[Matt Forney]

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...

[El Chinito loco]

Before we all bask in schaudenfreude just be aware that CA is the canary in the coal mine in a lot of ways. That flood of illegals and some of CA's other problems will be exported throughout the rest of the nation. Just wait until you experience the joys of MS-13 in your 'hood.

[Akula]

(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...

Great post.

Have some interesting color on the Colorado river comment in bold above.

I drove through Colorado this summer and man the lakes there are at ALL TIME highs apparently. The snowpack was huge this year from what I heard, and they are storing up all that water in the lakes I from what I saw. Have a friend who lives around Denver and he said the local reservoirs at at high levels he's not seen in decades.

I can only assume that bc of Colorado's growth they are managing their water much better now than before and essentially 'stocking up' for dry spells. In effect they are turning off the spigot for states like Arizona and California who pretty much rely on the Colorado river for water. I think Lake Mead is at all time lows right now too.

[The Beast1]

(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.

[PUA_Rachacha]

(08-21-2014 08:36 AM)Matt Forney Wrote:  

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.

I see my county, Monroe, has made that list. No surprise, but, Matt, as you know, we receive more snowfall than almost any other area of the country. Plowing and salting roads is EXPENSIVE. And the public schools are, for the most part, very good. Not many people sending their kids to private school.

I don't think Upstate is as bad as you make it out to believe.

[heavy]

Quote:

Also, more than 30% of the nation’s welfare recipients are Californians – even though California has just 12% of the nation’s population.

This is the real problem for our nation at large. And this is simply the headline of the bigger problem that includes even more spending.

Edit: Also, you don't get federal $$ drilling for water...you do for high-speed rail.

[Cattle Rustler]

California is a dump if you're not a top-shelf Alpha beast male

Rise to the top and LA/NYC become your paradise, your little playground where the views are nice and the people fantastic.

Then again, most people don't have the drive to rise to the top and settle for average while expecting the best to come to them, like entitled children.

[___]

(08-21-2014 09:04 AM)El Chinito loco Wrote:  

Before we all bask in schaudenfreude just be aware that CA is the canary in the coal mine in a lot of ways. That flood of illegals and some of CA's other problems will be exported throughout the rest of the nation. Just wait until you experience the joys of MS-13 in your 'hood.

No doubt.

The canary has died - CA's problems are already in Texas and making an impact.

No state income tax be damned.

[catoblepa]

do they have ski resorts in the San Gabriel Mountains? it must be awesome living in a county where you have a sub-tropical warm climate all year long and at the same time you have ski resorts right behind your back.

[Matt Forney]

(08-21-2014 09:53 AM)PUA_Rachacha Wrote:  

(08-21-2014 08:36 AM)Matt Forney Wrote:  

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.

I see my county, Monroe, has made that list. No surprise, but, Matt, as you know, we receive more snowfall than almost any other area of the country. Plowing and salting roads is EXPENSIVE.

The Dakotas and Montana get far worse winters (having lived out there, I experienced this first-hand), yet they don't feel the need to tax their citizens into oblivion the way New York does.

Most of New York's property taxes aren't being spent on maintenance, they're being wasted on social programs (a certain percentage of county taxes go direct to the state), the public employees' bloated salaries, and graft. Not to mention that in most CNY cities/towns, the roads are poorly maintained anyway. I lived in Ithaca up until a few months ago, and one of the main thoroughfares into the city was covered in potholes for a good three months before somebody decided to do something.

Quote:

And the public schools are, for the most part, very good.

The high school in my old neighborhood in Syracuse has metal detectors. The suburban schools are better, but that has little to do with the taxes and more to do with the fact that the schools there actually teach instead of acting as free daycare for single moms.

Quote:

Not many people sending their kids to private school.

Because they can't afford it. I went to a private school on an academic scholarship. My sisters had to go to public school (fortunately, this was before the metal detectors had to be added).

Quote:

I don't think Upstate is as bad as you make it out to believe.

No, it's worse. You get all the costs of living in New York with none of the upsides (being in the cultural capital of the world, NYC).

[The Beast1]

(08-21-2014 10:57 AM)Matt Forney Wrote:  

(08-21-2014 09:53 AM)PUA_Rachacha Wrote:  

(08-21-2014 08:36 AM)Matt Forney Wrote:  

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.

I see my county, Monroe, has made that list. No surprise, but, Matt, as you know, we receive more snowfall than almost any other area of the country. Plowing and salting roads is EXPENSIVE.

The Dakotas and Montana get far worse winters (having lived out there, I experienced this first-hand), yet they don't feel the need to tax their citizens into oblivion the way New York does.

