Predicting that this great and powerful nation will break apart seems nonsensical on first glance, but I believe it is not. Today, the United States has a managerial model that is not only obsolete, but one no longer functioning. We have a strong central headquarters (Washington, D.C.) that sucks up all the money and controls at a level of detail that makes no sense.

Is there any reason for any of the following? Washington:

Setting the speed limits in Arizona.
Controlling oil production in Alaska and Texas.
‘Owning’ over 50% of the land in this country.
Regulating tourism in Hawaii and Florida.
Involving us in wars without clear reason or Congressional approval.
Hiring people to determine whether specific medical offices accept different insurances
Determining which countries and American citizen can and cannot travel to.
Supporting other governments and trying to determine the system of government for other nations.
Maintaining military bases throughout the world.

The list can go on and on, but I believe you can follow me. Corporations gave up centralized control because it did not work. A classic joke of the ‘80s was, “I am here from headquarters and I’m here to help.” No operation wanted the ‘seagulls’ around.

To provide an idea of how insulated Washington is from reality consider that there are approximately 13,000 registered lobbyists in D.C. spending an average of $7,000,000 per congressman or senator. This figure does not include campaign contributions.

The cure for this problem is the devolution of the United States just as the devolution of the British Empire was necessary for all of its parts to prosper and the devolution of the USSR had to occur. In these cases, everyone came out better off in the end.

What lines devolution will follow is impossible to predict. It may be along state lines or regional lines. I suspect it will be on both. Alaska and Hawaii can easily stand-alone. Cascadia, a nation made up of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and possibly Alberta makes sense. Thomas Jefferson saw the possibility of such a nation in the early 1800’s.

What makes sense is change. What makes no sense is believing the current broken model can continue.