California’s income inequality has gotten so severe that its “wealth gap” is even worse than developing nations, like Mexico and Guatemala.
Comparing data from the US Census Bureau and the World Bank shows that, if California were an independent country, it would rank as the 17th most unequal nation on earth. Its wealth gap, when compared to other countries, is roughly on par with Honduras and has significantly more in common with noteworthy banana republics than Scandanavia’s social democracies.
Despite having one of the largest, most overbearing welfare states in the country, California’s divide between rich and poor has continued to grow in recent years – fueled by an exorbitant cost of living, high taxes, and a middle class that’s bolted for the exits.
California’s poverty rate is the highest in the nation, too – at 20.6 percent.
Things have gotten so dire in California that some of the state’s rural, more conservative counties – that, for years, have been railing against crippling environmental policies imposed by liberal elites – have launched a bid to split into a seperate state, called “New California.”