Most of New York's property taxes aren't being spent on maintenance, they're being wasted on social programs (a certain percentage of county taxes go direct to the state), the public employees' bloated salaries, and graft. Not to mention that in most CNY cities/towns, the roads are poorly maintained anyway. I lived in Ithaca up until a few months ago, and one of the main thoroughfares into the city was covered in potholes for a good three months before somebody decided to do something.

Quote:

And the public schools are, for the most part, very good.

The high school in my old neighborhood in Syracuse has metal detectors. The suburban schools are better, but that has little to do with the taxes and more to do with the fact that the schools there actually teach instead of acting as free daycare for single moms.

Quote:

Not many people sending their kids to private school.

Because they can't afford it. I went to a private school on an academic scholarship. My sisters had to go to public school (fortunately, this was before the metal detectors had to be added).

Quote:

I don't think Upstate is as bad as you make it out to believe.

No, it's worse. You get all the costs of living in New York with none of the upsides (being in the cultural capital of the world, NYC).

I had a friend who lived there for four years and told me the exact same stuff you mentioned.. Upstate New York, all of the costs of NYC without the fun.

[Travesty]

One thing coastal CA has going for it if you are an older guy I bet it is the largest concentration of 30+ divorcee or never married chicks that are into yoga, Whole Foods, and are very bangable with diversity thrown in to boot in the US by a landslide.

[TigerMandingo]

California is like Italy or Greece - the weather and the scenery offsets all the negative shit that goes on.

[xpatplayer]

Parts of California will go to s*** while others will stay beautiful. I cannot imagine any of the rich suburbs or rich beach towns becoming dystopian in the foreseeable future. But you will see middle-class and poor neighborhoods go into disarray.

I've lived in boring places too long. Lets be honest, Texas isn't nearly as fun as New York City or SoCal, and given enough money, I would certainly move to those places. Interesting places tend to have much more leftist governments, but that's never a problem so long as you have the cash and social savvy.

Honestly, would you rather live with boring old people in a rich Houston/ Dallas suburb and pay less income tax or live with interesting people in Manhattan/ any affluent SoCal neighborhood?

Life isn't all about making a political statement.

[MrLemon]

This is all crap. I live in Northern California and whatever happens in LA has almost zero effect on me. This is the most beautiful rich place on the planet. Yes overcrowded...but I can drive 2 hours away and escape that. Silicon Valley has so much fucking money and power, it's like rain falling from the sky. If you are plugged into the local scene, it's like living 10 years ahead of the rest of the world.

Texas? You have to be fucking kidding me. Why would I move to Texas? It's a fucking shithole of a place. Hot, humid, dry, and no mountains.

The only other place remotely as nice as California is maybe Utah (mormons) or Colorado. Washington/Oregon? Gloomy half the year. East Coast? Total shithole. The South? Full of ignorant religious assholes.

I've travelled the world. Noplace even begins to match California. Yeah the taxes are high, but I make 50% more than most other places, so who cares?

[Foolsgo1d]

(08-21-2014 05:44 AM)frenchie Wrote:  

The fact we have a freshwater problem blows my mind. Youd think they would create a nuclear power station that would also double as a desalination plant. Neccessity is the mother of invention.

Lets put this into perspective.

Right now nuclear technology is perfect for meeting our energy needs. Desalination plants are better than ever at recovering fresh, drinkable water from the sea.

Spain has one of these plants feeding one of the worlds biggest fruit produce areas on the planet.

Now lets say the approval for such a scheme was to go ahead.

1: fearmongers would scream blue murder about the drinking water being poisoned by radiation

2: Where are you going to put it?

3: How far from the sea will it be? A primary advantage for coastal reactors is putting them where the water is. Does California have this advantage at the moment?

4: Facility build. These things take in excess of 10+ years. The desalination plant is unknown to me but to meet demands I am thinking a certain cubic metre output per day is required.

5: You need to decide whether you want small-medium or two large plants. Which is the most cost effective?


Projects like this have never been attempted and are very costly. The payback period would be a long term endeavour and taxes may become a fluctuating income due to the ever expanding poor population who will be unable and unwilling to pay their dues.

[kaotic]

I lived in CA all my life so far (I'm 28)

The weather is awesome, I've surfed, snowboarded, and skated all in the same day.

Jerry Brown is running this state into the ground, don't even get me started on this fucking high speed rail bs they want.

DON'T LIVE IN LA and you'll be okay. NorCal is pretty awesome, San Diego is good as well. Orange County is good as long as you've got a decent amount of coin.

The reason people live in the inland empire/riverside county is because houses are half the price and the commute isn't that bad (OK OK the 91 is horrible).

