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| What Labour can learn about Brexit from California: think twice | What Labour can learn about Brexit from California: think twice |
| (3 days later) | |
| Imagine for a moment that you live in a large federation of states – some small and some large, some richer and some poorer – held together by a strong central authority. While preaching the importance of democracy, the central authority frequently undermines the will of its member states. While preaching the value of hospitality, the central authority constructs a fortress to keep foreigners out of the federation. Even states that do not rely heavily on the fiscal support of the central authority – states that would rather use their resources for more just purposes – are forced to live by its rules and regulations. | Imagine for a moment that you live in a large federation of states – some small and some large, some richer and some poorer – held together by a strong central authority. While preaching the importance of democracy, the central authority frequently undermines the will of its member states. While preaching the value of hospitality, the central authority constructs a fortress to keep foreigners out of the federation. Even states that do not rely heavily on the fiscal support of the central authority – states that would rather use their resources for more just purposes – are forced to live by its rules and regulations. |
| Resisting the resistance: anti-liberal rage brews in California's right wing | Resisting the resistance: anti-liberal rage brews in California's right wing |
| I am talking, of course, about the state of California. But the similarities with Britain and the European Union are striking: an economy of roughly the same size; sharing a single market with scores of other states, based on the free movement of goods, services and labour; governed by a strong – and only vaguely democratic – central authority that threatens to clash with radical movements growing out of its grassroots. | I am talking, of course, about the state of California. But the similarities with Britain and the European Union are striking: an economy of roughly the same size; sharing a single market with scores of other states, based on the free movement of goods, services and labour; governed by a strong – and only vaguely democratic – central authority that threatens to clash with radical movements growing out of its grassroots. |
| And yet – even as the US federal government veers towards the far right – the calls for California to exit the US remain quiet. Growing up in Los Angeles, I would occasionally hear the rallying cry that we should secede from the union. The federal government would do something evil, and Californians would throw their hands up to the sky and claim they were moving to Canada. Since Donald Trump’s election, the call for “Calexit” has found some renewed enthusiasm, with a group called the Yes California independence campaign pushing to get secession on the ballot. | And yet – even as the US federal government veers towards the far right – the calls for California to exit the US remain quiet. Growing up in Los Angeles, I would occasionally hear the rallying cry that we should secede from the union. The federal government would do something evil, and Californians would throw their hands up to the sky and claim they were moving to Canada. Since Donald Trump’s election, the call for “Calexit” has found some renewed enthusiasm, with a group called the Yes California independence campaign pushing to get secession on the ballot. |
| But by and large, left-leaning Californians want nothing to do with Calexit. Indeed, the only people that seem to be promoting the Yes California campaign hail from the state’s fringe right wing. “I think it would be good for California, good for the rest of the country. It would help Trump’s re-election campaign,” said venture capitalist and creepy libertarian Peter Thiel. The campaign itself is mired in controversy over the close ties between its former president, Louis Marinelli, and a Kremlin-backed pro-secessionist organisation. | But by and large, left-leaning Californians want nothing to do with Calexit. Indeed, the only people that seem to be promoting the Yes California campaign hail from the state’s fringe right wing. “I think it would be good for California, good for the rest of the country. It would help Trump’s re-election campaign,” said venture capitalist and creepy libertarian Peter Thiel. The campaign itself is mired in controversy over the close ties between its former president, Louis Marinelli, and a Kremlin-backed pro-secessionist organisation. |
| Why, given the striking similarities, is there so little energy behind California’s left exit? And what can it tell us about Britain’s own Lexit movement? | Why, given the striking similarities, is there so little energy behind California’s left exit? And what can it tell us about Britain’s own Lexit movement? |
| One potential explanation of the difference between these cases is feasibility. The UK had only to host a single referendum in order to trigger article 50, theoretically unmooring it from the EU in a two-year timeframe. California, by contrast, appears much more tightly bound to the US. There is, for example, no unique passport for California residents. | One potential explanation of the difference between these cases is feasibility. The UK had only to host a single referendum in order to trigger article 50, theoretically unmooring it from the EU in a two-year timeframe. California, by contrast, appears much more tightly bound to the US. There is, for example, no unique passport for California residents. |
| But Californian secession is actually much simpler than it seems – and as we are learning, British secession is actually much more complex. In order to facilitate Calexit, California’s state legislature would need to put the proposition on the ballot, its voters would need to approve it, and then win a simple majority in the United States Congress. Passports might be a problem in the very short term, but California could easily install posts at its airports to issue temporary documentation to travelling residents. Feasibility, in other words, is not the problem. | |
