I recently moved to California. Before i moved, people asked me “why are you moving there, its so bad?”. Now that I’m here, i understand it less. The state is beautiful. There is so much to do.
I know the cost of living is high, and people think the gun control laws are ridiculous (I actually think they are reasonable, for the most part). There is a guy I work with here that says “the policies are dumb” but can’t give me a solid answer on what is so bad about it.
So, what is it that California does (policy-wise) that people hate so much?
California gets trotted out in the conservative media sphere as “liberalism run wild”, a place where being what they consider to be a “real American” is illegal but crime is subsidized by the state, where everything is expensive and dangerous, and homeless people have gay sex in the street. There’s an entire industry focused on filtering for the most extremely awful news they can find in a state of almost 40 million people, packaging that news as though it’s the typical experience everyone there goes through, and then blasting that news into the brains of Americans 24/7. That image, carefully crafted to be as extremely negative as possible, is the only experience most people have with California.
I moved from Canada to California a few years ago and spent almost 5 years in the San Jose area. Loved California; the food, the people there, the scenery, definitely the weather. End up hating America though.
I live in the Bay Area and love all the natural beauty in all directions. We can hike a different trail every weekend during the months when it’s not unpleasantly warm or chilly and never repeat. The tragedy of it all is that it’s attached to the rest of the country, by which I mean red states.
I’m from bumfuck nowhere in the US, but damn I am jealous of California and it is wasted on the US. But hey, if leaving the US entirely is out of the question, there’s bound to be a few places there that are somewhat bearable.
The liberalism run wild concept is kinda what I’m curious about. Like what things? I know California protects abortions and has stronger gun control laws. But is that really it? There’s gotta be more actual examples
A lot of social programs, better employee pay and benefits, legal weed. Conservatives are just jealous that their shithole backwater hick towns will never change so they point at the scary liberal boogeyman that is “Commiefornia” in some vain hope they will get noticed.
their shithole backwater hick towns
That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing it.
Nope. Conservatives are a simple people. You tell them something is bad because god doesn’t like it and they won’t question it.
Ronald Reagan began California Gun control as a response to the Black Panthers. supported by the NRA.
That image, carefully crafted to be as extremely negative as possible, is the only experience most people have with California.
That’s the thing. No one I’ve ever heard who says this kind of shit has ever lived here for any length of time or knows anything about the state beyond what the “news” has told them to believe. There are issues here like there are issues everywhere. So people want to focus on homelessness. Of course we have more homeless people, we have more people. We have two of the largest and most well known metro areas in the nation with an up and coming third.
The bitching takes away (maybe intentionally) from the homeless issue that is rapidly increasing throughout the rest of the country. This is an issue of inflation and greed masquerading as inflation. Of corporate property owners buying up rentals and raising rents. Of workers not being paid a living wage. Of food and essentials becoming increasingly unaffordable by the month. Of course people are losing their homes and stealing from walmart. But this is a national problem. It gets worse all over the country for the same reasons and at the same time that it gets worse in California.
But what I will say is, we do have reproductive rights. Reasonable firearms regulations. More tenant regulations that most places, though still never enough. Some cities have social worker response teams instead of sending cops to kill people having mental health problems. We have homeless outreach and a statewide homeless census. Our schools and colleges still have diversity programs and sex ed. The state provides tuition waivers and grants for low income and marginalized students. We have drag shows and pride parades. And our libraries aren’t being purged by fucking nazis. So there’s that.
California is the target of conservative fear mongering.
Which is silly considering how many conservatives there are there. The current speaker of the House is from California.
I was told California had a “one party system”, have I been lied to? 😱
Doesn’t matter. Cali and NYC are the epitome of librul chaos and if those places aren’t made out to be smoldering shitholes with 2.7 homeless people to every citizen the gullible nitwit voluntarily angry dopes in the party (most of them) might actually vote in their best interests
Same with Chicago
Alley ways!? Ahh! I’m scared!
There’s a large amount of perceived haughtiness from the residents of California. They have a lot to be proud of though - it’s a great state in a lot of regards.
Full disclosure, I’m Canadian but travel to San Diego often for work.
Downtown San Diego is not as I remember it from before the pandemic. It’s quite clear to me that California is struggling with a massive mental health and addiction issue. The cost of living compounds these issues and amplifies the worst in people. Even “normal” working class folk are quick to anger and explode at the slightest inconvenience and people just do not give a shit about each other. I pin it to everyone being stressed out because they live paycheck to paycheck and the future is always uncertain.
