Patterico's Pontifications

4/24/2010

Is There Hope for California?

Filed under: General — DRJ @ 1:59 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Victor Davis Hanson thinks about what California was and what it has become. Can California be saved?

“All of which raises the question: how would we return to sanity in California, a state as naturally beautiful and endowed and developed by our ancestors as it has been sucked dry by our parasitic generation? The medicine would be harder than the malady, and I just cannot see it happening, as much as I love the state, admire many of its citizens, and see glimmers of hope in the most unlikely places every day.

After all, in no particular order, we would have to close the borders; adopt English immersion in our schools; give up on the salad bowl and return to the melting pot; assimilate, intermarry, and integrate legal immigrants; curb entitlements and use the money to fix infrastructure like roads, bridges, airports, trains, etc.; build 4-5 new damns to store water in wet years; update the canal system; return to old policies barring public employee unions; redo pension contracts; cut about 50,000 from the public employee roles; lower income taxes from 10% to 5% to attract businesses back; cut sales taxes to 7%; curb regulations to allow firms to stay; override court orders now curbing cost-saving options in our prisons by systematic legislation; start creating material wealth from our forests; tap more oil, timber, natural gas, and minerals that we have in abundance; deliver water to the farmland we have; build 3-4 nuclear power plants on the coast; adopt a traditional curriculum in our schools; insist on merit pay for teachers; abolish tenure; encourage not oppose more charter schools, vouchers, and home schooling; give tax breaks to private trade and business schools; reinstitute admission requirements and selectivity at the state university system; take unregistered cars off the road; make UC professors teach a class or two more each year; abolish all racial quotas and preferences in reality rather than in name; build a new all weather east-west state freeway over the Sierra; and on and on.

In other words, we would have to seance someone born around 1900 and just ask them to float back for a day, walk around, and give us some advice.”

New Jersey seems to have seen the light but I’m not optimistic about California. There’s a War on Reality in California that is not unlike this NRO parody of a Robert Gibbs’ press conference.

— DRJ

21 Responses to “Is There Hope for California?”

  1. Why do we waste our time listening to some highly-degreed, child of privilege, who actually produces something, and employees people, when we’ve been authoritatively told that all the problems in California are due to Prop-13…
    that is what you said, isn’t it, imadickwad?

    AD - RtR/OS! (9562e0)

  2. The evidence is clear, Vic Hanson is likely one of those sorry ass Conservatives suffering from epistemic closure that Julian Sanchez was going on about.

    ropelight (e0e500)

  3. If New Jersey can be turned around there is hope for CA.

    Except I don’t see a Chris Christie in CA.

    MU789 (13091a)

  4. The number one thing to do is to ban public employee unions. And since it was Jerry Brown who signed the bill allowing them, I’d hold his feet to the fire over it in the coming campaign. Something like:

    “The man who destroyed California wants to lead it again.”

    It would be interesting to see if the counter-meme (that Prop 13, not employee unions destroyed California) can get any traction, because repealing Prop 13 is going to be the Democrat solution. Cue imdw.

    Kevin Murphy (5ae73e)

  5. … sorry ass Conservatives …

    Last I heard, VDH is a registered Democrat, and he just endorsed Kaus for Senate – which doesn’t make him a bad guy (the endorsement, not the registration).
    He’s probably one of the last thinking people in the CA Dem Party.

    AD - RtR/OS! (9562e0)

  6. Hanson’s prescriptions for California are straightforward, simple and common-sense.

    Which means that there is absolutely zero chance that they will actually occur. The political class in California will go nuclear to prevent them ( indeed they have when the California populace have attempted to enact just a fraction of VDH’s suggestions ).

    SPQR (26be8b)

  7. AD – RtR/OS!,

    ropelight’s comment has an implied /sarc tag.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641)

  8. Why not just give it to Mexico…

    gazzer (7588eb)

  9. gazzer, we have.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  10. If VDH really thinks EVERY SINGLE ONE of the items on his long laundry list are necessary to save California, then he’s right: it’s “unsalvageable.”

    OTOH, if CA citizens and Sacto politicos were to be forced to productively address just a few major problems, would the state still be such the basket case? IMHO just improving grade-level education, some modest reductions in business regulations, a 1% drop in the state sales tax, and developing a sane immigration policy, would have an astounding domino effect.

    But then, I’m just a soft-hearted/retarded conservative-centrist Democrat. Don’t listen to me. 🙂

    qdpsteve (5eb540)

  11. > ROBERT GIBBS: The president is pleased that things are unfolding as planned. The system is working.

    Unfortunately, if one is thinking “Cloward Piven”, then this statement is exactly true.

    IgotBupkis (79d71d)

  12. Is there a place where VDH doesn’t want to implement his right wing wishlist?

    imdw (df0dab)

  13. Did anyone get the plate number from that drive-by ad hominem attack?

    Oh wait. It’s the same four-character vanity plate from the last volley.

    Never mind. NOTHING to see here.

    Icy Texan (e77df9)

  14. A political bumper-sticker from the past that could be re-instated in the current race for Governor
    (and it certainly is appropriate when considering the future of CA):

    If it’s Brown, flush it

    AD - RtR/OS! (21733c)

  15. spam above x2

    SPQR (26be8b)

  16. spam above x2
    Comment by SPQR — 5/24/2010 @ 3:36 pm

    Got the new one, missed the older one. Thanks.

    Stashiu3 (44da70)

  17. Comment by Bryan Jenkins — 5/24/2010 @ 4:52 pm

    Say, aren’t you on suspension from the Arch-Diocese for your interaction with small boys?

    AD - RtR/OS! (21733c)

  18. As is Dylan.

    AD - RtR/OS! (21733c)

  19. i was also home schooled when i was younger and it is also a great weay to get your education..,*

    Courtney Lloyd (ab5a1a)

  20. i was home schooled and it is quite satisfactory when providing basic education~:,

    Thomas Morris (2752d3)

  21. my kids are home schooled and they are always performing well in class during their High School years.:”

    Polycarbonate : (3ef67c)


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