1. The federal government is California’s largest industry like most states, with about 2.5 million employees
2. California is strategically important to U.S. security. The U.S. military directly owns or controls a significant portion of the southern California coastline. On top of that, the defense department uses central California for military testing and the federal government in general owns or controls much of the mountainous areas in the north and east (Note: that’s where the water comes from)
3. Texas is home to the 2 largest Army posts, many of the U.S. largest defense contractors, and the U.S. space industry. All of it is dependent on federal spending.
4. Texas is part of the U.S. breadbasket, and is a major global energy supplier.
In short, neither Texas nor California can secede from the U.S. without an immediate and overwhelming federal response. They are both way too valuable to the health and security of the country. It would be over before it started.
It is possible that they can succeed without such a response. There are examples in history where regions are given the opportunity to secede if they vote to do so and have done so peacefully. There are also examples where regions have been forced to remain within a country. We don’t know that the federal government would necessarily have the will or mandate to use force to keep a state within the union. It depends on the circumstances and political climate.
What is clear is that the Union is fragile and imbalances in governance are unsustainable. The 50 Democratic senators represent far more people than the Republican senators.
Now for the facts:
1. The federal government is California’s largest industry like most states, with about 2.5 million employees
2. California is strategically important to U.S. security. The U.S. military directly owns or controls a significant portion of the southern California coastline. On top of that, the defense department uses central California for military testing and the federal government in general owns or controls much of the mountainous areas in the north and east (Note: that’s where the water comes from)
3. Texas is home to the 2 largest Army posts, many of the U.S. largest defense contractors, and the U.S. space industry. All of it is dependent on federal spending.
4. Texas is part of the U.S. breadbasket, and is a major global energy supplier.
In short, neither Texas nor California can secede from the U.S. without an immediate and overwhelming federal response. They are both way too valuable to the health and security of the country. It would be over before it started.