As long as California is creating high-paying jobs, has world-class universities, and is immigrant-friendly, a steady supply of talent is not an issue, whether that talent comes from other countries in the former US or elsewhere. I sure as shit would immigrate out of Louisville, KY if blue states weren't propping us up. Plus, if CA didn't have the burden of seeing its income taxes being taken out of state, it would have a lot more money to spend on social safety nets and education, making CA an even more attractive place to live, work, and train.
Here's my vision of how it might work. Kind of torn on whether Kentucky would be in Heartlandia or the United Southern Confederation. Also torn on whether New Mexico and Arizona would go with California or Texas. I kind of suspect surrounding states might gravitate toward Texas. So maybe even Louisiana and Arkansas would join Greater Texas.
And then when they run out of water and power? Will people still want to come?
If California wanted to use the Central Valley to grow cereals instead of cash crops like almonds and fruit, I'm sure they could be incredibly productive.
Water can be bought from poor neighbors who need foreign currency to prop up their shitty economies. Why would power be an issue?
You start buying water then your available extra money you mentioned goes away. Power is an issue now in California. Take away all the sources external to California and its a huge barrier or you are paying huge rates like with the water.
There is no way a state (or coalition of states) succeeds the US and then immediately and willingly joins another nation.
It might happen more peacefully than most people would expect imo. The real violence would likely come from the preceding social and economic instability that fuels separatist movements (something like the current domestic terrorist attacks we're currently experiencing but amplified several times over to the point dozens are dying every single day over this particular issue). It would be so bad that many in the public would simply not entertain the idea of killing fellow Americans they don't even want to share a government with. I can't help feeling like the Republicans are going to push this country into a depression so terrible that the government simply won't have the funding necessary to militarily keep the union from splitting anyway. The country is already being strained by gerrymandering and the electoral college as is. A real depression (and not just a recession) will definitely send cities and states over the edge socially and financially. This would be something decades in the making, though. I'm talking 2050 and beyond.
They have a bigger population and bigger GDP than us. Plus cultural differences
Not sure how that helps the water issue.
Can you name another arid country that consumes as much water as California? They would also have to pay more tax on the goods they are now exporting to parts of the former United States. There are too many negatives to just hand wave and say it won't matter.
Why would the agricultural regions necessarily join the new countries, rather than stay with their much more ideologically-similar neighbors right across an invisible border?
Why go that extremely tough route when something like the EU could be far more feasible anyway? All the separatist talk recently has made me brainstorm ideas of some sort of North American Union or Federation (NAU or NAF) eventually coming about as a way for the fractured North American region to retain clout in a world where China has the largest economy and military budget. It'd definitely include traditional blue states (except maybe Pennsylvania and Ohio) and Canada. Unlike the EU we're way more culturally, politically and linguistically similar to boot (seriously, blue states and canada are a completely different monster compared to the south). This stuff is all so far off we'll all be old and crusty, so it doesn't feel as far-fetched to me.
Here's my vision of how it might work. Kind of torn on whether Kentucky would be in Heartlandia or the United Southern Confederation. Also torn on whether New Mexico and Arizona would go with California or Texas. I kind of suspect surrounding states might gravitate toward Texas. So maybe even Louisiana and Arkansas would join Greater Texas.
How could it possibly be business as usual when the trading entities are now separate countries. That doesn't make sense.
Yeah sure. I agree. California would fare much better than any of the deep red states.
