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Posted on 5/30/14 at 10:50 am to Nimbus2000
quote:
How would your State fare as an independent nation?
Considering we have Walmart...pretty well.
Tax revenue baby
Posted on 5/30/14 at 11:03 am to ShaneTheLegLechler
I read an article on this when everyone was on the succession bandwagon following Obamacare. The article said the Texas had the best chance of being a standalone country due to a lot of in house industry and the ability to balance a budget. Most of the other states have lost so much industry that it would be very difficult for them to survive on their own.
Alabama would be fine if we set the clock back 100 years and actually learned to live off the earth again. We have enough open land and existing farm land to have a sustainable farm industry but we have a difficult time actually getting an export industry going unless it was produce.
Alabama would be fine if we set the clock back 100 years and actually learned to live off the earth again. We have enough open land and existing farm land to have a sustainable farm industry but we have a difficult time actually getting an export industry going unless it was produce.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 1:11 pm to bencoleman
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Not having a deep water port, and not having an energy source would put you at a severe disadvantage. You would survive at the whim of more fortunate states
Between natural gas production, coal, nuclear, and hydro I think we'd be just fine on the energy front and since the Port of Mobile is consistently in the top 10 US ports for tonnage each year, I think that would work out fine too.
The real question as to how each state would be determined by what type of population shifts occurred. As others have pointed out, Alabama gets a lot of federal money per capita but just looking at numbers can be deceiving. A WSJ study looked at 2010 federal spending in the 10 states that get the most per capita and it points out some striking things.
Alabama seventh overall that year, was second for retirement and disability and seventh for procurement (mostly defense) but not even in the top half for grants.
Kentucky, on the other hand, was sixth overall but over half their spending ($7,000 of $13,198) went to direct payments to individuals - with Medicare making up over half of that number.
I think it would be a pretty safe assumption that absent federal money and laws, the southern states would rapidly scale back if not flat out eliminate a lot of the social safety net, meaning that a lot of those folks in Kentucky might be tempted to relocate somewhere that still provided them. The people they lost would then be a drain on the recipient state.
Alabama's problem would be the other end of the spectrum. Without those defense industry jobs, we'd be fighting to retain a very productive segment of the population.
The variations between Alabama and Kentucky's situations would be repeated all across the country.
That's a lot of typing to say it would be a bigassed mess and take a very long time to determine 'winners' vs 'losers'.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 1:15 pm to Feral
quote:
Tax revenue baby
Wal-mart's a retailer, not a producer.
The Arkansas Nation isn't going to be getting revenue from Wal-mart sales made in the People's Democratic Republic of California.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 1:18 pm to Nimbus2000
We would be the largest exporter of meth. Large trade surplus would enable us to buy other states to do our dirty work forming a new world order with M-I-crookedletter-crookedletter-O-U-R-I at the top of the pyramid...thus fulfilling the Mormon's prophesy.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:06 pm to Nimbus2000
Louisiana would be loaded once we started collecting royalties for oil.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:10 pm to ShaneTheLegLechler
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California, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida would be alright. The rest of you Bozo's would be toast.
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California wouldn't be alright...
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Yeah, I can see every other state he listed being viable, but not CA
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Yeah one of those is not like the others
You're all correct, California would be screwed.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:13 pm to Bama Bird
Do you realize how bad the market is for natural gas? So bad that companies are starting to burn it without use to keep the market alive
Sasol Energy is constructing a roughly $20B gas to liquids complex in Lake Charles.
Sasol Energy is constructing a roughly $20B gas to liquids complex in Lake Charles.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:53 pm to Nimbus2000
quote:
Doing research on the downfall of the Soviet Union and was surprised that with all the former Soviet Republics, none of them banded together following the collapse. Even the smaller ones. So unions with other states are prohibited in this "what if"
So how would your U.S. state function as a sovereign state?
If the US collapsed a la Soviet Union, I think we should give confederacy another try.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 3:12 pm to wadewilson
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If the US collapsed a la Soviet Union, I think we should give confederacy another try.
That is exactly what would happen.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 3:30 pm to wadewilson
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You're all correct, California would be screwed.
California would split in two for sure, there would be wars over the San Joaquin Valley.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 3:38 pm to Nimbus2000
Georgia would be fine, we would just become a common wealth nation and fly the union jack.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 4:04 pm to JustGetItRight
I'm genuinely curious if it would work now. It failed miserably the other two times we tried it, but I feel like the European Union could be a pretty good model.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 4:15 pm to wadewilson
Also, i think you'd see boarders change. A lot of current states shapes, with weird notches, bits and peninsula jutting into other states are results of just good lobbying on capitol hill back in the 1800s just so a big city, resource deposit or coast could remain part of a state. I think a lot of wars would break out quickly over borders
Posted on 5/30/14 at 9:07 pm to Nimbus2000
quote:
resource deposit or coast could remain part of a state. I think a lot of wars would break out quickly over borders
I don't think this would happen right away as each new country would have it's hands full, just running things and reshaping it's economy
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