Citing Benjamin Cohen, a political economist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the Daily Mail proposed in a report that California may leave the United States and ignite a civil war within the next decade.
Cohen said that political polarization in the United States has reached an astonishing level, and the risk of internal conflict is “a lot greater than zero.”
He outlined a hypothetical yet plausible scenario in 2035 that ignored federal authorities and declared California independence and encouraged a military response from the White House.
“President (JD) Vance threatened a military takeover of the Sacramento state government, supported by the National Guard troops from a nearby red state. Armed conflicts seem to be becoming more and more possible,” Cohen wrote in a mock breaking news.
The state’s concept of security gains traction among disillusioned citizens who feel marginalized by Washington. Cohen emphasized the power of identity politics, noting that “rationalism falls on the roadside” when community loyalty takes over.
A recent YouGov poll has strengthened these concerns, with 40% of Americans thinking that the Civil War is likely within the next decade. This welcomes Democrats not only to the federal government, but to Republicans.
“It’s hard for me to imagine how things would be divided in the event of a civil war,” Cohen said. “But the probability of such a war is much greater than zero.”
He describes the possibility of withdrawal as a “undervalued phenomenon,” and points out that many Americans are ready to reject US federal authorities in pursuit of new political boundaries along the ideology.
Separation means abandoning the US Constitution, federal law, and system. This essentially forms a new, independent country.
MA/PR