- Joined
- May 16, 2019
The left is beyond the point where they can create institutions. They won't try it because they want to follow the university and media model: take over existing powerful institutions from within, and leverage their power.
A lot of the recent talk about Civil War 2 leaves out an under-appreciated facet of the first one: the seceding states immediately formed a brand new country, the Confederate States of America. The CSA had its own President, constitution, capital, currency, and army ready to go within 2 months of seceding.
I'm marking time from February 1861, when the initial 7 states held the Montgomery Convention, to April 1861, when the attack on Fort Sumter happened. South Carolina seceded the earliest on December 20th, but setting up the CSA proper didn't happen until more states passed article of secession and attended the Convention.
The CSA moved to a permanent capital in Richmond VA in May. The setup above was "provisional" until they had their first elections in November 1861, so everything was fully settled within 9 months.
The CSA moved to a permanent capital in Richmond VA in May. The setup above was "provisional" until they had their first elections in November 1861, so everything was fully settled within 9 months.
Part of what made this possible was that states were properly sovereign back then, and weren't reliant on the feds for everything. Part of this was a willingness to do real political compromises; another part was having a population that was accustomed to self-governance and forming their own local/state institutions. And a huge factor was not having federal barriers and gatekeepers to crucial parts of the economy; post-secession, the main thing they "needed" from the feds in their state was just the armories and forts.
Can you imagine a modern day leftist coalition trying to create and organize a brand new political institution that survives for 4 years like the CSA did?
Imagine it's just the west coast: CA, OR, WA. (Ignore the huge chunks of red rural and farm areas each has surrounding the urban metros; let's pretend they got the whole state to buy in.) Imagine the DSA idiots in a constitutional convention trying to work out a founding document. It would take them a month just to agree on the progressive stack and list everyone's pronouns.
For reference: CHAZ lasted longer than the CSA's actual Constitutional Convention, and their daily meetings never managed a single coherent document or agreement on how to govern the park they occupied. They were still bickering over what CHAZ/CHOP meant by the time the Confederates managed a whole system of government.
Now picture those leftists trying to name a provisional President, and eventually elect them, from the team that brought you the 2020 Democratic primaries. No one they'd pick would have the support of their splintered coalition. Now imagine that President puts out a call for 100,000 soldiers before they're properly elected. He'd get 500 Antifa LARPers out of Portland and they'd go home once the snacks ran out.
The CSA had their King Cotton economic engine. But for the WSW, the first thing that happens is every tech millionaire gets wiped out, because their assets are listed on US stock exchanges and their bank accounts are in US dollars. The tech idealists will advocate for bitcoin, the commies will advocate for scrip or barter, and the regular people will realize they have no hard currency to use. No matter what they settle on, their need for currency and the left's total inability to manage currency will destroy their economy. (Attempting to keep the USD will let the USA flood their markets with currency and drive them into hyper-inflation, no war needed.)
For reference: CHAZ lasted longer than the CSA's actual Constitutional Convention, and their daily meetings never managed a single coherent document or agreement on how to govern the park they occupied. They were still bickering over what CHAZ/CHOP meant by the time the Confederates managed a whole system of government.
Now picture those leftists trying to name a provisional President, and eventually elect them, from the team that brought you the 2020 Democratic primaries. No one they'd pick would have the support of their splintered coalition. Now imagine that President puts out a call for 100,000 soldiers before they're properly elected. He'd get 500 Antifa LARPers out of Portland and they'd go home once the snacks ran out.
The CSA had their King Cotton economic engine. But for the WSW, the first thing that happens is every tech millionaire gets wiped out, because their assets are listed on US stock exchanges and their bank accounts are in US dollars. The tech idealists will advocate for bitcoin, the commies will advocate for scrip or barter, and the regular people will realize they have no hard currency to use. No matter what they settle on, their need for currency and the left's total inability to manage currency will destroy their economy. (Attempting to keep the USD will let the USA flood their markets with currency and drive them into hyper-inflation, no war needed.)
The Democrats can't coalesce long enough to nominate a "leader" under the age of 77 without dementia. Their 2nd in command is less likable than herpes and can't navigate politics without a pair of kneepads. Their politics are designed for factionalism and un-solvable identity battles.
You won't get non-sovereign, highly centralized, federally-reliant states to do anything other than throw a temper tantrum. It's too much work to leave and actually try to solve the problems they claim to care about.
