“There is science, logic and reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California.” – Edward Abbey
After its birth in the Gold Rush, after statehood, World War I and World War II, and the Korean “Conflict”, California began to blossom. Of all the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who came through or were stationed in California, many decided it was a good place to settle down and raise a family. The Golden State’s diverse geography and temperate weather caused many from the East and Midwest to abandon the cold winters and torrid summers. All types of industries started to flourish, from residential and commercial construction to aerospace, shipbuilding, manufacturing and agriculture. The population exploded as did the need for more schools, hospitals and employees, both private and governmental.
By the 1960s, California was in full blossom. Historian Victor Davis Hanson, in his online class from Hillsdale College, American Citizenship and Its Decline, presents the following facts. In the 1960s, California had the largest middle class of any state. It had the finest educational system. The modern freeways and airports were invented in California. Because of an overabundance of water in some of the less populated areas of the state and a scarcity of water in some of the most populated sections, California built a series of aqueducts and reservoirs that were the envy of the world. It had the most successful oil production, timber and mineral industries in the world. California had some of the finest universities.
When looking at California today, Hanson points out that the once Golden State has the largest homeless population of any state in the US with half of America’s homeless living there. One third of all welfare recipients live in California. One fifth of all Californians live below the poverty level. Yet, California has the highest taxes in the country, in aggregate. It has among the highest property taxes, sales taxes and income taxes.
The result is a great decline in the California middle class. Small businesses can’t afford the cost of all taxes and onerous regulations and the result is the shrinkage of the middle income population and the loss of many small and family businesses. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I believe this was intentional and was a continuation of the COVID shutdowns. If you recall, small businesses like hair salons, gyms, churches and convenient stores were forced to close, but big businesses like Walmart, liquor stores, and Cannabis stores were allowed to stay open. To many of us this did look like a conspiracy between big business and big government to suppress freedom and eviscerate the middle class.
The ideology of socialism, communism and radicals like Cloward. Piven and Saul Alinsky cannot take root when there is a large middle class. If Obama’s fundamental change to our country, Biden’s continuation and increase in its implementation and Gavin Newsom and the California Democrats devastation of California’s economy, resources and middle class aren’t an intentional conspiracy, they couldn’t have done a more effective job if they were. Whether it is an intentional conspiracy or a combination of extremest green ideology, laziness and plain incompetence, Californians need to ask themselves the question the radio show host Don Bongino asks: “Is it bad enough yet?” When California voters decide the things are bad enough, only then will things really change.
1 thought on “* The Rise and Fall of California – Buz Blog”
To add to Buzz’ analysis of the demise of California;
My Father was an Italian Emigrant and a WWII Vet and moved to California in the 1960’s, (as jobs were plentiful and the population was not crowded as in cities like New York or Boston).
My Italian Family were proud to be American Citizens and worked hard to assimilate into the American Culture.
I was a first generation American, born in California. I experienced first hand the demise of the beautiful State of California throughout my childhood. The major cultural changes directly related the this demise and created by the Liberal Ideology in California Government were;
1) The migration of illegal aliens into California. But unlike my Italian Family the majority of illegal aliens in California refused to assimilate and become U.S. Citizens;
2) Then came the Hispanic Gangs like La EME and the Mexican Mafia. Both were, in they own way, organize crime;
3) With the manifestation of Hispanic Gangs came the drug trafficking and violent crime;
4) Starting with Gov Jerry Brown, (a liberal extreme activist) enacted extreme over regulations and maintained ab anti-business regulations. This pushed away businesses like the Aerospace and Automotive Industries heavily embedded in the Santa Fe Springs, Torrance and Carson areas and were unable to survive with these liberal regulation/taxes and moved out of California and took a very large tax base and good paying jobs with them and left California.
5) The public school system in California had to start teaching to “the lowest common denominator.” ESL efforts took money from the School’s other programs and our native born students suffered.
Now sadly the majority of Southern California is a cesspool of illegal aliens which turned California into a U.S. based Foreign Country.
PS> Keep up the great work Buzz. Proud Americans need you.
Comments are closed.