I’m Mr. Beat
Is it time for a divorce? (turns) Oh don’t worry. I’m
not divorcing you. I’m talking about this national dialogue that’s been
taking place here in the United States. Well that’s CNN. That’s “fake news,”
right? There’s no way a member of the U.S. House of Representatives really Tweeted that. (Matt at desk) Oh, I guess
she really Tweeted this. To be fair, she later clarified she didn’t
want a civil war or even secession to happen, but still, this got me thinking,
what if the United States DID get a “national divorce?” What would
a “national divorce” look like? Well, in her Tweet, Representative Greene said “we
need to separate by red states and blue states.” First of all, this is not
as easy as it sounds. How would we define “red states” and “blue states?” The two biggest political parties in the United
States are the Republican Party and Democratic Party, and it’s been that way for at least 168
years. Ok, so I think most of you knew that, but sometimes I get new folks watching,
ok? Anyway, I assume “red states” are American states that have a majority
of people who identify as Republican, and “blue states” are American states that have
a majority of people who identify as Democrat. But that’s not as easy to figure out as you might
think. Sure, you could go by political party affiliation for each state. But most Americans
are not strongly affiliated with either party! They may lean one way, but tens of millions
of Americans vote for both Republicans and Democrats on Election Day. I bet you didn’t know
that, did ya. There are only 4 states where the majority of residents are Republican and 7 states
where the majority of residents are Democrat! Also, as I stressed in my American Urban/Rural
Political Divide video, most Americans who live in urban areas favor the Democratic Party,
while most Americans who live in rural areas favor the Republican Party. However, even within
cities and rural areas, neighbors often have different political views. My own neighborhood
has both Republicans and Democrats living there. They get along alright…for the
most part. (turns) But I get it, there’s ALWAYS going to be a political party
in a state. (turns) So let’s just go with how the entire state voted. (turns)
But according to WHICH ELECTION?!? Here are the red states and blue states based on
governors. Here are the red states and blue states based on state legislatures. Here are the red
states and blue states based on the United States Senate. But that wouldn’t work since six states
have 1 Republican Senator and 1 Democrat Senator. Here are the red states and blue states based on
the results of the 2020 presidential election. For the sake of this video not going
on forever, let’s just go with that map. Say we split up into two countries
based on the 2020 presidential election electoral map oh CRAP, (looking over) Maine
and Nebraska why you gotta do me like that?!? Ok, so Nebraska and Maine both split their
electoral votes, but the MAJORITY of electoral votes in Nebraska went Republican in 2020 and the
MAJORITY of votes in Maine went Democrat in 2020 so…sorry…Nebraska, you’re a
Republican state, and Maine, you’re a Democratic state, at least
for this hypothetical divorce, ok? This would split the country into 25 red states
and 25 blue states. Uh, I’m not joking here. So what if they were two different countries?
Well, first of all, the borders would be weird, but I imagine they would still be fairly open. But
what would it look like otherwise? Eh, let’s look at how they compare today to predict
how they might look in the future. Hey, I guess we can turn this
into a Compared video now. Red states and Blue states Compared The Blue States have more people, about 22 million
more people. (B- 177 million, R- 155 million) That said, the Blue States have an average population
density almost seven times as high as the Red States. (B- 484 people per square mile,
R- 73 people per square mile). This is because the Red States make up a much larger
land area and are much more rural, overall. I guess you’re probably not surprised by that one. The Blue States have a higher cost
of living, overall. That said, there are dramatic variations WITHIN both
Blue States and Red States. For example, the cost of living in Austin, Texas,
is much higher than it is in Detroit, Michigan. Related to this, the
poverty rate is higher in the Red States. (B-9.7%, R- 12.2%) Related to THIS, the
violent crime rate is higher in the Red States. More Blue States residents have college
degrees (B- 35.4%, R- 31.8%). Overall, the Blue States tend to have a higher
GDP per capita than red states. In fact, nine of the ten states with the highest GDP per
capita are all Blue States, and the bottom five states by GDP per capita are Red States. The Blue
States also tend to have higher median household incomes. In general, the Blue States tend to
have more diverse economies. Major industries in the Blue States include technology,
finance, healthcare, and education. Major industries in the Red States include energy,
manufacturing, agriculture, and military. Wait, MILITARY? Yep, AND…on average, the Red
States receive more federal funding than the Blue States. The Red States also tend to have
more federal land than blue states, especially when it comes to land managed by the Bureau of
Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. While the Red States depend more on
the federal government for funding, the Blue States tend to
have higher levels of debt. The Blue States are also more generally ethnically diverse. The Red States tend to be
more religious than the Blue States. But finally, here’s a similarity! The biggest religion in both the Red States and
the Blue States is Christianity. That said, 65% of residents in the Red States identify as Christian,
compared to 53% of residents in the Blue States. The life expectancy tends to
be higher in the Blue States. Most of the mountains are in the Blue States.