Things that I think could help: universal healthcare, increased public housing, and the execution of the sackler family.
Also universal basic income
Long time resident of California (SoCal in particular), can confirm haughtiness. I’ve grown increasingly prideful of my state for holding strong on specific human right issues.
You’re also right about the increasing disparity though. It feels like stratification is getting stronger and stronger each year. The Beach Cities area in particular, from my experience, where they’re building a bunch of (very expensive) flats. California has had a history of states shipping homeless/refugees to us and that doesn’t help our increasing number of state-grown displacements.
There’s a large amount of perceived haughtiness from the residents of California. They have a lot to be proud of though - it’s a great state in a lot of regards.
The Napa Valley liberals are staggeringly arrogant when you meet them in person.
California has Medi Cal which is pretty close to universal healthcare.
It’s nice, but it does have some glaring gaps in it, such as the usual exceptions for most “luxury bones” concerns (teeth). Last I checked, Medi-Cal only covers one basic cleaning a year, for example.
My dental is taken care of by local Indian tribes. I’m not native.
It depends entirely on where you visit in the city. Plenty of areas have zero issues. Downtown sucks, though. I’m more surprised you’ve ever enjoyed it there…
It’s a left-leaning, progressive state. Everyone who talks shit about this state in anything other than the cost of living generally doesn’t have an answer because their actual reason for disliking the state is that it’s not a republican state.
their actual reason for disliking the state is that it’s not a republican state
Largest number of electoral votes for presidential elections, too, which drives 'em nuts!
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I think that happened under Trump. If it really was last year she should have declared a state of emergency and have Biden send in the feds to clean house.
Trump wasn’t even willing to take care of wildfires on federal land, but an extreme case of blue flu, or whatever the hell you call it when you feign incompetence so severe that they are letting red handed murderers go on their own recognizance (Asian targets, black criminal, suddenly the court finds it’s clemency), demands a clean out. Eliminate the cop gangs and provide 24h security for the governor and da.
Biden has been a disappointment in some areas and a welcome surprise in others but his inability to address bad policing is one of the disappointments. The thing is, the administration is usually powerless to act unless their aid is specifically requested.
california is the largest “sub-national” economy in the world. if california was a country, it would have the fifth largest economy. bigger than the uk, or bigger than india.
if i had to guess, the answer is “success breeds jealousy”
If anything, it should be California thats pissed off, having all its tax money go to support the failed red states and their failed policies via the federal redistribution.
I maintain that if red states want to end government handouts, we should respect their wishes, for them.
100% agree.
All accusations are confessions, and quite possibly the biggest of them all is their calling everyone welfare queens… When republicans rely on federal welfare to keep states above water so they can continue to convince those very same idiots that welfare bad and federal gubmint bad.
If its so bad, turn the faucet off and let them see how bad it really is under republican rule.
The problem is that policy hurts the poorest who have the least say in thr policy
Aka haters gunna hate
Funny enough for the right wingers that don’t like the gun control in California, it was first brought in because Reagan was fearful of the Black Panthers who were openly carrying fully legal assault rifles and those white politicians couldn’t handle that second amendment applying to black gun owners.
SYSK do a good explainer on this and the Black Panther party in general - https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-you-should-know-26940277/episode/the-black-panther-party-29467333/
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Prop 13 (1978) is part of the cruel legacy of Ronald Reagan, who had stopped being Governor in order to gird his loins for becoming President, but was still highly influential. The Howard Jarvis Association continues to poison the political sphere to this day.
Sounds mostly to me like the free market working as intended. You have a single state expressing the majority of American’s values, so everyone wants to live there. California’s portion of the GDP reflects what the concentration of blue voters does for the economy.
Except in a true free market zoning laws wouldn’t keep adorable, high density housing from being constructed to artificially boost housing prices.
Other than that I agree with you.
The high costs really are kind of insane. Even before COVID. I honestly don’t know what the solution is or if it’s actually preferable to have high costs but also a tremendous amount of money coming into the state from continued interest in Californian real estate.
I remember when a city wanted 1 million dollars to construct an outhouse. At that price, with that level of graft, the voters thankfully voted against it.
If we can’t even get an outhouse built, what does that spell for larger projects?
We pay so much just for the real estate / rent and so much in taxes and what does it get us?
