Unless there's a recognition of the facts on the ground for the largest state, the state with over 1/10th of the US population just within its confines, California is going to be feeling the pain for a looooong time.
And let's not shy away here. Paul Rosenberg, a far more credible blogger than most, actually called California a "failed state" as an epitome of a "failed" United States. And what state could be more representative of our inability to solve problems?
Paul first lays into the deeply conservative, stagnant political structure of California:
The first two are far more accurate than the latter, thanks in part to our antiquated constitutional system that requires a 2/3rds super-majority to pass a budget or raise taxes. Not to mention our initiative system, which, contrary to common lore, was not a wonderful thing once upon a time, but rather was such a horror show that people turned away from it in disgust for the better part of half a century.
Raising taxes is a point he takes issue with throughout his diary. And I'll reiterate the point because he missed something. A small point, but illustrative.
To an observer not following closely, the four Indian gaming ballot propositions seemed like a partial-solution to the budget crisis. On Super Tuesday, these four props passed, expanding the amount of money that Indian tribes would pay into California expenses.
Each proposition only deals with revenue from one Indian tribe's casino. And yet look at these ads!
Whats up with the race-baiting and the quick-fix mentality? Indian gaming can solve the budget crisis! Who would vote against that? The antis thought the Indians got too much privilege (there's a laugh!) the pros thought it was of vital importance to increase the revenue from casinos--that those were important to education and other public goods. These four props were over half of the ballot proposals! Indian gaming is that important to California? Give me a break. This is a state that can't deal with its real priorities, for various reasons.
The political illiteracy of Californians is sort of astounding, really. By and large. And those that do get it, and do put put in time with activism are so overwhelmed by a rigid political process and sheer millions of apathetic and ignorant citizens that there is too much load with too few to carry it and expect right results.
And please spare me the shock that I dare say such a thing. I felt this kind of betrayal and frustration in February, a longtime before Proposition 8 passed. I'm only dealing with a small example, let's get back to larger narratives:
Frameshop: Can We Stop Pretending California is 'Green,' Now?
That California routinely burns to the ground from groundwater abuse, and yet so many residents of that state imagine themselves on the cutting edge of the sustainability revolution, is one of the greatest feats of collective self-delusion in the history of the United States--as if dropping a brick in your toilet tank, driving a Prius, and wearing organic t-shirts constituted a sustainable economy. Well, this resident of the Great Lakes region has some advice to the Golden State: Americans everywhere will continue to have sympathy with all those who suffer in your fires, but if you want us to take your claims to being 'green' seriously, start getting your suicidal groundwater abuse under control, California.
The tone of my diary is far more negative than I'd like, because the roots of the problem go so far down. I'd like to say that a high speed rail train will be a counteractive solution to California's infrastructural idiocy, but it would be a flat out lie. High speed rail will condense the areas made more desirable due to proximity to such a rail network and alleviate symptoms like traffic, but not solve the environmental disaster that is California.
California has to redesign itself from a sprawl that goes up against the canyons and into the chaparral hills, only to be singed by fires every year. High speed rail will not hurt with that, but it's not the solution. If anything, it will make it easier for Californians to excuse the ridiculous lack of thought to urban planning. (Now I'm only two miles from the train station when gas gets expensive! Johnny can take the bus to the train stop!)
If you're thinking in terms of the disaster being what immediately effects you, then the great 21st century California sham is really the housing bubbles of San Diego, Los Angeles, Central Valley, et cetera, and will be gone when the markets improve. But there are deeper problems. Not only groundwater abuse, but the way the cities are laid out, preventing better water harvesting per property and destroying the Colorado river watershed as well. If a building or buildings taking up an entire block both could harvest the minimal rainwater and use on-site treatment... that could be a start. But you can't do that effectively utilizing one-story, mile after mile tract development.
[Colorado river water usage] California currently takes approximately 5.2 million acre feet (maf) per year, even though its entitlement is only 4.4 maf.
And not only creating vast food deserts populated with millions and millions, but also destroying the increasingly scarce naturally-arable land through poor zoning, in the midst of a fertilizer bubble which is having dire consequences all around the globe.
So you start to see how dire the situation really is. In a world of increasing drought, food scarcity and energy crisis, Schwarzeneggar and the green-washed California conservatives can lower California's CO2 and still have a state of 36 million without water, a tenuous land to food system, no solution to howling fire storms, and few options if petroleum's availability diminishes. It would be a disaster movie.
For California's environmental and political problems there's nothing but short-sighted, easy and convenient solutions. No one has to drive less or lose the option of pristine suburbia! The resources that made California lucrative and desirable--arable land and plentiful water in stark contrast to the "great American desert"--are going to be completely squandered.
And rather than raising taxes on the rich like any sane society, the Indians and their vast wealth hold secret keys to the budget crisis. And hey, I can deny gays' equal rights and not be a bigot cause I voted for Obama! Gasoline prices are going down, so this will help suburban home values recover!
I wish I could suggest more. But Rosenberg concludes his diary on CA politics with a very important point:
It's quite simple really: the GOP hates California, just like it hates America. They like themselves and their yachts. They don't like anyone else. And if they can take everyone else down, and stay safe in their gated communities, then that sounds like a plan to them.
Don't kid yourself for a second that getting rid of the GOP will make California some sort of green paradise, and that urban sprawl, water and land abuse and pollution will solve themselves. A general ignorance and sense of entitlement is the cause of its land use and economic problems, plain and simple. No one pointed a gun at millions of people and forced them to build an urban wasteland. But you also won't get very far politically with these malignant misanthropes blockading progress. California's Republicans are actually some of the most vicious in the entire country, and some of the most powerful and obstructive.
It's a practical reminder of why we come here. And one thing you can do. When the GOP is decimated, then we're going to have to take a long look in the mirror and pull out the hatchet and the scalpal on the waste and insanity that is readying California for hard times.
My future diary will touch on the economics and California's place as an epicenter of the housing crisis.