We have nuclear weapons plus the leading cyber people in the world. We are trading partners with most of the world's nations. We wouldn't need a defense treaty- though if we wanted it would certainly be easy to get one.
Make no mistake- this is not the Confederacy in 1860. They were a bunch of agricultural states who left most of the heavy industry they relied on behind. They had no chance of staying out of the Union, and the only reason it took nearly 5 years to force them back in is because they had a lot of very smart military people who succeeded, for a time, against the odds. California is totally different. If we left, we take the industry with us. We could not be forced back in.
California has nuclear weapons? I knew there were nuclear weapons owned by the feds cited there, but their own nukes?
I'm wondering, though they are an agricultural power their economy is not dependent upon agriculture, but would that dry up fast if the calls on the flows from the Colorado River, then not dependent on current compacts which would be voided, wouldn't decimate the agricultural industry.
I wonder whether the booming business at California ports might, in part, move elsewhere for direct import and export with the U.S.
I wonder the effect on the tourism industry if visiting California meant crossing an international border.
My impression is that the State has a nearly unbearable welfare role, and growing.
How much of the land inside California is actually federal land and not California land and what would be the effects of transactions to consolidate the land inside their current border.
I suspect much of the business climate in California benefits from not being foreign business as far as the U.S. is concerned, but what do I know, it may well be a benefit to be "off shore" for tax purposes.
I think much of the aerospace and defense industries there might have harsh times ahead. Seems to me the U.S. has some strong preferences for U.S. manufacture of many critical systems. Defense and ship building may move.
Whose waters would be off of the coast, U.S. or California? Whose fisheries would be out there?
Certainly the country of California would lose some of its air traffic. On the way to Hawaii, or the Pacific Rim who wants to add another international stop. I'm guessing Phoenix, Portland and Seattle would greatly benefit.
No matter. If California wants to go it on their own I say more power to them. I am open to social experiments and States rights. Maybe we could learn something valuable that would help the rest of the world.