Cascadia

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I remember that. Mostly I suppose due to the fact that they would be essentially cut off from the rest of the country. However I suspect that should Quebec ever secede it will probably not take all of its provincial territory with it. Much of the northern areas might become part of a new Inuit territory called Nunavik and keep a direct link between east and west. In the event of the eastern provinces actually leaving I think they would be more likely to join together and form their own nation in the commonwealth rather than join the US

These "American-style big businesses" are really a global problem and all nations are subject to exploitation. And though many of them do have origins in the US, Europe's hands are not clean in this matter.
All these fingers get pointed at the US for the behavior of these super national organizations. It's going to have to be a global effort to reel in the power of the corrupt groups that in reality work against everything that capitalism & free markets stand for.

The world really needs some true economic geniuses to come up with a new way to handle trade and business that hasn't been tried yet.

But now I'm straying off topic.

Back to the idea of "Cascadia", good idea, but isn't gonna happen as long as Canada & the US still exist in their current form. But I'm all for it as long as pot would be legal in Cascadia.
Then there's the challenge of getting Oregonians , Washingtonians & British Colombians to all agree. As an Oregonian, I can say that this state can't even agree with itself.

Well, you're stuck, then. Our "Solid South" was quite solid.

Yeah, if Cascadia was just OR, WA, and BC, it would be 70% ex-American and 30% ex-Canadian. So it would be more 'American' than 'Canadian', however imo BC has quite a strong Canadian culture while OR and WA (imo) do not feel that strongly American, compared to somewhere like Minnesota or Oklahoma or even California.





And yeah, politically speaking, most of OR and WA's land area is quite red, which does make me worry if the bigotry present in the US would spill over into Cascadia. I mean, are we gonna have to deny gays rights because of the popular opinion of people in the countryside? We'll definitely have to compromise some of our values, most people in the Cascadia movement are social liberals in the sense we're against denying people rights in favor of tradition or the popular opinion. Also I wonder if those 'red counties', which cover most of our natural area, really share the pro-environment values we have in the cities. One thing we do have in common I think though, is a sense of local autonomy. I think the conservatives in the rural PNW aren't so much God n gun types.

As for the possibility, I see the US and Canadian government as falling apart anyway; their pillars of support are already cracking.[img][800:983]http://martinipundit.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/2008_general_election_results_by_county.png[/img]

Hmmmm. A Cascadian leadership would reject American style big business - that's one of the main reasons there's a Cascadia movement lol. And of course BC and Quebec are in many ways, worlds apart (language for one) but just the fact that 20 to 30 percent of Cascadia's citizens would be ex-Canadian alone would guarantee Cascadian culture would have a Canadian element to it. I'd also argue that aside from Quebec, Newfoundland, Cape Breton Island, and the aboriginal/Inuit majority parts of Canada, Canada culture is amazingly homogenous for such a vast country with a rather bizarre population pattern, clustered near the US border and almost empty elsewhere. For example the culture of Timmins, Ontario is amazingly similar to that of Nanaimo, BC, considering how far apart they are geographically. I don't think it's nearly as large a difference as between America's west and east. Plus I don't think the culture in Oregon and Washington is all that different from Canadian culture, we have the flannel, the cool (some say passive-aggressive) polite attitude, a reverence for the beauty of nature, similar religious affiliation, etc.

Certainly. but the only big business that would disappear is the regulatory captured big business.. and it would either decide to move elsewhere or (be forced to) comply with the law. consider what washington state has to do to keep boeing here for example..
supposing Cascadia actually happens, its leadership would have to assume that half the industry leaves and you're back to less than average taxable income, offset by greater than average local economy, hydro-power, forestry, etc.
I have no doubt that such a Cascadia would also face a currency crisis caused by rapid return to free market principals if it was forced to start coining its own money. and that's all assuming that it doesn't take a very bloody war to make that happen. you would have to assume that the feds would pull every last card they have to prevent such a thing from happening.
that and there would be trade embargoes as well...

on the other hand, IMO best way to start such a movement is to get an alternative currency flowing, when it gets to 30% market share then we could theorize about this stuff...

Where I'm coming from, is don't you think the American public mistrusts our government so much, that it's almost inevitable that Washington DC will dissolve within the next ten years? I mean only 11% of Americans trust Congress for crying out loud!

no, the public is captured by their apathy and won't lift a finger.

as far as the federal gov dissolving.. the military will prevent that from happening.

Give me Canadian style socialism and the ability to carry a weapon whenever and wherever I see fit and I'll support it.

Canadian gun laws have always irritated me. I want to be able to defend, not rely on a police force. It responds much slower than a bullet.

Do you think our military is so brainwashed they would defend the government against the popular will of the American people? I'm not saying they're not, I just wonder if that's what you're implying.

well, having served in it, yes, with the help of UN troops. but we're no where near that, and that is the least likely path.
It is possible for the federal government to dissolve and fade away with its currency, and out of it rise something similar to a democracy and a new free market (global perhaps?), but that is equally unlikely IMO. Times have to get Really Bad before people overthrow their government, and the only thing worse than a dictatorship is what comes after.
I think with America it will be a constant eroding of rights until something snaps. And of course, when the people have nothing left to lose, they lose it.
The difference today is that we've got 25% of the country dependant on the federal government. 50% of the population lives in the city, and is dependant on a very complex society to function, just so that they can get food to eat!
Very different than anything ever before seen in history. The only thing you can bank on is the fundamentals remain the same.

btw, It appears to me more than a few of these northwest groups have racist fundamentals, and i cannot support them for that reason.

Most of the racist NW groups are not actually from here, but rather from places like Texas. The Cascadia movement I know is all about inclusion and diversity.

I don't know if they should, but they could function as the Northwest Republic very nicely. The physical and economic conditions are such that the Cascadians have a common economic interest and and common outlook. They have more in common with each other than with folks who live on the Atlantic coast.

ruveyn

So long as I can move there before they do it.. I'm all for it.. preferably wait till after the Canadians build Northern Gateway and then close it off unless they pay outrageous transit fees..

I also don't think the concept would work if it included the 'High desert' areas of Washington and Oregon.. or Alberta.. It would basically have to be only the strip of land between the mountains and the sea. Which is not a bad thing.. just offer huge tax incentives to keep Boeing and Microsoft, Google, Nike, etc.. and you could become a massive economy in a very short amount of time.. not to mention you could then sue the United States for leaving This behind..

I have no opinion on this issue. But I think that the southernmost German states, Bavaria in particular, should be given to Austria or whoever else wants to have them. The rest of us can join the Netherlands. The Dutch seem like a reasonable bunch

Actually in my opinion the high desert regions are crucial and Cascadia cannot exist without them and this is why. For one thing we have huge hydro plants there, and the sun and wind can also be utilized for power. Alberta is too far east and not part of the bioregion so it isn't really relevant, aside from we should try to have good relationships with our neighbours in general.

Another reason is our breadbasket in the Northwest is located in north central Oregon and eastern Washington. From what I've heard, people on the 'dry side' seem open to the idea of Cascadian independence, but the people in our movement tell them a different story. The only thing is, despite the leftist leanings of Cascadianism, if we want the dry side, we can't take away their guns. If we let them keep their guns though, they actually are not as loyal to the USA as you would think despite their conservatism. And not everywhere on the dry side is conservative either.

The only thing I worry about is if we would have to compromise our values, but a lot of us favor the idea of most governance being done locally anyways, so what people wanna do in Bend or Kamloops isn't gonna force people in Newport or Nanaimo to do stuff they don't want, such as ban gay marriage.