In human relationships — business, friendship, marriage, even nations — those involved often grow apart to the degree that the partnership no longer makes sense. When whole areas of a country are at each other’s throats, there may eventually come a time when, for the benefit of all parties concerned, the equivalent of a divorce becomes the least painful resort.

Starting with President Ronald Reagan, proceeding through the Donald Trump administration — and now with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on guns, voter IDs and abortion — it seems that the values of the various larger national groups have become so irreversibly and firmly at odds that reconciliation is extremely unlikely, at least in the foreseeable future. Therefore, since the progressive majority of us on the West Coast arguably no longer have enough in common with large swaths of the rest of America, should we not be at least discussing, seriously, the desirability of splitting off, and exploring the means necessary to do so?

No, it won’t be easy. Divorce of any kind seldom is, particularly after a long and intimate cohabitation. But in the end, it may be best for all involved, if for no other reason than to give each resultant new country the chance to operate more effectively under its own principles.

#LeftCoastExit.

Bill Smee

Eugene