@bravojohnson
Now swap "Austin comedy scene" for "Silicon Valley VC/billionaire class": They think threatening to leave California over the 5% tax (or regs, or "woke") is building leverage—"We'll take our money, talent, and innovation to Texas/Florida/Miami. California will beg us to stay." But California's broader economy (and the global tech/investment machine) treats geography functionally: Talent is in the Bay because of universities/networks, not because of all in podcast. Capital is global. Startups will still cluster where the engineers are. No one's coming begging. The state will consume the innovation at arm's length (remote founders, satellite offices, global LPs) without granting the old deference.
And the cruelest parallel: Many of these "disruptors" are nostalgic for the old California system—low friction, massive public subsidies, minimal accountability, automatic cultural goodwill. They want the state to resume the 90s–2010s deal: let us extract unchecked, give us hero status, don't ask questions.
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