California is making the mistake of believing their own propaganda. They are under the delusion that they are superior to and already independent of the United States. They are in for a rude awakening as America under Trump has a lot of big sticks to beat California like a rented mule until they reverse course.
Water is California’s Achilles Heel. Southern California gets most of its water from the Colorado River in Arizona and Arizona would take it all. Imagine Arizona becoming an agricultural powerhouse while the Imperial Valley returned to desert while people in L.A. start building latrines because water is too valuable to flush. It is doubtful that Northern California would be willing to share its water with SoCal because they have their grapes to grow. There would be starvation because no water means no food.
Electricity is another California weakness. California imports more electricity than any other state, primarily hydroelectric power from states in the Pacific Northwest and coal- and natural gas-fired production from the desert Southwest via Path. It is doubtful that Californians want to sit in the dark when the windmills don’t have any wind. California does have quite a bit of electricity generation fueled by natural gas but the entire state’s natural gas and oil supply arrives through pipelines coming from Texas and those would be shut down in hours. California imports 2/3rds of its oil and gas and during hostilities they will not be getting any from the United States and they certainly will not be getting it from ocean oil tankers or Mexico. The US Navy is still by far the largest in the world and the blockade of California’s ports would be total. It is likely that the US military would move seize Mexican and California territory in order to isolate it from Mexico as well. Californians will be burning redwoods and trash for cooking. It would take years for California to develop its oil and gas industries and that is time that will not be given to them.
Unfortunately for California’s new citizens, many California-based companies are incorporated in Delaware, for the lower tax rates. Also, the US government would pressure all companies that want to do business in the US to move all operations and jobs to other states in the US. America has over a hundred years of enforcing sanctions and trade embargos on foreign countries around the world and every bit of that expertise and malice will be brought to bear on California. America will be able to do this because it has seven times the GDP of California and there is no corporation or trading partner is going to give up seven customers for one. Expect to be cut off from the banking system, very few if any countries would recognize a California passport, and there would be no commercial airline service even if the US Air Force was not shooting down anything that tried to fly. California makes a lot of money off of the internet and access to that will be cut off as well and even the best internet business model in the world means nothing if nobody can access it.
The only hope California would have to secede is if they could convince other states to join them which is highly unlikely because these smaller states would necessarily be dominated and diminished by the 40 million Californians. Another option would be for California to become the protectorate of another nation but which one, China, Russia, Mexico? What sane person would want that? On the flip side the United States could promise Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona that California will be broken up and granted to the three states, thereby giving Arizona and Nevada access to the Pacific which is way better than anything California could offer.
Geography also enforces America’s military advantage over California. The United States is the only country with thousands of miles of ocean separating it from anyone else with an army, navy or air force to speak of and that leaves California alone, on the same continent with America. America will have still have access to both the Pacific and the Atlantic, the breadbasket of the Midwest, the Mississippi River, the longest navigable river in the world, the industrial heartland, vast reserves of oil, natural gas, and coal, and 280 million people who would love the chance to live on the California coast.
California is a great and powerful state but it is very entwined with and dependent upon the rest of the country economically. It has not evolved as an independent nation and the process of transformation into a nation state will take a far longer amount of time than America will give it. The best advice for California is to STFU about CalExit because you are just sounding stupid.
You know what, a lot of us who believe in states rights will be on CA side in a secession. I want them to leave ASAP without any strings attached. The rest of the USA would be so much better of. But if the USA lifts one finger militarily to stop CA you'll have a much bigger problem on your hand then just CA secession. I hope you unionists are ready for it.
Yours is an incredibly militant position that I do not believe would be universal. If California seeks peaceful separation I and many others will be willing to seriously consider it. I lived in the SF Bay Area for 12 years and enjoyed much of my time there and have fond memories and good friends there, but taking away California would abruptly take away much of the leftward impetus on the U.S. and force the Democrats to radically reinvent themselves or become completely irrelevant on a national level.