My uncle got fined for installing his own solar panels (although this happened over a decade ago). Honestly the state gets a lot of things right but when it gets things wrong it gets them infuriatingly wrong, and for the amount of money we are spending this shit shouldn’t be happening. I have no problem paying for an administrative state, as long as it administrates!
Recently we found out that over 300 physical assaults against Asian seniors were all done by one guy, which honestly I don’t even know if that’s true or not, and the implications in either case are terrible. One guy who was arrested for stabbing a senior citizen in the neck was released into his own recognizance and he ended up successfully murdering another senior citizen within 24h of his release. Of course, black perp Asian victim, so no surprise the justice system suddenly finds clemency. We will shoot black toddlers for playing with a toy gun but if it’s a black person stabbing Asian senior citizens in the neck, suddenly this is a precious creature who must be protected.
Another recent headline grabber is when they eliminated the sats as a criteria for college admissions. That one really pissed me off, as someone who absolutely hated homework and was too timid to ask someone else to do it but who aced all the tests. They got rid of the sats but they will introduce a new test in 2025?!! They should have the new test ready before they eliminate the old test! Leaving admissions fully in the hands of incompetent teachers is so fucking stupid that it could only be intentional.
These past few years have really clarified for me that I think I identify best with social Democrats and not with actual leftists and certainly not with right leaning saboteurs. I don’t mind giving the underprivileged a voice or giving them accommodations, but certain govt services are necessary and we need them to work.
As a very left leaning individual who does not like California my reasons basically come down to all the benign neglect of the homeless (leaving people to rot in the streets with their fentanyl addictions isn’t progressive, assholes) the militant oppositions to building housing anywhere (progress is being made but it’s like pulling teeth) and the huge focus on performative laws that effect 0 actual change.
… Notably these are all problems in other states too. Most of them just use police to lock them up instead. Not better.
But California rubs me the wrong way because they act smug about it.
Notably these are all problems in other states too. Most of them just use police to lock them up instead. Not better.
They don’t always lock them up. Sometimes they put them on a bus to California.
That represents such a miniscule population that it’s not really worth talking about.
90% of your homeless population is home(less)-grown.
In the context of this discussion about attitudes towards CA, the fact that CA is held to a higher standard than other states is worth talking about.
Because its a right-wing dogwhistle.
I think this is mostly due to the highly polarized political climate. California is the most populous state and it’s policies frequently end up spreading to other states and therefore is frequently focused on because if it’s major influence. This is similar to how Texas and Florida are in the news a lot for their more conservative policies. While there are people out there who take the time to inform themselves and make their own decisions most people are only able to parrot back talking points they hear from the news or their friends. I suspect your coworker is one of those people and probably leans conservative so all he hears all day is how California’s policies are making housing too expensive and it’s too “woke” etc.
Political policy that’s extremist, whether left or right, doesn’t make sense.
Most people out of the state who complain about California, never lived here, they are just repeating what they heard on conservative media.
If it was a hell hole like they say, the property prices would be cheap, no one would want them.
Most people that are leaving, are leaving because they got priced out and cannot afford to stay.
I would think that the people leaving have the money to move anywhere, due to being cheaper than CA. Buying home in cheaper states or due to work.
You’d think, but it can be difficult to save up moving costs for a long distance haul + deposits + getting a new job lined up while living paycheck to paycheck.
It’s the network effect. Many industry leaders are already here so everyone else wants to be also.
The real estate / rent prices are so insane that it is already affecting malls and smaller shops but it’s still not causing the real estate market to draw down. In fact if anything the continued trend of prices rising higher and higher only attracts more demand.
From my small sample size experience as a customer service rep for an internet and cable TV company, California customers are some of the most obnoxious ever. People in LA seem like some of the angriest people ever. The slightest inconvenience and it’s like you killed their fucking dog.
NYC has entered the chat
It’s funny, my NYC customers are usually pretty chill.
They don’t have to drive.
Working 3½ jobs to just barely pay rent will do that to you.
Sit in LA traffic for two hours and you’ll get it… It’s an awful place. The Decemberists described it as “the oceans gargled vomit on the shore.” So far, that’s the best description I’ve heard.
LA people are not right in the head. The rest of California is nothing like that place.
Right now, it’s because Californians are moving to [insert right wing state] and turning it left wing.
I’d love some more of that in CO-3 please and thank you.
From what I’ve observed it has to do with the fact most people do not know how to party, something California knoes how to do very well.
Yeah I hear Compton in particular keeps it rockin
