imagine thinking taxes paid and digital 1's and 0's in bank accounts is somehow representative of material reality.

california is just another a shape on a map drawn by colonizers less than 200 years ago. the idea it can do its own thing because it pays big taxes on its big monies is the same line of thinking that is inspiring tariff brains to raise taxes on imports to "pay down" sovereign debt and "balance trade". money has value because it can be used to buy stuff and pay people to do things. empire works for the core because it sends money all over the world in exchange for materials to satisfy the core's demands. controlling the money is more important than having the money, which are two different things. it's the difference between having a bunch of currency at your house and having a globally integrated banking system.

anyway, all money is federal. so california decides to stop paying income tax on their 3 card monte games (intellectual property of hollywood and silicon valley)... who cares? the feds will print the money needed to do the things to re-assert control. the arm of US power over its states is in the banking system, and good luck operating a functional payroll system of direct deposits for state workers and large organizations if the feds even tickle the "get fucked" button. i mean, i guess the brain trust of silicon valley could rapidly launch some kind of state crypto, but i would give that about 72 hours before somebody walks away from the wildly short arm of Technorepublic of California with a few hundred bazillion.

balkanization is a dead carcass being carved up by predators. the shoulder doesn't "win" just because it used to hold the backpack when the body was alive.