| The much more important question, one might argue, is desirability. While Britain has the benefit of the pound, California would have to design its own currency from scratch, risking a significant recession while the new system got up and running. | The much more important question, one might argue, is desirability. While Britain has the benefit of the pound, California would have to design its own currency from scratch, risking a significant recession while the new system got up and running. |
| But California is arguably in a stronger position than Britain to make this leap – with a larger, more dynamic and technologically equipped economy. In any case, the fear of economic costs has never scared British Lexiteers very much: they are small collateral for the benefits of political and economic sovereignty. If Britain can succeed outside the European Union, California can almost certainly succeed outside the United States. | But California is arguably in a stronger position than Britain to make this leap – with a larger, more dynamic and technologically equipped economy. In any case, the fear of economic costs has never scared British Lexiteers very much: they are small collateral for the benefits of political and economic sovereignty. If Britain can succeed outside the European Union, California can almost certainly succeed outside the United States. |
| No, the real reason that California lacks a Lexit movement is solidarity. “I want to be part of an America that continues to stand up for all of us, not bail on all of our friends across the country,” said the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. If it left the US, California would take millions of progressive votes out of national circulation, thereby solidifying the Republican stranglehold on the country. Its representatives in Congress – some of the strongest advocates of progressive change – would no longer hold sway over the country’s direction. | No, the real reason that California lacks a Lexit movement is solidarity. “I want to be part of an America that continues to stand up for all of us, not bail on all of our friends across the country,” said the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. If it left the US, California would take millions of progressive votes out of national circulation, thereby solidifying the Republican stranglehold on the country. Its representatives in Congress – some of the strongest advocates of progressive change – would no longer hold sway over the country’s direction. |
| The consequences of such a transition are not only domestic. With an executive that is committed to climate denial and aggressive armed conflict, Calexit would enable a 49-star United States to inflict increasing pain on the world around it – and on generations to come. | The consequences of such a transition are not only domestic. With an executive that is committed to climate denial and aggressive armed conflict, Calexit would enable a 49-star United States to inflict increasing pain on the world around it – and on generations to come. |
| British Lexiteers might respond by claiming that their hurdle is higher. The EU, they might say, is far more anti-democratic than the US: at least Americans can elect their executive directly. | British Lexiteers might respond by claiming that their hurdle is higher. The EU, they might say, is far more anti-democratic than the US: at least Americans can elect their executive directly. |
| The people can prevent a no-deal Brexit – with a general strike | Jolyon Maugham | The people can prevent a no-deal Brexit – with a general strike | Jolyon Maugham |
| But over the last decade, these differences have largely melted away. In the Citizens United case, the supreme court removed restrictions to campaign finance, allowing big, dark money to flood into US democracy. In the more recent Abbott v Perez, the supreme court approved efforts to gerrymander the electoral map against the popular vote. With the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the court, these victories appear more solid than ever – and yet young progressives are rallying together to think creatively about how to mobilise a movement to reverse them and reclaim the court as our own. | But over the last decade, these differences have largely melted away. In the Citizens United case, the supreme court removed restrictions to campaign finance, allowing big, dark money to flood into US democracy. In the more recent Abbott v Perez, the supreme court approved efforts to gerrymander the electoral map against the popular vote. With the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the court, these victories appear more solid than ever – and yet young progressives are rallying together to think creatively about how to mobilise a movement to reverse them and reclaim the court as our own. |
| As a Californian, then, it seems to me that the burden of proof lies with the Lexiteers. First, to explain why the task of democratising the EU is that much harder than the task of democratising the US. Second, to explain how their exit plan does not amount to abandonment, and how being outside the EU will help them stem the tide of European fascism. | As a Californian, then, it seems to me that the burden of proof lies with the Lexiteers. First, to explain why the task of democratising the EU is that much harder than the task of democratising the US. Second, to explain how their exit plan does not amount to abandonment, and how being outside the EU will help them stem the tide of European fascism. |
| Or – perhaps more honestly – they might admit that the project of British socialism is a higher priority than sticking it out with their continental partners and reshaping the EU for the better. Europe’s far right, for their part, will be pleased to see them gone for good. | Or – perhaps more honestly – they might admit that the project of British socialism is a higher priority than sticking it out with their continental partners and reshaping the EU for the better. Europe’s far right, for their part, will be pleased to see them gone for good. |
| • David Adler is a writer and a member of DiEM25’s coordinating collective. He lives in Athens, Greece | • David Adler is a writer and a member of DiEM25’s coordinating collective. He lives in Athens, Greece |
| • This article was amended on 27 December 2018 to clarify the steps necessary for a potential Calexit through the state legislature. | |
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