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California of the Dark Ages
PJ Media ^ | 1-31-16 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 02/01/2016 10:15:14 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic

Edited on 02/01/2016 10:26:49 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]

I recently took a few road trips longitudinally and latitudinally across California. The state bears little to no resemblance to what I was born into. In a word, it is now a medieval place of lords and peasants-and few in between. Or rather, as I gazed out on the California Aqueduct, the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Luis Reservoir, I realized we are like the hapless, squatter Greeks of the Dark Ages, who could not figure out who those mythical Mycenaean lords were that built huge projects still standing in their midst, long after Lord Ajax and King Odysseus disappeared into exaggeration and myth. Henry Huntington built the entire Big Creek Hydroelectric Project in the time it took our generation to go to three hearings on a proposed dam.


(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Philosophy; US: California
KEYWORDS: agribusiness; agricultulre; california; demographics; drought; economy; progress; vdh; vdhcalif; victordavishanson; water; watertable
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I've observed much the same in my rather infrequent visits to my home state, but VDH says it so much more elegantly!

I shall correct him on one point, however. I should think that $1 per pound for almonds in the 1950s, vs $3 per pound today, is actually a decline in real dollars.

1 posted on 02/01/2016 10:15:14 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

“Huge numbers, illegality, and the far greater presence of ingenious peoples meant there were more immigrants, more who were poorer and more who did not speak English or even Spanish as their native language-at a time when the salad bowl and hyphenation replaced the melting pot. The result is that there are large areas of Central California that resemble life in rural Mexico. Within a radius of five miles I can go to stores and restaurants where English is rarely spoken and there is no racial or cultural diversity-a far cry from Jeb Bush’s notion of an “act of love” landscape. “

It’s hardly confined to just the rural Central Valley. There’s now plenty of suburban SoCal where this is also the case. Credit to Dubya and the US Chamber of Commerce, and their soul brother Barack Obama. And the best part is that we pay for this to happen through gov’t programs that we never voted for.


2 posted on 02/01/2016 10:25:08 AM PST by Pelham (Barack Obama, loyal son of Islam and Alinsky)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Paradise for the few - hellhole for the many with soma distributed to all in this ‘brave new world’ of past nightmares...


3 posted on 02/01/2016 10:27:48 AM PST by GOPJ (If the FBI was investigating Cruz for espionage could Rubio call off the press like Sanders did?)
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To: GOPJ

Overcrowded. Graffiti scarred. Gang infested. Press 1 for English. What’s not to like about once-pleasant California?


4 posted on 02/01/2016 10:30:44 AM PST by Pelham (Barack Obama, loyal son of Islam and Alinsky)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

I travel to California maybe twice a year, and for anyone who grew up there, it’s like going to another planet. All the wealth has been squished into a tiny sliver along the coastal cities from SF to SD. Plenty of consumer related businesses like Whole Foods and Jiffy lubes in those areas, but the cost of living is very high. The rest of the state looks like the Oaklahoma dust bowl without the dust.


5 posted on 02/01/2016 10:34:17 AM PST by SpaceBar
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To: afraidfortherepublic

—another great one from VDH—my favorite historian—


6 posted on 02/01/2016 10:34:48 AM PST by rellimpank (--don't believe anything the media or government says about firearms or explosives--)
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To: afraidfortherepublic
Hell, we as a nation built the entire WWII war machine of thousands of ships, planes and vehicles plus putting millions under arms and then winning a two ocean war in about the same time as Obama and his Marxists took to build a failed Web Site for Obamacare.
7 posted on 02/01/2016 10:37:38 AM PST by Don Corleone ("Oil the gun..eat the cannoli. Take it to the Mattress.")
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To: afraidfortherepublic

The California of the Rose Parade is gone.


8 posted on 02/01/2016 10:41:36 AM PST by Excellence (Marine mom since April 11, 2014)
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To: afraidfortherepublic
It should be mentioned that VDH is writing about what he calls "Central CA". That's from Merced south.

From Merced north, family farms are thriving. Especially once north of the Delta in Stockton.

North of Stockton is Almonds, Tomatoes and Olives (an emerging powerhouse). And RICE.

