Life in California could be surprisingly normal if 'Calexit' happens and the state secedes from the US http://www.businessinsider.com/what-would-happen-if-calexit-happens-2016-11 http://www.businessinsider.com/author/melia-robinson Melia Robinson http://www.businessinsider.com/author/melia-robinson mailto:[email protected] aim:goim?screenname=mrobinson http://twitter.com/meliarobin 4h 30,186 FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http://www.businessinsider.com/what-would-happen-if-calexit-happens-2016-11 LINKEDIN http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=http://www.businessinsider.com/what-would-happen-if-calexit-happens-2016-11&title=Life%20in%20California%20could%20be%20surprisingly%20normal%20if%20%27Calexit%27%20happens%20and%20the%20state%20secedes%20from%20the%20US&summary=Ready%20for TWITTER http://twitter.com/share?url=http://read.bi/2emQqr0&via=sai&text=Here%27s+what+could+happen+if+California+had+a+%27Calexit%27+and+left+the+US EMAIL http://www.businessinsider.com/what-would-happen-if-calexit-happens-2016-11# PRINT A young boy holds a California State flag. Justin Sullivan/Getty "Calexit," a campaign in California for the state to become an independent nation, has gone viral after Donald Trump won the race to the White House. The Yes California Independence Campaign http://www.yescalifornia.org/ aims to put a referendum on a 2018 ballot that, if passed, would bring California one step closer to legally seceding from the union. Far-fetched as it may sound, the campaign exploded from a fringe political group to a nationwide social media trend http://www.businessinsider.com/california-secession-calexit-2016-11 in a matter of hours as Californians came to terms with a Trump presidency. The movement has at least one impressive backer in Shervin Pishevar, an early backer of Uber and a well-known angel investor who offered to bankroll the campaign on Twitter http://www.businessinsider.com/shervin-pishevar-wants-california-to-become-own-nation-if-trump-wins-2016-11. Yes California released a 33-page blue book on its website this year explaining its path to secession. It also provides clues as to what life might be like in a post-secession California. To be clear, a state has not seceded from the union since the 1860s, and those 11 southern states rejoined after the American Civil War. The event that Calexit actually happens is unlikely, and we have no idea what the impact of a California exit might have. But Yes California claims, at least, that a new California will be more or less the same. If California broke away from the union — a process that would take years http://www.businessinsider.com/calexit-explainer-california-plans-to-secede-2016-11 after the state election in 2018, when Californians will potentially (though unlikely) vote on a ballot initiative that gauges their support for secession — it would become a sort of sister nation of the US. "We're not trying a 1860s breakaway," Louis Marinelli, president of Yes California, told The Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-morrison-marinelli-20150826-column.html in 2015."We're talking about California being recognized as a nation within a nation, like Scotland in the United Kingdom. We feel California is more than just a state." Marcus Ruiz Evans, of The Yes California Independence Campaign, talks to passersby about California seceding from the United States and becoming its own nation. Rich Pedroncelli/AP We don't know yet what kind of government, be it parliamentary or presidential, would take hold. Californians would choose the type of democracy it installs through a series of elections, according to the group's blue book. The country could craft an entirely new system, which sounds like it would change life quite a bit, contrary to Yes on California's claims. Instead of paying taxes to the federal government, Californians would keep that money in the state. Yes California expects those tax dollars would increase California's budget by "hundreds of billions of dollars," seeing that the state has paid more in federal taxes than it has received in federal payouts (in the amount of double-digit billions) every year since 1995. An independent California would continue to use American currency, the group hopes. The US dollar is a "'fully-tradeable' international currency, which means any country can use it if it wants to without requiring the US Government's permission." Ecuador, El Salvador, and the British Virgin Islands, for example, use http://qz.com/260980/meet-the-countries-that-dont-use-their-own-currency/ the US dollar. Demonstrators across California marched in protest on November 9 after Donald Trump won the race to the White House. Sandy Huffaker/Reuters The swirling uncertainty around Calexit, which has yet to get a formal response from Sacramento, the state's capital, prompts lots of questions. The campaign's blue book at least addresses the more practical elements of life in California. What happens to our avocados? Could we still compete in the Olympics? (Answer is yes.) The Golden