Quote: (08-21-2014 08:36 AM)Matt Forney Wrote:
The triumphalism of the California left is identical to that of the leftists in the other crumbling blue states (New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota etc.):
"New York is the capital of the world!"
"Ew, why would you want to live in NORTH DAKOTA? There's nothing to do there!"
"I love New York's diversity. The rest of the country is just so white bread."
Meanwhile, the state government's deficit keeps growing every year despite all the tax increases. That's what happens when the middle class flees to other states.
California has an inbuilt advantage over the other blue states in that the weather is nice there (though with the Colorado River running on empty and the inland West states taking more water, we'll see how long that lasts). But weather isn't much of a help when the only people who can afford to enjoy it are the ultra-rich.
That's the big joke here: the left-wing tax-and-spend policies that are supposed to increase equality actually make it worse. California, New York and the other blue states are basically mini-Brazils, where only the very wealthy and the very poor can survive. The middle class, which neither qualifies for welfare nor is wealthy enough to weather shocks in the economy, are the ones who end up losing.
Want a job in New York? Outside of minimum-wage positions and specialized, parasitic rentier jobs (e.g. Wall Street, civil service), there's nothing. Get sick of renting and want to own your own house? Oh, whoops: of the top ten counties in the U.S. with the highest property tax burdens, NINE are in New York. Want to have kids? You can't afford them unless you go on the dole (which is why the only people in New York having kids are immigrants and derelicts). Want to build an addition to your garage, own a firearm, smoke or otherwise do what you like with your body or property? There's a law or regulation here that will fuck you up if you try.
Same thing with the other blue states. It doesn't matter how many billionaires live in your state (David Koch lives in Manhattan, but no one will seriously argue that it's because NYC is a libertarian paradise). High-speed rail doesn't matter, the "inventions" of a few tech geeks don't matter, what matters is how the middle class is doing. And right now, they have a better shot in Florida, Virginia, Texas, North Carolina or any of the other "flyover states" that the coastal lefties turn their noses up at. Hell, in places like South Dakota and Montana, living is so cheap that retail workers can actually afford to buy houses. In the glorious People's Republics of California and New York, they'd be relegated to living off EBT cards.
But by all means blue staters, keep patting yourselves on the back for living in the "cool" cities. Say wait, didn't Texas gain something like four electoral votes this past Census while California got nothing and New York lost two? Don't worry, I'm sure all those illegal anchor babies and underclass breeders will make up for the middle class fleeing to Nevada and Arizona. Yup, those EBT cases are gonna become productive citizens any day now...
Tell me about it. I live in Boston and the cost of living here is a fucking joke. I can justify places like Miami, New York, and LA but Boston has no reason to cost this much to live here when the weather is horrible 10 months out of the year. It's still August and I had to put on a SWEATER today! A fucking sweater in August.