Post-Reconstruction, the divides persisted. The agrarian populism of the Midwest clashing with Eastern industrialism, the isolationist heartland versus coastal internationalism during the World Wars. The 20th century was marked by furious battles over civil rights, voting, and gender equality. From the beginning, we have been \u2014 and continue to be \u2014 a nation at odds with itself.<\/p>\n
This divide feels even more permanent and deep than ever before. A country of 330 million people \u2014 stretching from New England villages to Mid-Atlantic cities to Texas oil towns to Montana ranches to California tech hubs to the glaciers of Alaska<\/a> \u2014 is forced to act as if one set of laws, one political culture, and one vision of morality can workably apply to everyone. The result is endless frustration \u2014 with the whiplash of government swinging from left to right, Democrat to Republican, and back again every few years. One administration builds, the next tears down, and ordinary citizens are left angry, exhausted, and embittered.<\/p>\n A peaceful separation into two sovereign countries could offer a much healthier and happier path forward. Imagine a \u201cRed America\u201d and a \u201cBlue America,\u201d each free to pursue its own vision of health care, education, social policy, and regulation \u2014 without constantly trying to override the other.<\/p>\n But separation need not mean isolation. We could model our post-split relationship on the European Union: two sovereign nations bound by a cooperative framework that preserves the best of our shared history. The U.S. dollar \u2014 as a continued common currency \u2014 would stabilize economies and facilitate trade, avoiding the pitfalls of monetary divergence. Joint defense through a mutual security pact \u2014 perhaps an evolved NATO-like alliance \u2014 would safeguard against external threats, with shared military assets and intelligence.<\/p>\n Most crucially, free movement of persons, goods, and services could mirror the EU\u2019s Schengen Area and single market, with citizens crossing borders without passports, businesses operating seamlessly, and cultural exchanges flourishing. This \u201cAmerican Union\u201d would allow red and blue citizens to live under governments that reflect their values while enjoying the economic and security benefits of partnership. Families divided by ideology could visit freely; businesses could tap talent pools across the divide; and innovation could flow unimpeded, from Silicon Valley\u2019s tech to Texas\u2019s energy sector.<\/p>\n This path doesn\u2019t need to be a fantasy. There is recent precedent for peaceful national separation. In 1993, Czechoslovakia split in what became known as the \u201cVelvet Divorce.\u201d Both the Czech Republic and Slovakia have thrived since. The European Union shows how sovereign nations can preserve independence while cooperating on security and trade.<\/p>\n Before that, there was the peaceful dissolution of the Norway-Sweden union in 1905. After nearly a century of union under a shared monarchy, Norway sought independence. Rather than fight, the two nations negotiated a peaceful split. Norway held a referendum, voting for independence, and Sweden accepted the outcome. Assets were divided amicably, and both countries maintained close ties, later cooperating in trade and defense as Nordic neighbors. Today, both thrive as prosperous, friendly nations.<\/p>\n And, of course, most recently, Britain\u2019s decision to leave the European Union shows that even today the most complex political and economic unions can be unwound through democratic choice. Brexit was hardly seamless \u2014 negotiations were protracted and often messy \u2014 but the essential fact is that one of the world\u2019s largest economies reasserted its sovereignty without bloodshed or collapse.<\/p>\n The U.K. remains deeply connected to Europe through trade, travel, and culture, yet it is now free to chart its own course.<\/p>\n A workable plan for us might unfold like this:<\/p>\n First, state choice. Each state would vote on whether to join Red or Blue America, through referenda to ensure legitimacy. Each new nation would lay out its governing principles \u2014 or proposed constitution \u2014 so that each state and its citizens could make an informed choice.<\/p>\n Second, division of assets. A national commission would apportion federal infrastructure \u2014 from military bases to energy and telecommunications infrastructure to highways \u2014 and allocate the national debt fairly, much as Czechoslovakia did.<\/p>\n