Wednesday, February 22, 2017

FP: "California Really Has What It Takes to Secede"

Via Drudge: With the election of Donald Trump and the backlash to some of his early moves in office, Americans are rediscovering nationalism. But confusion reigns over what American nationalism really is. Does it have to be federalist, for instance? Does it have to be liberal? In one of the great ironies of the political season, these kinds of questions are thrown into sharp relief by the strangest nationalist movement now underway — in California.

Drawing inspiration from breakaway groups in Europe, organizations like the “Yes California” movement and the California National Party want to peaceably, legally transform the West Coast of the United States into a “pragmatic progressive” paradise. From one angle, California nationalism, and this particular expression of it, makes perfect sense. Despite marked divides between its northern and southern halves, the Golden State has always nourished its own identity. That stamp was apparent even when Californians played a leading role in fueling all-American patriotism, from the early days of the space program to the closing days of the Ronald Reagan administration.

But now California’s cultural and political leanings have begun to shift away from most of the rest of the country. At a time when only five states in the union boast both Democratic governors and majorities in the state legislature, California is the last place in America where the political left rules unimpeded over a society and an economy large enough to prosper as a nation. Critics warn that the state’s progressive management has grown paradoxically sclerotic, overseeing a slow-motion public pensions crisis, neglecting infrastructure, and building a budgetary house of cards hostage to fluctuating income tax levels from the resident superrich.

But mores matter even more than money, and most Californians have been more than willing put up with the state’s problems so long as their way of life is protected and perfected. Resistance from a stubborn conservative remnant in the far north and central valley has never been able to halt the libidinous, drug-friendly, welfare-statist juggernaut that is the state’s dominant culture. From climate law to immigration law (or the lack thereof), California’s elected Democrats see themselves rightly as the strongest center of opposition to American conservatives and to Trump alike, and the one with the deepest popular legitimacy.

Link to the rest of the article

11 comments:

Amartel said...

Attitudes will change quickly when the protected progressive people on the coast start to feel the real world effects of progressive policy. Up until now, they've only had to drive through it (windows up! doors locked!) on the way to Tahoe. No way of telling when or where the dam (pun intended) will break, but it will.

ampersand said...

I'm all up for Caliexit provided it's by county. 50.00001% vote and you're gone. I would encourage illegal voting in LA and SF to get them over the top. The next day give them the Berlin wall treatment including shooting anyone trying to get out.

Methadras said...

There is so much they would have to jump through to even get to an actual secession and even if the state votes for it, it still has to get ratified by congress. Good luck with that. They would never let the 5th largest economy in the world leave the union.

However, I am a big fan of breaking up the state in 3 or 6 parts. It's just to big to manage.

Leland said...

My only concern with Caliexit is the value of the US having a port on the Pacific Ocean. If California were to easily (read no bloodshed) exit the US; then Oregon and Washington state would probably be close behind (although both of those states will be driven by a rather small by highly populated portion of the overall land mass (which could be said for California too). For that reason, I agree with ampersand about voting by county.

My prediction for California as a nation is to look at Venezuela and ask, why can't that happen here?

Amartel said...

I read yesterday that Venezuelans have lost, on average, 19 pounds on the Maduro Diet.
A lot of Californians will view that as a positive development.
(Don't blame me, I just live here.)

Amartel said...

It needs to be broken up. Just like the 9th Circuit.

edutcher said...

What Leland said. Also that a lot of Californians would want to stay out of the clutches of a “'pragmatic' progressive paradise”.

I also seem to recall how all the Lefties, when there was talk of TX seceding, kept telling us how the Civil War had settled the subject. William Tecumseh Sherman, anyone?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

What do we have here.. a quick google "does california receive fed funds?"

The states that receive the most money from the federal government each year are, generally, the most populous ones. In 2010, eight of the 10 states with the highest population received the most. California, the most populous state in the country, receives the largest share — more than a third of a trillion dollars.Aug 3, 2012

States That Get The Most Federal Money - 24/7 Wall St.
247wallst.com/special-report/2012/08/03/states-that-get-the-most-federal-money/

chickelit said...

Right now, California has a near monopoly on stupid. I'm all for breaking up monopolies.

Rabel said...

I wish our friends in California would get on with it so we can settle the matter finally and in accordance with historical norms. I need them to hurry because once Reconstruction gets started I'll need to purchase a new carpetbag, get a federal writ, and get moved out there to pick up a neat, if slightly used, manufacturing operation near LA for pennies on the dollar before it goes to Nevada. Times a-wastin'.

Amartel said...

The states are supposed to be the "laboratories of Democracy." Justice Brandeis described how a "state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." (New State Ice Co. v. Liebman.) California will be the first Democracy lab to blow itself up.

I don't agree with secession. We, as a nation, have too much invested in California and there's too much future potential. We fought for it and paid for it (and continue to pay). If it secedes it will turn into Mexico and America will have to prop it up financially anyway so just forget about secession. It does need to be broken up. The hive mind on the coast and in Sacramento has too much power and is ruining too many lives. There are too many people who are not being counted in the choice to enact the foolish Moonbeam policies. Let the people who do carry out their laboratory experiments on themselves for once.