Should California Secede from the US?

[meowchi]

(A purely hypothetical post )

Californians,

In the top 10 largest economies of the world, with prodigious industry, a diverse population, rich natural resources, and a growing rift with the federal government, why is California sharing a budget with the rest of the states when we could be enjoying our very own Republic?

I realize it federally cannot happen. However hypothetically, if California were able, would it be better off as its own country?

Economy of California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The economy of California is a dominant force in the economy of the United States, with California paying more to the federal system than it receives in direct monetary benefits

It truly boggles my mind that there is not a large succession movement in California. California is the richest state in the US and pays more tax to the federal government that any other state. And what do we get for our taxes? We get idiot rednecks like Bush going into the Middle East, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people (including brave American soldiers), and bankrupting the country in the process. Bush is too stupid to realize that the reason the world hates the US and the reason terrorists want to blow up the US is because the US government has a history of doing stupid things like the war in Iraq. If we didn't do things like destroy Iraq terrorists would not be after us. Why should the hard earned money of the blue states go to pay for the stupid decisions of the idiot leaders elected by the red states?

Imagine how much better we could make the schools, infrastructure, environment, economy and other things in California if we invested all of the tax money the Federal government steals from us to blow up Iraq and instead invested that money in making California a better place.

California should not sit back and watch the rest of the country drag us down with them. We Californians should rise up, demand our independence, and create a much better California.

[Asmodai]

Until things change...

50 years ago, Michigan, New York and Ohio were the dominant economies and California was an agricultural backwater.

In 50 years ago, California must be an e-rustbelt state with the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana propping up the economy. The point of the union is that by being more diverse, you can better weather changes in fortune.

Think of how bad Hurricane Katrina was, then imagine how much worse it would be in the other states hadn't helped. When the Big Quake hits, I'm pretty positive California will be glad to have help cleaning up.

[Saburo]

Sounds fine but if all the sports teams in Cali go *POOF* off the map, there'll be hell to pay.

[StreakInTheSky]

As someone who has lived in California my whole life, that actually sounds like a pretty nice idea.

If the big quake hits, would other nations actually not come and help out anyways? Of course things will be better off if it were a state when it happens, but I doubt it will be much different, the damage would have been done.

California by itself has a really strong diverse economy with technology, entertainment, agriculture, and natural resources when compared to most other countries already (and no i didn't just get that off wikipedia >_>).

The only big problem I can think of might be with military.

Hey if Japan was able to become a world power after WWII from having a ravaged country, I don't see how California can't do it as they are already better off.