While we’re waiting around for a giant earthquake to rip California from the rest of the United
States, we thought we’d take a look at what the US would lose without TestTube Daily’s
home state of California.
So, just how powerful is California?
Well, for starters, California is the US’s most populous state, and is home to one in
eight Americans with a population of nearly 40 million.
In fact, more people live in California than in all of Canada!
That huge population brings in a ton of income.
Alone, California generates more than 2 trillion dollars in GDP, about 12% of the US’s total
GDP.
The state’s economy ranks around the 8th or 9th largest in the world.
That’s about the same amount of money generated by global superpowers like Russia and Italy.
California’s robust economy isn’t an accident.
The state hosts some of the biggest companies in the world, including, Apple, Disney, Google,
and others.
California is also one of the top agricultural producers in the US, churning out more fruits,
vegetables, wines, and nuts than any other state.
But the bulk of their farming cash comes from grapes, cotton, oranges, and maybe unsurprisingly,
marijuana.
California grows nearly 40% of America’s weed, some 8.5 million pounds a year.And let’s
not forget, California has the single most successful film industry in the world, responsible
for some half a trillion dollars a year.
Clearly, if California broke off from the US, they’d be pretty well off as the Weed,
Wine, and Walnut capital of America.
But what are they gonna do if some country wants a piece of that California sunshine?
Can California defend itself?
Well, between the California National Guard, and State Military Reserve, they’ve got
about 25,000 ground, air, and sea troops.
That’s roughly on par with Denmark in terms of active troop levels, which is not much.
Plus, with some of the strictest gun control laws in the country, the idea of a local militia
uprising is unlikely.
All in all, California could be one of the greatest and most powerful nation-states in
the world.
But despite its high yield status, California has the highest tax rate in the country, is
suffering from the worst drought in a millennium, and holds nearly half a trillion dollars in
debt.
California also suffers from an influx of illegal immigration, with roughly 2.5 million
out of a total 11.2 million, country-wide.
Clearly California isn’t as self sufficient as it would need to be for this whole “breaking
off the continent” pipe dream to work out.
Still, without it, the US wouldn’t have Hollywood or In-n-Out Burger.
So how powerful is California?
HELLA POWERFUL.
If you liked this video, you’ll probably want to watch the one we did on Texas too.
Check it out at the link in the description.
We’re reading all your requests for future videos, so keep ‘em coming.
We appreciate your patience and support, thanks for watching!