Recently, I blogged about the difficulty they are having in Israel, where the fundamentalists are going head-to-head with “normal” people. This morning’s Times caught up to my canny reporting.
Here’s even more proof. This opinion piece from Haaretz newspaper proposes that liberal Israelis need a separate state. Carlo Strenger proposes a four-state solution: One Orthodox Jewish, one politically conservative (in the area called the West Bank, no less), one Palestinian, and one for secular liberals.
We’ll manage just fine. Our taxes will finally go to institutions we respect and with which we identify – just like the other groups … And like the ultra-Orthodox, we won’t have to serve in an army that will be sent into useless wars.
Ouch.
Although I don’t necessarily agree with the premise that the two-state solution is done with, and I recogize that the author must have his toungue in his cheek, this got me thinking.
I wouldn’t mind that here. Let the super-religous have the South. The Mormons can keep Utah. Well take New York, Minnesota and California. We’ll make lots of entertainment product, software, and other stuff the other “states” will need. We’ll keep more of our taxes — New York and California always send the Feds more than we get back now. We’ll have healthcare and plenty of rights. And we’ll hardly ever go to war.