one of the greatest states of its time. Finally succumbing to the test of time and going into the dustbin of history. While this is certainly an unappealing outcome, maybe it’s for the best. Maybe this is what our founders would have wanted. After all, the opening of the Declaration of Independence reads:

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation”

Then again, the opening of the Constitution reads

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”

And is the Constitution not the supreme law of the land? That paragraph gave birth to one of the greatest nations the world has ever seen; a nation which has made great strides in art, science, literature, and any field you can think about. Thus, it is unacceptable that the breakup of these great United States should come to pass. Balkanization should be fought at every point it can. Hyper-partisanship, the agent of balkanization in America, should be stamped out by anyone with commonsense and patriotism. Because true patriotism is not fighting for a dogmatic worldview. True patriotism is doing what is in the best interest of the nation; even of you don’t necessarily favor the way it is done. It should not be permitted that we should touch and go our separate ways. Instead, we should put aside our differences, forget about selfish interests, and ask yourself what you can do to help get this nation back on its feet and back into the race. This should be accomplished with the civility befitting a nation of our stature, which is with malice toward none and with charity for all. Because I have a dream, you have a dream, we all have dreams, and whether or not I agree with your dream, I will fight to the death for your right to chase it. That’s what America is all about. And that is why the scourge of balkanization cannot be allowed to extinguish to beacon of liberty which is the United States of America.

Citations

Split: A Divided America. Dir. Kelly Nyks. Perf. Tucker Carlson. 2008. DVD.

Buchanan, Patrick J. Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025? New York: Thomas Dunne, 2011. Print.