On Dec. 2 some Siskiyou County activists came to the Lake County Board of Supervisors meeting to make a well-rehearsed pitch for the creation of a proposed “State of Jefferson.”

Consisting of a dozen or so Northern California counties possibly augmented by a chunk of Southern Oregon, this new state would instantly become the most impoverished in the United States, bankrupt at birth.

Without the infrastructure of a modern economy – no east-west interstate highway or railroad, no deep water port, no significant airport, no major medical center or university (and next to no opportunities for higher education at all), and nothing remotely resembling a metropolitan area, its prospects would be most unlikely to get better anytime soon.

Proponents say the region is underserved by Sacramento despite receiving far more in state services than it pays in taxes.

After secession, the new state would continue to be geographically isolated, sparsely populated and economically disadvantaged, lacking the resources to fund public education, highways, parks, or law enforcement to anything remotely approaching an acceptable standard.

This is progress?

Why would anyone advocate for such a ruinous proposal?

Just look at the beneficiaries, starting with multinational resource extraction corporations. Without the protections provided by California’s strict environmental regulations, the region’s abundant natural resources would be ripe for the plucking.

As an even more significant motivation, rich political prizes – two US Senate seats and three Electoral College votes – would fall to the most reactionary wing of American politics.

Membership in a “State of Jefferson” offers no advantages to the residents of Lake County. So it was dismaying to see members of the Board of Supervisors taking the idea seriously, seizing the opportunity to make wisecracks, playing to the gallery of imported green t-shirted supporters and taking cheap shots at state government.

Rather than wasting time in this irresponsible manner, they should learn to work with our newly elected state representatives to obtain concrete benefits for our community.

Victoria Brandon lives in Lower Lake, Calif.