California can’t secede without some kind of violent escalation, or a constitutional amendment to allow secession which won’t happen. The high GDP is dependent on trade with the rest of the US, it’s not isolated and sustainable on its own. California imports more of it’s power than any other state, over 20% now (though this is going down).
California is the key to US western ports and access to the Pacific. The federal government and US military will absolutely never allow that to go away, which means secession is not possible without all out war. California loses a war with the rest of the US no question. California isn’t exactly unified, and has more registered conservatives than the entire population of Kentucky. They have a strong liberal majority just about everywhere, but no shortage of conservative who aren’t going to quietly allow a secession.
They doesn’t exactly have a bright future when it comes to climate change and access to clean water, and they’ll need support from the rest of the US as droughts, wildfires and unsustainable depletion of groundwater continues. You want to be on the team that has control of the great lakes region as climate change worsens.
I don’t think you meant it that seriously, but it’s fun to think through these things for me.
Let’s all be friends and not spread civil war rhetoric (:



30 vs 50 year mortgage at 6.25% interest rate on a $450,000 home:
30 year: $2771 per month and pay $547,000 in interest over loan duration ($997,000 total)
50 year: $2452 per month and pay $1,020,000 in interest over loan duration ($1.47 million total)
So for the extra cost of $319 a month ($114,000 over 30 years), you can save $473,000 by going with the 30 year loan, and be done 20 years sooner.
Sourced initial figures from this cnn article: https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/11/business/fifty-year-mortgage