Ah, but the Red States have more coastline. And here’s another similarity- both are
increasingly prone to natural disasters. On average, the Red States receive more
precipitation than the Blue States. More of the Blue States have legalized marijuana. More of the Red States have
restrictive abortion laws. But now we’re getting into politics again, so
maybe I should end it there. Oh by the way, I did ask ChatGPT “Which states value freedom more, blue
states or red states?” and here was its response: The idea of "freedom" can mean different things
to different people, and it is difficult to make a definitive statement about which states value
freedom more, as political beliefs and priorities can vary widely within both red and blue states.
Additionally, different individuals and groups may have different ideas about what constitutes
freedom and what policies and practices are necessary to safeguard it. Some individuals and
groups may prioritize individual freedoms such as free speech, religious liberty, and gun rights,
while others may prioritize collective freedoms such as access to healthcare, education, and
economic opportunities. Ultimately, debates about freedom and its importance in society are complex
and multifaceted, and cannot be easily reduced to simple political or geographical categorizations.
Wow. What a response. Good job robot overlords. And this response, uh, got me thinking that
maybe me doing this video was a waste of time. You see, pretty much EVERY American values
“freedom.” And I’d argue most Americans agree on most issues. You just wouldn’t know due to certain
opportunistic, attention-seeking politicians. The day after Representative Greene’s
controversial “national divorce” Tweet, she elaborated with a Twitter Thread, and I’m
just going to share some of that with you now. Red state schools would bring back
prayer in school and require every student to stand for the national anthem
and pledge of allegiance while blue states would likely eliminate the anthem
and pledge all together and replace them with anthems and pledges to identity
ideologies like the Trans flag and BLM. Uhhhh yeah, I just don’t think
every red state would bring back prayer in school and I don’t blue
states would eliminate the anthem. Red states would likely have highly
supported law enforcement officers and well funded agencies. Police
officers would be well trained, paid, equipped, and seen as heroes once
again, not portrayed as racists thugs. In blue states, who knows. Police could
be anything from unarmed social workers to doing what Democrat lawmakers have been
calling for all along, abolishing the police. Abolishing the police? Yeah, here I really
don’t see red states and blue states acting much differently. In fact, there is no clear
pattern of police funding being higher in either red or blue states. She is attacking a strawman.
(turns) Hey speaking of the strawman fallacy… In a National Divorce, the left could achieve
their dreams of total and complete lawlessness. Ah yes, blue states love lawlessness. But hold
up. Wait, she didn’t write “blue states.” She wrote “The Left.” Let’s uh, go back
up to the beginning of her thread. Tragically, I think we, the left and right,
have reached irreconcilable differences.I’ll speak for the right and say, we are absolutely
disgusted and fed up with the left cramming and forcing their ways on us and our children
with no respect for our religion/faith, traditional values, and economic
& government policy beliefs. Oh crap, well now she’ll have to define
what she means as “left” and “right.” (hand to temple) Goodness…well I
made a video about that, as well.
The bottom line is, I’m not worried about
a “national divorce” happening any time soon. You see, red states and blue
states kind of need each other. Heck, state borders in the United States are often
barely noticeable, anyway. I know I stressed a lot of the differences, but these days, most
states have way more in common than differences, whether politicians like to admit it or not.
Sure, Americans seem as divided as they’ve ever been in history excluding the years right
before the Civil War, but that’s mostly because of the rhetoric we hear from a select few in
media who like to keep us riled up and angry at each other…mostly based on culture issues by
the way…because that’s how they make their money. It’s quite profitable to keep us divided. In
fact, it’s why you clicked on this video, innit. So what do YOU think of this idea of a
national divorce? Let me know. I want to hear from everyone! Folks from red states, blue
states, purple states, Latin American states, European states, African states, Asian states.
Heck, even Australian states. (pause) Oh, sorry New Zealand we forgot you again.
