Will CA Become America's First Failed State?

[BarTopDancer]

Pretty depressing, yet interesting article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/04/california-failing-state-debt) from the UK

[Moonliner]

Technically speaking, DC is not a state right?

Otherwise my money is on them.

[Andrew]

First? How about Kansas, Texas and the other backwards, science-denying red states?

Next, sure, I believe that, especially if Governor Arnie follows up on his threat to veto everything "just because I can".

[BarTopDancer]

Did you even read the article?

There was nothing in this article about science, being backasswords or anything else.

It was about our economy, which in case you haven't noticed.. SUCKS. It even talked about how we are forward thinkers and the place people turn to for innovation.

[Tref]

It was about our economy, which in case you haven't noticed.. SUCKS. It even talked about how we are forward thinkers and the place people turn to for innovation.

I know California is where I turn to for my innovation needs.

[3894]

I grew up in California, lived in the Palo Alto area from age 4 to 30. My parents thought San Francisco was impossibly second-rate in terms of their opera company, theater, and museums. They much preferred N.Y. So, I was not raised with the concept that California is the center of the universe.

My sister and brother still live in California. I love Northern California and, for many years, worked the angles to move back. No longer. I am sick about what has happened to the California I knew.

California has a special place in the American psyche. It is the Golden State: a playground of the rich and famous with perfect weather. It symbolises a lifestyle of sunshine, swimming pools and the Hollywood dream factory.

This quote is part of the self-congratulatory b.s. you hear all the freaking time in California and NYC. Here's what I'm saying: if you're the best, don't say it; let other people say it. Also, it does not go without saying that everyone is either a Californian or wishes they were one. For example, other "hick"/"flyover" states are first with gay marriage. And our houses are reasonably priced.

Thanks for letting me rant. Carry on.

[Alex]

I live here. I would happily stop living here and likely will if Lani ever becomes dissatisfied or otherwise separated from her job.

But none of that has to do with the economic situation. But the structure of state government here is pretty much designed to implode in the face of a lengthy steep economic downturn.

[BarTopDancer]

This quote is part of the self-congratulatory b.s. you hear all the freaking time in California and NYC. Here's what I'm saying: if you're the best, don't say it; let other people say it. Also, it does not go without saying that everyone is either a Californian or wishes they were one. For example, other "hick"/"flyover" states are first with gay marriage. And our houses are reasonably priced.

We used to be one of the best - that's why people flocked here. That's why there was such a large housing boom. Then BOOM it went and now we're fvcked.

Good thing the weather is so good since so many people are living outside :(

[innerSpaceman]

I was raised in NY, very close to (and worked in) Manhattan. I was very aware it was the Center of Man's Universe -- for the 20th Century, and that its days were to be numbered as that century faded.

And while it still tops anything else in America in terms of 19th and 20th Century "culture" (i.e., art, theater, museums, fashion, blah blah), those things matter less and less as the new millennium progresses. (In fact, one could rightly assert that Hollywood was the prime force of late 20th Century culture ... by virtue of a culture that was not leashed to Hollywood alone.)


I think cultures come and go, empires rise and fall. NYC is still kicking, but I think its apex as the Center of Man's Universe in in the past. Perhaps the apex of California's glory is back there somewhere, too. Heck, even the "perfect" weather may be significantly less so in the coming days of Global Climate Change.


But it will be a long, long time before the glories of nature endemic to the Golden State fade in beauty or allure. It's nice to have some things that are, by man's time standards, permanent.

And if we slip from position of 8th largest economy to 15th, I'd say the only thing wasted was the chance to break away from the yoke of America and really be the world's 8th largest economy (and 4th most progressive country).


Besides, isn't the whole world in the same boat? We'll still retain the 8th largest economy in a world of lousy economies. And while I wish no ill on anyone in particular, I won't regret if about a million people leave California in the next year or so.


Please?

[Strangler Lewis]

We tell ourselves that if circumstances permitted--which they haven't--I would happily leave northern California for, say, Central Connecticut and its reasonably affordable houses, larger lots, four seasons as I remember them and properly funded schools.

And yet . . . I do harbor what I call my "Legally Blonde" doubts. The doubt that I would be leaving someplace that's truly more energetic, imaginative and, whatever the political stripe, independent, for a place that's maybe a little more hidebound. When my wife went back east to college in 1981, her newly adopted east coast friends initially eyed her suspiciously. So, I don't know.

Of course, everybody moves around so much, there's a Starbucks on any corner worth walking on, and, of course, there's the dominant virtual culture, so maybe such things don't matter anymore.