A bill proposing that California be split into six states will be on the 2016 ballot. Though the idea to split up California has been floating out there for years, a Silicon Valley businessman recently submitted the current proposal. The logic behind the idea is that if the state were chopped up, the constituents in each new state would have more similar interests, creating more efficient governments. I have three major problems with the proposal:

1. While the idea is intriguing in some ways, that line of logic is perpetual. If California were chopped into six new states, those states could then claim that forming more new states would make them even more efficient.

2. The proposal went as far as to call California a “failed state” that has been mismanaged. While it’s true that California has been mismanaged, I wouldn’t say that over the past few decades it’s been unmanageable, just mismanaged. Better management would have and still could make this discussion irrelevant.

3. It also can’t be ignored that California can’t declare itself six states. The federal government would still have to independently approve the idea.

While California is quite possibly the most diverse state, that doesn’t mean splitting up is inevitable. I mean if French and English speaking Canada are going to stay united, I don’t see why the liberal north and conservative south of California can’t agree on things.