State's ranches and farms raked in $47 billion in crop cash receipts https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/statistics/ in 2015. It produces over a third of the country's vegetables and two-thirds of fruits and nuts, making California's agriculture industry the largest in the nation. Booming agriculture could theoretically keep California's economy afloat post-secession. Yes California wants to reinvest the money the new country earns in global experts into environmental conservation, technological innovation, and road maintenance and transportation infrastructure. (It ignores the awkward transition that millions of Californians would have to make in turning their businesses into global ones.) California is the majority producer of avocados, kiwifruit, olives, grapes, and almonds, and leads the nation with 65 other fruits, nuts, and vegetables, according to the Yes California campaign website. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Worried about your social security dollars? Yes California thought of that, too. The Social Security Administration allows US citizens living outside the country to receive retirement payment so long as they are eligible and reside in a country https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10137.pdf where the US can send money. People living in Cuba or North Korea, for example, must exit to get their money. Still, it's impossible to know how Yes California's dreamy picture of California as an independent nation would play out in practical terms. The blue book leaves a gaping hole in one important area, summarized in this tweet. Follow https://twitter.com/TheURCShow URC @TheURCShow https://twitter.com/TheURCShow Go ahead, California.....secede. Just don't expect any fresh water from the other 49! #Calexit https://twitter.com/hashtag/Calexit?src=hash 9:45 AM - 9 Nov 2016 https://twitter.com/TheURCShow/status/796408451761049600 https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=796408451761049600 156156 Retweets https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=796408451761049600 624624 likes https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=796408451761049600 There's no clear path to supply the state's 38 million people with drinking water. While much of California's water comes from rain and snow https://mavensnotebook.com/the-notebook-file-cabinet/californias-water-systems/ that falls in the northern and eastern parts, the Colorado River also funnels water into drought-stricken western states including California. While Southern California has invested more than $1 billion http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/28/colorado-to-california-hands-off-our-water.html over the last decade to decrease its dependence on the Colorado, the state up and leaving the US would probably not bode well under the 94-year-old agreement between Colorado and its neighbors. Yes California's response? "No water, no food." Follow https://twitter.com/YesCalifornia Yes California @YesCalifornia https://twitter.com/YesCalifornia No water, no food. California feeds the USA. The water will keep flowing. #Calexit https://twitter.com/hashtag/Calexit?src=hash https://twitter.com/commonsense269/status/796672970315939840 … https://t.co/qXMHKaVYc1 3:53 AM - 10 Nov 2016 https://twitter.com/YesCalifornia/status/796682233025331200 https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=796682233025331200 6262 Retweets https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=796682233025331200 183183 likes https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=796682233025331200 Yes California has a short window to answer these questions and more. As the campaign becomes inundated with new interest, following the election's biggest upset in political history, Yes California will face more scrutiny, as well. The group's Facebook pagedoubled in "likes" http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article113790243.html since November 8th, and gained just as many opponents on social media. Curiosity may fade as quickly as it started unless Yes California finds followers beyond Facebook and Twitter's fleeting ones. SEE ALSO: Californians are calling for a 'Calexit' from the US — here's how a secession could work http://www.businessinsider.com/calexit-explainer-california-plans-to-secede-2016-11 NOW WATCH: People in California are calling for a 'Calexit' after Trump’s victory http://www.businessinsider.com/calexit-protest-secession-movement-california-president-elect-donald-trump-2016-11 h More: BI Innovation http://www.businessinsider.com/category/bi-innovation California http://www.businessinsider.com/category/california Secession http://www.businessinsider.com/category/secession http://www.businessinsider.com/category/yes-california-independence-campaign http://www.businessinsider.com/category/yes-california-independence-campaign
[GELORA45] Life in California could be surprisingly normal if 'Calexit' happens and the state secedes from the US
[email protected] [GELORA45] Thu, 10 Nov 2016 17:53:48 -0800
