# Divide California into six states? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 24, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936 "2014-07-24T14:35:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/81 "2014-07-25T17:07:24Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > All of this is why at least four of the first ten full-scale fusion reactors . . . You know something we don’t? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/82 "2014-07-25T17:18:28Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > The technical legality was settled via approval from the _legitimate_ state legislature. The gang of traitors assembled in Richmond were not consulted. Because when a state secedes from the union, it becomes an indeterminate entity, basically just some land with some people on it. Unless secession is done in an orderly fashion, establishing treaties of recognition with the US, there are no rules, neighboring states might be at liberty to gobble up chunks of its territory with no offers of recourse or compensation. A state is not a state except by being part of the United States. Which is why six states from California (or four, or three) must be negotiated with Congress. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/83 "2014-07-25T17:24:47Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Read [this piece I linked above](http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/04/08/Central-California-is-Sinking-as-Groundwater-is-Depleted), the valley floor is subsiding because the farmers are over-tapping the aquifers. The subsidence is making the aquifers unrecoverable (the ground is compacting to the point that it will not again hold water). :eek: That is extremely disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/84 "2014-07-25T17:52:13Z")
To put the water problem into context, take a look at the image on this USGS Water Science page: [How much water is on Earth?](http://water.usgs.gov/edu/gallery/global-water-volume.html) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/85 "2014-07-25T18:39:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You know something we don’t? Not unless you can’t do simple math. There is no power source on earth that has the capacity to provide 30 million people and their industries with fresh water, given all real-world limitations of implementation, except fusion. Which is why we need to get one tokamak over the line, sweet jesus. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/86 "2014-07-25T18:44:51Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You know something we don’t? Just do a search on “skunkworks fusion”. Lockheed claims they have a deuterium bottle design that promises actual usable positive net power. They are saying expect a prototype about 3 years from now and deployment five years later. 100MW from a microbus-sized unit – yeah, I kind think not. But even 10 or 20 from such a device would be something. So, yeah, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/87 "2014-07-25T18:52:23Z")
Fusion has been five years from a breakthrough and twenty years from commercial implementation since about 1950. I’m not holding my breath. Then again, I don’t live in California any more, either. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/88 "2014-07-25T20:11:19Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Splitting Alaska up makes no sense… Well, hear me out on this one. We split Alaska into North Alaska and South Alaska and the senators and congressmen from North Alaska all have to be bears. In suits. With briefcases full of salmon. Think of how much more interesting the television broadcasts of congress would be if there were bears involved! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/89 "2014-07-25T22:50:38Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Well, hear me out on this one. We split Alaska into North Alaska and South Alaska and the senators and congressmen from North Alaska all have to be bears. In suits. With briefcases full of salmon. Think of how much more interesting the television broadcasts of congress would be if there were bears involved! [Sasquatches would be better.](http://zapatopi.net/bsa/militia/) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/90 "2014-07-25T23:21:20Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Well, hear me out on this one. We split Alaska into North Alaska and South Alaska and the senators and congressmen from North Alaska all have to be bears. In suits. With briefcases full of salmon. Think of how much more interesting the television broadcasts of congress would be if there were bears involved! I’m not looking forward to all the political debates over the right to arm bears, though. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/91 "2014-07-25T23:27:46Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I’m not looking forward to all the political debates over the right to arm bears, though. It’s Alaska. Way too cold to bare arms. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/92 "2014-07-26T00:16:43Z")
Well, if you’re talking names for the new divisions, I daresay the way for Californ-i-a is on “Atchison”, “Topeka” and “Santa Fe.” ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/93 "2014-07-26T05:22:42Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Doesn’t the Constitution prohibit this sort of nonsense? > > Also, Jefferson is a stupid name for a state. It should be Marx. That way, the City of Chico could be the State Capitol. The [State of Jefferson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_%28Pacific_state%29) was proposed in 1941 and would have comprised the CA/OR border area. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/94 "2014-07-26T05:27:34Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > A few thoughts / responses: > LA is a very different place from Orange County and San Diego. It makes sense to separate them. But I assure you that San Diego is very different from the Inland Empire. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/95 "2014-07-26T07:01:09Z")
Draper’s plan is just all messed up. First, we give some of the garbage counties to Nevada: Modoc, Lassen, Alpine, Mono, maybe one or two others. The Northwest seven or nine counties, including Mendocino, maybe Lake and one or two others, form Jefferson – because the US needs a state that starts with “J”. The Sacramento Valley counties, possibly as far down as Stockton, out to Sonoma county, can form the state of Zinfandel. Marin to Monterrey, encroaching on the valley, can form the state of Estancia. The San Joachin counties, including Inyo and Kern, will be the state of Yosemite. And all the southern counties can form the state of Que. Except Orange County. Nobody wants them. We can just kick them out of the US and let them go it alone. Obviously, that leaves “B” and “X”. For “B”, just lop off a bunch of West Texas to form Big Bend. And X, well, we can leave that be, as an anonymous state. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/96 "2014-07-26T14:43:10Z")
X can be the corner of Idaho and Montana inhabited by the survivalists. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/97 "2014-07-26T15:51:05Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > It should subdivide into alphabetical groupings of towns. And then they need to line up alphabetically by height. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/98 "2014-07-26T21:00:52Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Except Orange County. Nobody wants them. We can just kick them out of the US and let them go it alone. Oh please. They form the state of _Disneyland!_ ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/99 "2014-07-26T21:14:04Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Is that a big problem for CT, NY, NJ? > > Not that I’d advocate the split, but commuting across state lines isn’t a logistical nightmare. It’s pretty common on the east coast. No it’s not a logistical nightmare. It is an issue though. The Port Authority handles cross-state issues (and also the airports). If you want to get into NYC from NJ, you can take the Path Tubes, which are a subway or you can ride commuter trains directly into Penn Station. What you can’t do is take the NY subway directly into Hoboken, NJ. You can ride the NY subway all day between Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn though on a single fare. To put it another way, it might have been better from a planning perspective to create a state known as “Tristate” covering NYC, Westchester and parts of Connecticut and NJ, 200 years ago. Upstate NY would have been spin off. Southern NJ could be joined with Philadelphia and maybe Delaware, etc. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936/100 "2014-07-26T21:14:53Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Oh please. They form the state of _Disneyland!_ Disney World is bigger, better and newer. Of course, you have to slog through the gunshine state to get to it. Why does Disneycorp put their parks in such shitholes? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-california-into-six-states/693936.md?page=6)