Republicans Hate California For The Wrong Reasons
It’s no secret that I’ve been critical of the Golden State. But most of my critiques are based on my own lived experience and observations. My gripe with California isn’t based upon the premise that it’s a so-called “Communist shithole,” but because it’s one of the most deeply unequal and brutally capitalist places in the country.
California’s problems are numerous. We have the most severe homelessness crisis in the United States with one third of America’s unhoused calling California home. The cost of living, even in areas that are considered “less desirable” are exorbitant . Purchasing a home here is out of the question except for an extremely privileged few. We’re in an era similar to that of the Gilded Age, not the Bolshevik or French Revolution.
These problems are not here because of “blue-haired, woke liberals” who are hell bent on making everyone miserable. These problems exist due to greed and bureaucratic gridlock. This is crony capitalism, not a command economy running amok.
San Francisco’s median home price is $1.4 million, Los Angeles’ median home price is $1.2 million. This isn’t Communism. It’s an unfortunate symptom of investment.
If the reasons stated above motivates your distaste for the Golden State, then I can’t really argue with you, it’s a fucked up situation. Not only that, but California is moving further right with crackdowns on homelessness and protesters. But if you’re critiquing it because you think it’s Communist, or even Socialist, you’re legitimately fucking insane.
California is great, that’s part of the problem. It’s a gorgeous state with some of the best weather in the world. Not only that, but some of the most important industries in the world call California home. This attracts hordes of talented, ambitious people to our state in the hopes that they can be one of the lucky few who gets to realize their own version of the California Dream.
And truth be told, we have the room for them. Our state is massive, even in the densely populated pockets of the Bay Area and Los Angeles, we have plenty of space to accommodate new faces from different places, but due to portfolio investment companies and greedy property owners, many Californians are faced with an artificial scarcity that drags down the quality of life.
There is a gigantic disconnect between what people earn in California and the cost of living here.
For example: As stated above, the median home price in San Francisco is $1.4 million. The median individual income in SF is 65k a year, and 136k for a household with two adults working full time. The price to live here doesn’t coincide with the money being made here. That indicates foreign investment. This isn’t an organic demand issue because SF has 60k vacant housing units. The demand is driven by investors, not people buying the home to live in. This hell is being created by capitalists. The comparison is even more stark in Oakland, which has a significantly higher poverty rate than SF. The median income in Oakland is 47k, and 94k for a household. Oakland’s median home value hovers near $1 million.
This article isn’t intended to bash California, this is truly a great place to live. We literally have every type of geography to explore. No matter what kind of lifestyle you want, you can find it here. We have cities, suburbs, small towns, mountains, forests, coastlines, snow, deserts, we got fucking everything. But many of the critiques are based on lies. The Left doesn’t control California, they don’t even really have much influence in cities with radical histories like Oakland or Berkeley. You have symbolic nods to bygone cultural movements that tried to make the world a better place and failed while the virtue signalers uphold a deeply imbalanced system that is in effect in every part of the United States: Oligarchy.
California is great, it’s also terrible. But if you’re gonna critique it, at least know what the fuck you’re talking about.
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Howdy! My name is Katy Atchison and I'm an Associate Editor for Broke-Ass Stuart.
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