Admittedly, I seldom pop in here unless procrastinating on a piece of work I’m not ready to finish. It’s amazing what intriguing ideas emerge when trying not to think about the manuscript in progress. In this case, I believe I actually see the origin of my idea—I’m writing about revolutionary France which bears a rather strong parallel to our current society in ways I’d rather not think about. And I just read a story in the newspaper about liberals in Vermont wanting to secede from the Union. And voila, the idea appears in a bubble over my useless head.
We all know seceding from the Union doesn’t work. Who wants to be surrounded by the military might of the United States anyway? We’re crushing countries on the other side of the world, so Vermont would barely be an appetizer. And Vermont? Let’s get real here. Who would want to move to a cold and rocky, however lovely, state? We’re all getting too soft for that.
So—and here it is, the dreams of an escapist—why don’t we buy a state of Mexico?
Think about it. If we believe our media, half the Mexican government can be bought already, and there are a lot of rich Mexicans who do so regularly. Why not coordinate our efforts to create a state where prosperity and democracy can work together? A state where immigrants wouldn’t be illegal, liberals can put their idealism to work, and tourists can cover themselves with oil. I’m recommending the area between Puerto Vallarta and the southwest border of the United States. We could even do the US a favor by providing border guards on the southern side trained by the US. Although in my fantasy, anyone living in our newly independent state wouldn’t want to leave and go north.
Just imagine—all the rich baby boomers and bored yuppies with nowhere else to throw their money except on increasingly expensive material things, wealthy Californians worried about educating the growing immigrant population—we could all join forces with the prosperous Mexicans who want to preserve their culture and protect their families from lawlessness. With that much money, we could build schools and hospitals and roads and the infrastructure needed to produce a healthy economy without the expense of an army.
And we could all be warm and suntanned while we created this wonderful state of mind.
Secession is so nineteenth century. Buying is where it’s at this year. C’mon, who wants to throw in the first dollar?
