Thoughtful Article About California Secession Dreams

11/11/16 Bloomberg:

Whether or not secession works out, people like Altman have plenty of backup plans. In an earlier interview with the New Yorker, Altman explained his preparations for the apocalypse: “I have guns, gold, potassium iodide, antibiotics, batteries, water, gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force, and a big patch of land in Big Sur I can fly to.” Plan B is to fly to New Zealand with billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

Okay, this is why half the country hates the wealthy elite. They can muck things up all they want, and simply leave when the going gets tough....

California’s secession is unlikely to go any better. It became the world’s sixth largest economy thanks in large part to transfers from the rest of the country. The Bay Area tech industry received much of its early funding from the U.S. Navy for things like radios and aeronautics research, which created demand for vacuum tubes and San Jose’s mercury mines. The biggest buyers of early silicon circuitswere the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Secessionists point out that California receives only 94 cents in federal spending for every dollar it pays in income tax. Yet leaving could sever crucial ties to the rest of the country. Southern California gets most of its water from the Colorado River in Arizona, and the entire state’s natural gas and oil supply arrives through pipelines coming from Texas. Many California-based companies are incorporated in Delaware, for the lower tax rates.

In theory, state representatives could negotiate independent trade agreements, but this would cost a lot more than the 6 percent of California tax dollars that go to other parts of the union (there’s something to be said for economies of scale). Plus, the new Republic of California wouldn’t survive a foreign invasion unless it built its own military or became the protectorate of another nation.

I had not even thought of water issues.  Not mentioned is how much electricity comes from the Northwest's hydroelectric system. Even today, a lot of California industry is DoD-funded, which would come to an end.

Visit the Pacific Coast Before You Need a Passport

Oregonians are starting a secession movement.  They better have California leave with them.  California might be a realistic nation, until the food counties secede, but Oregon?  And much of Oregon from Bend east would secede from Portlandia.

Don't like the national government imposing its will on Oregon?  Now you know how other states feel in the years that the national government did the same with same-sex marriage and gun control.  Try federalism as a solution: national government does things that truly national (foreign policy, interstate commerce) and leaves states free to deal with everything else.