J. Curtis - Calexit - The Anthology

But today, he had some other tasks to do first. He was waiting for his son Jack to return from checking in on the neighbors over the hill. He was supposed to be back before dark.

He prepped the plane. Gas, oil, drained the water, and checked the tire pressures. Made sure everything was lashed down. Threw in a few more items until he was just above gross takeoff weight. It was gonna be a cool couple of days, so he’d be okay, even at this altitude. But what he didn’t take today he wasn’t ever likely to come back for…

Turning on his tablet, he watched, via his surveillance systems, the progress of the vehicles. They had both pickups and one of the big trucks up the hill, and had deployed a couple of chains so the first big truck could pull the other 6 x 6’s up. He figured another two hours if he didn’t slow ’em down.

The State’s deficits increased yearly, to the point where the Federal government began trying to do something about it, as Cali’s deficits were beginning to severely affect the buying power of the dollar, already weakened by years of Federal “Quantitative Easing”. No other country wanted to buy the dollar, and many international transactions that had once been done in dollars were now starting to be transacted in Euros, Chinese Yuan, and Rupees. Cali (California) was bringing the rest of the country down with it, using the Dollar to drag the other forty-nine states into poverty. The U.S. threatened to change their paper money, and to restrict the State and their banks from using the dollar if they didn’t stop the deficits.

Soon, the economy crashed. There was no Cali economy. The state couldn’t pay its bills, the Federal Government restricted the transfer of dollars to and from Cali banks, and then changed the face of the bills issued by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in all other states to try and stop the increasing devaluation of the dollar by the State of Cali. All “old” bills were given an amnesty for conversion to “new” style bills in the other 49 states and soon the “old” bills not exchanged at banks were effectively worthless except to collectors. Fairly quickly, the only “old” bills in use were used in Cali, and the other 49 states no longer honored the old bills as currency. Cali, of course, continued to use the “old” bills as there was no Bureau in the state. They stamped “Cali” over the face of the bills as a temporary expedient, but there were still old style US dollars in circulation for a while. “Old” dollars began to be supplanted by “Callors” which were, theoretically, worth a “dollar” once the State found a way to set up a Bureau of Engraving and Printing to produce them… In reality, they were exchanged for less, generally about $0.75. For a while, both bills circulated, but the banks were only giving out “Callors”, and when they received a dollar, they kept it. It was expected that soon, the dollar would not exist in circulation in the State of Cali.

Meanwhile, the State was hemorrhaging people and wealth. It was estimated that over thirty billion dollars left the state going east and north in ninety days. People were taking “old” dollars (and, when they had to, Callors), and were buying gold, silver, other precious metals, jewelry, and other items of value and transporting them out of the state, just to get their wealth to where it could be safe. People sold homes and property for less than half the price it had been worth just six months before. Industry (what was left of it) in the state had had enough as well. Production facilities just packed up and left when possible, or closed the doors and left their facilities sitting when it wasn’t practical to move. This increased the unemployment levels and decreased the tax revenues. Soon “official” unemployment was at 70%.

Then the farmers were both taxed and forced to raise their wages. At first it had been $15/hour, but the United Farm Workers demanded and got that amount raised to $30/hour, then to $42/hour. In addition, the courts removed any protections to the historical water rights of the farmlands, and instead demanded that the farms pay the State for the right to use river and groundwater for irrigation. The following year, they raised the price of the water cost to double what it had been before. Many farms simply ceased operation. Further, the State set pricing for produce, beef and pork. Often this price was below the cost to produce it, much less transport it. Lots of farmers went broke trying to feed people.

The Cali Government soon acted to “fix” things. They declared all abandoned and “unproductive” facilities, manufacturing plants, and farms to be the property of the State and appointed managers to make them productive and employ people. Sadly, no one who knew how to operate those plants was left. Nor were any Farm managers. Appointees tried, but since they were mostly political appointees who knew little about the farms (and city folk as well) , they failed. No one wanted to buy anything the plants had made, and no one outside of the state (and few inside the state either) was willing to sell the State any materials with which to make any products. Further, the “Callor” had no value to anyone outside of the State, so the State couldn’t buy anything anyway.

In addition, there was rationing of gasoline and diesel. There was some oil production near Hollywood and LA and to the east, but not enough to feed the voracious Cali appetite for travel in the state. In addition, there wasn’t much refining capacity… those terribly polluting refineries had been chased out, for the most part, years ago. And no one was willing to sell any oil or refined petroleum to the State ‘cause their money was essentially worthless outside of the state borders. Gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products went for incredible prices. People began smuggling propane and gasoline and diesel over the border when they could.

Of course, since 2025, he’d begun moving his family and their items of wealth to Arizona. He’d had a lot of stuff. Tons of things that he’d have to now abandon. At first he’d used a pickup and a trailer, but the “customs” folks on the Cali side of the border had begun confiscating a lot of things, so he’d been making trips in his plane to stash smaller items and things that didn’t weigh too much at his friend Jim’s farm in Arizona. The bigger items, or the heavier ones, he would simply have to hide and write off… Maybe he could come back later to get ’em, but for now, they were a write off.

But he’d run out of time.

Just then, his phone rang. It was Jack whispering. “Dad, listen up! There are folks at the Martin’s right now taking whatever they want, Mr. Martin has been arrested, and I just barely got out. I’m in a tree right now to get some bars on my phone, and they are looking for me. I got your text just a few minutes ago. I think they are coming for our place too, so get ready. As soon as I can I’ll be on the trail and back at the house. Figure three hours. I’m out. Love you dad. I’m turning off the phone now for quiet.”

And the phone went “click” and the call was terminated.

Proud of his son for not wasting time, and yet worried about him, he smiled and got to work.

He took a chainsaw and put it in the Arctic Cat 4 x 4. Adding some wire and case of dynamite and some other supplies, he set out for the bridge.

The only bright spots in the economy were the seaports and the military bases. These were booming economies, but everything else was failing. Wages were too high, productivity was low, no one wanted (or needed) to work. The BLS had destroyed the incentive to work, and even if an individual chose to work, the State took over half of his earnings. Crime rose, inflation climbed higher and higher.