The ‘Calexit’ Movement Gains Momentum Following Donald Trump’s Presidential Victory

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Though many political analysts are likening Donald Trump’s upset victory in Tuesday’s presidential election to the United Kingdom’s referendum to leave the European Union (and to a wave of nationalism spreading across Europe), the new President-Elect seems to be inciting the same sort of radical movement on the opposite end of the political spectrum. According to CNN Money, a referendum to let California secede from the union might be afoot.

On Tuesday night, Shervin Pishevar, who was one of the early investors in the ride-sharing app Uber, touted the idea on Twitter — and promised funding for the effort.

(He later confirmed to multiple news organizations that he was not kidding, calling it “the most patriotic thing I can do.”) His plan was quickly backed by other prominent members of the tech community.

In the past, a handful of plans to realign California have surfaced and gained some amount of traction. Most of them involved staying in the United States; one proposition to split the state into six different states was particularly popular. But when faced with the prospect of a President Trump, Pishevar and others feel as if the state might be better served as its own nation. While the movement, which hopes to be on the state ballot next year, is unlikely to make serious headway, California would be the world’s sixth-largest country in terms of GDP.

The idea has been picking up steam on Twitter with countless tweets like this:

But the idea really isn’t a practical one, as this point proves.

(Via CNN Money & Business Insider)

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