California generates lots of money for two reasons - their domestic economy is substantail with Silicon Valley, obviously, and Hollywood… They even do a substantial amount of agriculture.

But the very big reason is the same reason why New York City is super wealthy:

They possess a vital port.

The largest port on the pacific is the Port of Los Angeles, and this basically means that tremendous amounts of financial power and complex logistical systems all view Los Angeles as their point of transfer.

Wealth and resources are extracted from “flyover country” and brought to manufacturing centers (often in the Midwest) or even transported to foreign manufacturing centers, and loads of agircultural products that make the US a powerhouse are shipped out through NYC and LA. The traders who deal in these things are colocated with where the magic happens - LA, NYC.

“Red state moochers” are actually just like places like Mexico or Nigeria…

That is to say, they have tremendous wealth and resources, but the entire economy and supply chain is designed to extract value from them & distribute the profits into the hands of the elites that live far away from them.

The farmers in Iowa and Mexico have minimal profit margins, while big agra execs and food distributors live in splendor. The West Africans who GROW THE CHOCOLATE may have malnourished children, but European candy company execs swim in their profits.

The people who live on top of oil wells in Nigeria see virtually nothing, and the workers get paid very little…

But BP, Exxon, etc., all make money hand over fist.

So, I think…

This narrative where you make fun of ‘red states’ is regressive and Capitalistic.