I am not daft, it's the reality.
London's contribution to the UK gdp is around 22%. The Greater Paris region contributes about 30% to the overall French economy. Tokyo's gdp is around 33% of the overall Japanese economy. Comparatively, California's contribution to the overall US economy is only around 13.3%. New York and Texas are next with 9.5% and 8.1% respectively.
Every country in the world has a few pockets as major economic centers. All areas/regions of the countries cannot have an equivalent contribution towards the gdp. Usually there is a movement and high concentration of people in Urban job centers.
So, that's your myth busted about America being a car crash of a country economically without California. Which is an asinine position to take in the first place.
There is a general urban/rural divide everywhere. This is not a unique phenomenon limited to the US. Big states and cities are more cosmopolitan in nature and cohabit more peacefully, less afraid of the "other". It's areas which are not as diverse in nature which tend to be more conservative and want to hold on to "tradition". US is a huge country, the mid-west and southern parts of the US are more rural and tend to be more conservative whereas the coasts are more liberal and more progressive. Though with-in the mid-west and the south too there are urban centers which are progressive.
If you take a map of Brexit that is exactly what you'll find. A huge divide between how the urban and rural pockets voted for the 'Yes' or the 'No' vote. In fact data of most countries will show a similar pattern.
The economics was referenced (and to be honest I had a figure of 20% in my head) as part of a whole.
The deep dive above with comparisons to Brexit isn't the point either.
While Leave voters may wish to have a more robust immigration policy, they would never vote en masse for;
- A pay or you're fcuked medical system
- Unlimited war
- University fees that destroy lives
- The death penalty
- Mass incarceration
- A regression of gay rights
- Anything that diluted gender equality
- Guns for everyone
It's easy enough to find people that vote republican that will endorse so much of that.
You can't possibly tell me that California, as a populace and as an economy, keeps America honest in this regard. If it was a bunch of hippies in the desert without any $ output, they would be ignored. I haven't been to every state. I'm sure that other states are progressive and liberal.
But lose California, the economic power, the electoral college votes that are owned by progressive people.... America would be a no-go zone inside a few decades.
It's this I was getting at. I probably got a bit ranty about it, admittedly.
Remove London from England or Paris from France and you don't see the same outcomes.