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Why don't Americans split the USA into two parts, the red one and the blue one?
by stargazer-3 13y ago
Why don't Americans split the USA into two parts, the red one and the blue one?
- pdwetz 13y agoIt was attempted once before.
- maxmcd 13y agoThe divide between "red" and "blue" is not geographically consistent. The general political views of both groups are similar. They're not in active conflict at the moment.
- panarky 13y agoHere's one way to split the US into two (mostly) contiguous regions. United States of Canada vs. Jesusland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesusland_map http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesusland_map
- hackerboos 13y agoMore than 2 parts: http://www.clevelandleader.com/files/splitus.JPG http://www.clevelandleader.com/files/splitus.JPG
- JonnieCache 13y agoWow. A provocative diagram. Here's the source: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123051100709638419 http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123051100709638419
- gus_massa 13y agoWhy “Alaska goes to Russia” instead of “Alaska goes to Canada”?
- gaius 13y agoThe Confederacy you mean? I seem to recall there was a bit of a problem with that...
- ynniv 13y agoThere are more realistic borders along which the United States might reorganize: http://rocs.hu-berlin.de/projects/borders http://rocs.hu-berlin.de/projects/borders
- wavefunction 13y agoOnly realistic if you don't actually live in the United States. These European projections on how the US could devolve are pretty funny though, and say more about European bias than anything else.
- ynniv 13y agoI'm not sure which part of tracking the physical location of dollar bills you think has a European bias, but if means that much to you the project was completed at Northwestern University. The professor only later moved to a university in Europe. Please use your gray matter a little more before dispatching the fingers.
- wavefunction 13y ago>>gray matter a little more before dispatching the fingers Yet you linked not to the original work but to a German site. I would also point out that assigning physical-proximity as a cultural marker due to the movement of currency is a terrible stand-in for actual cultural similarities. And cultural similarities are what we are concerned with here, if we're discussing the devolution of America based on cultural lines. For instance, the map you provide has Colorado lumped in with Oklahoma, Kansas, and the rest of the Midwest. While these states are proximate physically, the culture between these states is completely different, which is why Colorado has legalized cannabis and OK has a monument on government property to the 10 Commandments. To lump Colorado in with the Midwest just shows how poor the methodology and modeling are. How's that for some gray matter? Is it enough, or do I need more?
- ynniv 13y agoYet you linked not to the original work but to a German site. Don't be ridiculous, one links to the currently maintained version of a project. While these states are proximate physically, the culture between these states is completely different Citation needed. I lived in Colorado for a couple of years, and in my experience there is more similarity than difference between those places. How's that for some gray matter? Is it enough, or do I need more? It's better than commenting on a domain name, but there is no upper bound on insight.
- dragonwriter 13y ago> Why don't Americans split the USA into two parts, the red one and the blue one? Because the "red" and "blue" states are artifacts of winner take all election, most of the country (by states) is actually a pretty similar shade of "purple" (at a lower level, like counties, you've got intensely "red" areas in "blue" states, and vice versa), and also because the partisan leanings aren't all that consistent over time. Was that the intended analogy for the situation in the Ukraine?
- ctdonath 13y agoIf you look at the red/blue split on election precinct levels, you'll see exactly why: the division is very distinct & consistent at the boundary between urban and rural. There is no single clear line (we tried that in the 1860s, didn't go very well), and the geographic (as contrasted with populous) bulk of the so-marked areas sharply disagree with the portrayal. Example: New York is a "dark blue" state, but something like 90% of the land votes "red", noting that the bulk of the population is highly concentrated in a half-dozen cities; Georgia is a "bright red" state, with the city of Atlanta strongly disagreeing. The sharp red/blue division is a waterline surrounding islands of high population; rural folk often do smile at the notion of separating from "blue" areas, but the latter would soon find that severely problematic and will do anything to prevent it.