Californication

I'll be brief, because this is simple. California is nothing like what anyone thinks it is. I'm not sure it's anything like I think it is, politically. One interesting point this article begins to make, but misses the many-faceted nature of, is that Californians are typically wont to vote against their own interests in state matters. On the whole, this is because of the large immigrant and Black American populations being swayed to vote their religious hearts and not their political minds. So you have untold numbers of registered Republicans running amok, then complaining when that for which they vote passes, those for whom they vote get elected; Ohmigod that's SO not what we had in mind! Someone has to do something!

Uh huh. Let's have another recall, another ballot initiative, another budget crisis. Ladies and gentlemen, California is indicative of what's happening to the American Dream all over the country: it's getting real. See, dreams (in the sense to which we refer when calling upon the American Dream) differ from reality in one simple way: there are consequences in reality. That means we cannot all have opportunities to better ourselves without someone paying for it. Otherwise, those opportunities are being selectively extended by those with the means to offer them. If everyone is to have a fair shake, in this real world where discrimination continues to exist and people continue to express preference towards those who are "the same," then either some magnanimous bajillionaire is going to have to take up the slack for all of those self-absorbed jillionaires, or the government has to step in.

Now follow me: if the government is going to step in (and I'm being deliberately vague here), the government needs funding. Otherwise, f'rinstance, children will always get left behind. But from whence this funding? Now we have a parade of ideas that pass the consequences on - literally passing the buck - to someone else, some other class, some other group, those who hold some other ideology.

Many Californians believe that, in order for everyone to have a shot at living the Dream, those who have succeeded in doing so need to absorb some or most of the cost for providing that shot to those who haven't. Many of these Californians conveniently forget that they're in the former class, not the latter, when it comes time to pony up.

So yes, we're a state full of people who think globally, and act contrarily locally. I got news for ya: look at America's international policies versus her domestic policies, and tell me I'm not describing the exact same phenomenon. So while I did find the article insightful, I also find it disingenuous for singling out California. We're just a prime example. It's happening in your backyard, too.

Unless you've got a different idea. I'm here to listen.