It IS a welfare state and land of the "free" benefits.

I just couldn't picture myself living anywhere else. I work with manufacturers we just found another one of them is moving their HQ to Texas.

Texas is fucking money for companies, I predict it having it's own high tech silicon valley in the coming decade.

Honestly Texas doesn't sound that bad and I've debated moving there.

[The Beast1]

(08-21-2014 01:14 PM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:  

(08-21-2014 05:44 AM)frenchie Wrote:  

The fact we have a freshwater problem blows my mind. Youd think they would create a nuclear power station that would also double as a desalination plant. Neccessity is the mother of invention.

Lets put this into perspective.

Right now nuclear technology is perfect for meeting our energy needs. Desalination plants are better than ever at recovering fresh, drinkable water from the sea.

Spain has one of these plants feeding one of the worlds biggest fruit produce areas on the planet.

Now lets say the approval for such a scheme was to go ahead.

1: fearmongers would scream blue murder about the drinking water being poisoned by radiation

2: Where are you going to put it?

3: How far from the sea will it be? A primary advantage for coastal reactors is putting them where the water is. Does California have this advantage at the moment?

4: Facility build. These things take in excess of 10+ years. The desalination plant is unknown to me but to meet demands I am thinking a certain cubic metre output per day is required.

5: You need to decide whether you want small-medium or two large plants. Which is the most cost effective?


Projects like this have never been attempted and are very costly. The payback period would be a long term endeavor and taxes may become a fluctuating income due to the ever expanding poor population who will be unable and unwilling to pay their dues.

Much like the space program and the interstate highways, this will only take off when the government decides to make it a national security priority. But we do have the technology to make this a non-issue.

[TheWastelander]

(08-21-2014 12:27 PM)MrLemon Wrote:  

The South? Full of ignorant religious assholes.

I'll take the Jesus freaks who have been limited by law as to what they can actually do over the nutso progs and their totalitarian religious bullshit any day.

[Walderschmidt]

It's really interesting to see arguments over states and counties play out.

What I see is that the US is really several countries under one roof. You've got the North, the South, the East, and the West. People feel loyalty to their region, not the nation as a whole. Not there is much of a nation anymore anyway.

Wald

[MdWanderer]

(08-21-2014 11:41 AM)xpatplayer Wrote:  

Honestly, would you rather live with boring old people in a rich Houston/ Dallas suburb and pay less income tax or live with interesting people in Manhattan/ any affluent SoCal neighborhood?

Life isn't all about making a political statement.

San Diego/Orange County are conservative/Republican voting areas, and those places by far have the best combination of beautiful, approachable women in the whole state (probably the whole country) as well as the fun factor going for it too.

Sometimes there are boring liberal areas too (New England, parts of the Midwest, etc) but I do see your point. I learn conservative but the cultural offerings of liberal areas such as NYC, SoCal, and DC (I know, I know) can't be beat.

[blacknwhitespade]

California was cooler in the 60s, 70s and 80s. The Dodgers and A's actually won world series titles back then. Nuff said.

[kaotic]

(08-21-2014 02:56 PM)blacknwhitespade Wrote:  

California was cooler in the 60s, 70s and 80s. The Dodgers and A's actually won world series titles back then. Nuff said.

Now the Angel's are up top

[Travesty]

@MdWanderer

This is not true.

OC does not have very approachable chicks, it is very cliquey overall and many times you will see racial cliques Whites, Latinos, Asians often segregate themselves.

OC it is extremely important to have a fishbowl.

Asian guy with club dance game.

White surf brah with lifted truck and big Angels, offroading, river boating, and country music fan.

MMA affliction tatted up brah.

Preppy rich Newport brah brat.

Latino gangsta wannabe.

Trustfund boy in dad's tinted out Porsche or BMW.

The list goes on...

[kaotic]

(08-21-2014 03:42 PM)Travesty444 Wrote:  

@MdWanderer

This is not true.

OC does not have very approachable chicks, it is very cliquey overall and many times you will see racial cliques Whites, Latinos, Asians often segregate themselves.

OC it is extremely important to have a fishbowl.

Asian guy with club dance game.

White surf brah with lifted truck and big Angels, offroading, river boating, and country music fan.

MMA affliction tatted up brah.

Preppy rich Newport brah brat.

Latino gangsta wannabe.

Trustfund boy in dad's tinted out Porsche or BMW.

The list goes on...

Trav nailed it exactly how it is.

Visit the bars on Main St. in Huntington Beach, the bars in Newport, the bars in Irvine, the bars in Downtown Fullerton.

They're always clicked up types.

Norcal is so much open and friendlier IMHO.