Based on what happened during the summer of love I would agree. We saw houses on fire in Seattle, and Spokane protests stopped out of fear of armed men. Idaho alone scared protesters by having a gun club meet up at the same spot. Yakima had signs up that said snipers were ready if any protests became riots. I expect the same results if it's tried again.

This leaves economic growth. Seattle and Portland are going through down times. They seem to be pushing for greater fallout.

Actually, it hit me the other day that whatever is happening doesn't seem natural. Seattle has skyscrapers with no one in them. It's been like this for ten years. Amazon has brought in San Francisco, but there isn't the demand for this many buildings. All of the buildings are funded by Chinese investors. It really does look like the corporate invasion of Chinese companies. Let the natives destroy themselves and then move into the unwanted territory is a common historical movement. I have no idea if it's true, but there is evidence towards it.

The best thing for the right leaning cities and states is to get trade and movement perfected. That way the west coast can't dominate the way it does.