
On November 7, Republicans won control over all three branches of the Federal government.
They are understandably chuffed about it.
However, what if the results had gone the other way? Republicans would be just as unhappy as the Democrats are now.
IMO, a governance system that leaves half the population upset and enraged every four years needs improvement.
The US governance system was created when the US was a rural country with a population of ~4 million.
The US population is now ~335 million.
At that scale, no matter who wins, no matter how we fiddle with the governance system, tens of millions of people are going to be unhappy with the outcome.
The only way we can avoid this endless, vituperative battle for control over the whips of state is to:
...allow the states to secede.
...allow US citizens to self-assort into the states whose policies and values most closely reflect their own.
If Californian had little power over Texans (and vice versa), then Texans and Californians would have much less incentive to fight with the other.
Historically, secessionism has been most closely associated with the right, but there are good reasons left wing folks should support secession as well.
Let a thousand Hong Kongs bloom.
Given they control all branches of the Federal government now, Republicans will be sorely tempted to run roughshod over the Democrats (as the Democrats would no doubt do to them).
However, it's in the Republicans long term interest to create checks on their own power that will protect themselves when the political winds shift.
For example, the Republicans could pass legislation that would allow states to create Opportunity Zones that set their own laws, tax rates, and immigration policies, independent of US state / Federal law.
The agreements between the Opportunity Zones and the Federal government could be modeled after the ZEDES program in Honduras.
The contracts between the ZEDES and the Honduran government last for 50 years. That way, if the Honduran government doesn't like the results of the ZEDES, they can let the agreement expire, and the ZEDES land would return to Honduran control.
On the other hand, if the ZEDES prove popular, they can grow by purchasing additional property and incorporating it into the Zone.
That's just one route the Republicans could go. For more ideas, check out this bibliography of books related to peaceful secession.