Texit

Back and to the Out

Tonight as I took my dog on his nightly jaunt through the neighborhood (he's the kind of beast that likes to activate all of the dogs in their yards without barking back, because he clearly enjoys instigating), I caught a fair number of backyard cookouts and family get-togethers. I live in an area that's nicely diverse, and as I saw a number of kids running around playing various chase games with various accessories, it really didn't matter what language they were speaking, because every part of it reminded me of my own family events. There's really nothing more heart-warming than seeing generations coming together, with the young buring calories at a ferocious rate, while the older folk chuckle at the shenanigans. Language really doesn't matter.

But as we moved our mile down the road, to blocks that are very different in their demographics, I started to wonder if everyone felt the way I did. And from there, to the fallout from the UK referendum to leave the European Union, and it's continuing impact on world markets, and by inevitable extension, marketing and advertsing circles.

To wit... could something similar happen here?

If you think about it, the United States really is more fragile than we might care to admit, and might not make sense from a shared values experience. The people of Seattle have much more in common with the people of Vancouver than they do with, say, Miami. Miami's denizens probably don't care all that much about what happens in Maine, and outside of tourism experiences, none of the above probably thinks all that much about, say, Los Angeles or Hawaii. And none of those folks think very often about the northern plains, and vice versa.

Something more to this, even with all of the uncertainty in this year's contest; all of these places are increasingly likely to always vote in the same direction in general Presidential elections. Similarly, cities tend to always vote differently than rural areas, regardless of the state they are located. So what's to stop Balkanization from going world-wide, even if it's not so likely in a country that, all things considered, really isn't under the same level of stress and uncertainty as the countries in Europe? Especially if the immediate fallout from the UK vote leads to, say, Scotland and London both trying to re-enter the EU on their own?

In the U.S., there's the historical precedent of intense warfare, let alone the interconnected nature and shared language and currency of the States. We also have a shared military, currency, language, electrical grid and so on. Patriotism isn't felt more or less strongly by different groups and regions, even if you might not see the same percentage of flags on cars or turnout at Fourth of July events.

But maybe that changes. Especially if the vote continues to polarize, and the nature of technology, communication and trade continues to add stress and uncertainty to the future earning power of various groups. Maybe the social belief systems and nature of shared values continues to erode, especially as we make uneven progress on social issues, a trend from religious to secular, and we all spend an increasing amount of time on the coarse-inspiring Internet,

I'm sure that, would such a bill come to public voting and debate, it would fail, and the U.S. would remain a single nation. But I'm less sure that if that vote were to keep coming up, that the rate to remain would always stay the same.

Because that's kind of the problem with taking your country "back". It doesn't always sit well with those who were, in their opinion, taking it forward.

* * * * *

Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes at top right. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.