The class divide and inequality in the state of California are currently at levels similar to those seen in Mexico, according to author and university professor Joel Kotkin. Kotkin, urban futures fellow at Chapman University, and author of “The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class,” told Epoch Times affiliate NTD that a major factor driving residents and business owners out of the state is that the gap between the middle and upper class is now wider in California than virtually any other place in the country. According to an Urban Reform Institute report (pdf) published in October 2020 and co-authored by Kotkin, over the past two decades, California has seen a net loss of about 2.4 million people—or 7 percent of its 2000 population. The figure excludes the most recent exodus linked to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. Meanwhile, California also has the highest poverty …