Splitsville

Law prof Frank Buckley writes for the New York Post about forces that might push parts of the U.S. toward secession. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.

Americans have never been more divided, and we’re ripe for secession. The bitterness, the gridlock, the growing tolerance of violence invite us to think that we’d be happier were we two different countries. In all the ways that matter, save for the naked force of law, we are already two nations.

And if that’s where we are today, where might we be in an easily imaginable future, where impeachment fizzles and Trump wins reelection and gets a couple more appointments to the Supreme Court? If secession were to happen, it would be the left-wing states that want out, places like California and Oregon. If they think the rest of the country is populated by deplorables, why would they want to be in the same country as the rest of us?

Buckley’s solution that avoids a breakup is this.

I recognize all the differences that divide us, but a better answer would be a greater tolerance for those differences, in the form of renewed federalism. Or federalism on steroids, which I call home rule.

Meaning, I suppose, really dramatic differences in the legal structures of various states. Such could seriously interfere with interstate commerce which is one of our biggest comparative advantages.

I imagine, for example, firms in social welfare-rich, high tax states not feeling able to compete with firms in low-tax laissez faire states whose costs are lower. What then? Progressives will call what occurs “a race to the bottom.”