California feeds the country more fruits and vegetables than any other state, produces much of its entertainment and is largely responsible for updating the definition of “phone” to mean a pocket-sized supercomputer that happens to have a voice communication feature (but really, text if you can).

And yet, judging by the letters we’ve received from across the country on the burgeoning secessionist movement known as “Calexit,” some readers would be happy see us go — or at least take pleasure in watching our deep-blue state suffer the trauma of severing ties with the union. Some in-state critics of California politics likewise welcome a split, while others scold the secessionists.

Here are some of their letters.

Colorado Springs, Colo., resident Arlene Barron welcomes the misery that a successful CalExit movement would create:


Can a line be drawn for a new socialist state to be born and leave the rest of us sane residents alone? Maureen Huiskes, Pacific Palisades

Great news: California might secede. It doesn’t get any better than this.

I have some advice to the sane citizens of California: Members of the middle class should start planning their own exit. When California loses all those billions from the federal government, the politicians are going to need to find money elsewhere, and you know Hollywood’s millionaires aren’t going to provide it. They’ll move to their mountain homes in Wyoming or elsewhere.

You think all those new billionaires in Silicon Valley will eagerly part with their money? Think again. They’ll hide their wealth in tax shelters.


The refugees and illegal immigrants on the receiving end of California’s generous benefits aren’t going to provide needed tax revenues, so the politicians will target the middle class.

You think it’s expensive in California now? Just wait until secession.

Lynn Hopkins from Wickliffe, Ky., encourages conservative Californians to mount their own separatist movement:

As an educated Trump supporter, I would be delighted to say adios to the extremist Californians. Millions of American patriots would likewise be delighted if the secession is successful and immediate.


We would be happy for your California patriots and rural conservatives to apply for secession from the new leftist nation.

Pacific Palisades resident Maureen Huiskes is happy to see California go, but not without conditions:

What a dream come true. Can we just split off and leave my house alone? Can a line be drawn for a new socialist state to be born and leave the rest of us sane residents alone?

Stanley Wood of Los Angeles wants us to stay put:


The extreme right succeeds if California secedes. The United States is our country, and we should fight for it.

The struggling and forgotten citizens in both blue and red states need to be helped by us to repair and thrive. Only when the downtrodden have a real path up will they stop being vulnerable to authoritarian scapegoating and fear mongering we see from President Trump.

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