California has always been a state different from the rest, it is vastly diverse and already disagrees with most of the country on almost all political stand points. Being the highest ranked by population with over 39 million people living here, I believe we could become our own country but what would we benefit if we seceded from the United States? Aside from the obvious of not being led by the reality star we are forced to call our president. This is a hard question to answer because the fact is the idea of becoming our own country is great, but the implication must be done right in order for it to be successful.
Politically speaking we are unlike many of the states in America, were considered the most liberal state and have long been a democratic stronghold. How would this effect the rest of the country if we left? Well, according to political scientist Stephen Saideman, “Democrats have depended on California since the early 1990s for having a chance to win presidential elections”. Leaving would be in our best interest but there’s a huge possibility we would be leaving the United States in a bigger mess hindering the lives of the people who we once called our own. Although we disagree with much of the rest of the country on immigration and environmental policies there are still states such as Hawaii, Vermont, New York and list goes on, that also have the same values as we do. Leaving them behind could be a disaster waiting to happen. Since being formed as a state in 1850 over one hundred and sixty-nine years ago we have had more than two hundred secession proposals and as a result of the 2016 election of Donald Trump many people have called for the state’s secession yet again. The organization ‘Yes California’ is a notable secession movement that argues that our economy is so strong, 6th largest in the world to be exact that we could easily sustain as our own country. They believe that being a US state is no longer serving California’s best interest and we would be better suited making our own laws. When putting this in perspective it does have a certain appeal. However, becoming our own country wouldn’t be easy. It would only be possible through revolution or consent of States meaning we would need a two-thirds vote from both the House and Senate as well as approval from of as many as 38 states. Is this impossible? No, but highly unlikely. As for revolution, I honestly don’t see this as a necessary option for us considering we are a peaceful state and we would want to exit amicably. The growing population alone might pose a problem, people from all over flock to California to live here for many reasons such as our weather, the diversity or even the hopes of becoming famous. Right now, we have almost 40 million people living here, and that number only gets bigger every year. According to overpopulation.org, “Current projections indicate that populations may double from the 1990 level to 58.7 million by 2040”. This can cause severe environmental and ecological deterioration not only will this bring serious air pollution and polluted water supplies it will also create a lack of affordable housing near places of employment causing California to become even more expensive than it already is. As many people already know the inflation rate in California is extremely high. Every year our rent gets higher ever so slightly as well as the price for gas, groceries, and even clothes. If you’re anything like me you’re still left getting paid minimum wage and hardly ever getting a raise just working to keep it all together. Joe Guzzardi from lodinews.com reports: “More than 1.5 million Californians depend on monthly welfare grants. Accordingly, California's caseload far outnumbers the rest of the country, with 3.8 percent of the state's 2010 population receiving welfare benefits. As a result, California will spend $6 billion this fiscal year on its welfare programs alone, about 7 percent of its general fund budget”. Now if we did secede from the United States what would happen to the 1.5 million people on welfare? This could be a huge problem for many families if there is no longer any program set in place to replace welfare and with expanding population and growing inflation set to get higher, I foresee many of these families would unfortunately become homeless and having no hope for their future.
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These are the questions that weigh heavily on if becoming our own country is the right decision for everyone. It’s really no surprise that the election of Donald Trump has motivated Californian activists to encourage the secession, his campaign is a direct threat to our civil liberties and does not align with our values as decent human beings. Being separated from his tyranny alone would be benefit enough and seeing as there have only been three one-term presidents since World War II, I would not be surprised if won and served again. Leading me to if we seceded, a few of the benefits would include not having to pay into the federal government more than it receives by 65 billion dollars a year which could benefit us a whole, rather than going toward federal purposes that have no benefit toward us what so ever. We would also be able to choose our own policies on all sorts of topics such as renewable energy, immigration, and legality of private weapons. It all sounds like a dream, but again it brings me back to the rest of the country. There are pros and cons that come with every situation, the bigger the situation the bigger the pros and cons weigh. If I’m being honest there is no right answer. If we seceded it could create a wonderful opportunity for us to flourish and become what we always knew we could be, but in taking this opportunity we leave our fellow Americans behind just because it might benefit us in the long run. What does that really say about us? At the end of the day California is our home and I think with time and enough hope we can help all of the United States become what California most stands for, diversity and love for everyone.
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