These folks are doing very, very well.

100 acres of mature Walnuts will produce at least $1mil/yr in revenue. No illegals required.

Whereas 100 acres of peaches or grapes in the south will not cover the cost of water and pickers.

Once north of Stockton, California is still paradise.

9 posted on 02/01/2016 10:43:11 AM PST by Mariner (War Criminal #18 - Be The Leaderless Resistance)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Unfettered illegal alien inundation has a tendency to destroy nice places.....

The Cheap Labor Express must be proud of their accomplishment.

They must be because they are still trying to prevent us from electing anyone who will stop them.


10 posted on 02/01/2016 10:44:44 AM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Know Islam, No Peace - No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: Mariner
It's called the Sacramento Valley (Sacramento River runs through it).

From Stockton, north to Redding...200 miles. And it's 100 miles wide. And it's nearly completely flat with the best soil in the country.

During this drought they still had "just enough" water. This year the water is back and I expect many farm families will enjoy a bonanza that will be the envy of the rest of the nation.

11 posted on 02/01/2016 10:48:23 AM PST by Mariner (War Criminal #18 - Be The Leaderless Resistance)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Wow, sad to read this. I was born in Los Angeles at County Hospital which is in Boyle Heights section of the city. It was mostly populated by poor Jews and Mexican immigrants which is why I love Matzo Ball Chicken Soup with my Tacos...but the changes have been profound. I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. The Elementary school I went to was primarily white blue collar middle class folks. Today I checked the sight and 95% of the students are either on a full free lunch program or graduated scale. It’s 97% hispanic and 1% White and 1% Black...
VDH nails it...
California I hardly knew ye!
Freegards
LEX


12 posted on 02/01/2016 10:51:26 AM PST by lexington minuteman 1775
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To: afraidfortherepublic

VDH nails it again.

Someday the citizens will demand the infrastructure they deserve, and not be confined to roads, water, energy produced by ancestors. The excess pain of liberal doctrine will outweigh the emotional high.

Will we live long enough?


13 posted on 02/01/2016 10:57:44 AM PST by cicero2k
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To: cicero2k

“Will we live long enough?”

Short answer: no.


14 posted on 02/01/2016 11:02:32 AM PST by LaRueLaDue
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To: Mariner

DID YOU HAVE TO GO TELL EVERYBODY?!


15 posted on 02/01/2016 11:08:54 AM PST by Darteaus94025 (Can't have a Liberal without a Lie)
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To: Mariner

VDH discusses those advantages of nut trees in the article


16 posted on 02/01/2016 11:11:18 AM PST by RightGeek (FUBO and the donkey you rode in on)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Check out almonds next time in the store, its more like 10 bucks a pound!


17 posted on 02/01/2016 11:15:57 AM PST by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

There is a growing movement for the northern counties to succeed from the State and declare a new State called Jefferson. The northern counties only have 7 representatives vs over 200 for the city belt because the Democrat’s stacked the deck so badly. All the mining, timber and farming interests are under city management, which makes making a living impossible.

I personally think it’s a wonderful idea. Properly manages the farming timber and mining interests would generate prosperity for the new State in short order.


18 posted on 02/01/2016 11:27:07 AM PST by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

But the majority of people living in California are blind to what’s going on—let alone what caused it.


19 posted on 02/01/2016 11:31:28 AM PST by Savage Beast (The Trump Phenomenon is a Revolution. Actually a Counter-Revolution.)
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To: afraidfortherepublic
The 2016 Presidential Election is a referendum on whether the entire U.S.A. will sink into this hellhole of decadence or whether is will reject the decay and resurge into ascendance.

If the Democrats/RINOs are elected, the United States will continue its decline and will fall. Not only will officials be elected who will accelerate the decline, but it will also be a bellwether revealing that there are not enough Americans with the will and clarity to save the U.S.A. from fall and destruction.

The Trump Counter-Revolution promises ascendancy.

20 posted on 02/01/2016 11:38:34 AM PST by Savage Beast (The Trump Phenomenon is a Revolution. Actually a Counter-Revolution.)
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