I think he actually has it backwards. I do not see Californians "standing up for their rights" so much as I see them standing against tyranny - finally.
OK, that last word was harsh and possibly unfair. I doubt it, but I'll willingly listen to anyone who wants to try to convince me otherwise.
But standing against tyranny is what really defines Armeican exceptionalism. All the other things mentioned are just the means to a better, easier, more pleasurable life. Given time and a small bit of incentive any European serf might just as well have come up with any of those ideas and carried them to fruition. Americans, on the other hand, do not need to be "given" incentive - they take it or create it out of thin air. But with the decline of that sense of "I can do it if I want to" and the rise of "but is it going to be good for everybody and Mother Gia?" we get left with the absolute proof that anybody can become President of the United States.
Americans - those living on the North American Continent - had to struggle against both the tyranny of Nature (yeah, Mother Nature is harsh and hunting/gathering sucks when it does not go your way) and the tyranny of imperialist rulers living across the ocean and imposing their will and laws that may "work" on that side but not so much on this side of the big water. Subduing the tyranny of Mother Nature - at least as far as hunting/gathering turning into large-scale farming & animal husbandry - was easy given the amount of land available. Subduing imperialst tyranny was a bit harder, but given the costs those on the far side of the ocean had to pay just to get their coercive power to this side of the ocean, let alone the political and social support they found they could not hold or force, was not all that difficult since the folks trying to subdue said imperialist tyranny could see immediate as well as long-term benefits for themselves, not just their "posterity".
Over time Californians (and they are by no means the only ones) gave up some of those gains in order to accept the "easier" life. Now they are beginning to realize the error of their ways and are starting to work to bring back the things they once gave away. May G*d help them, and may we offer our support to them as well.
stay safe.
