California -- The Backwater State

Human Events Online ^ | November 17, 2004 | Ray Haynes

[El Oviedo]

I know a lot of people who are stuck in the 1960’s. They look back at that time of free love, Jimi Hendrix, and the socialist utopia. They long for the socialist utopia they thought was possible then, not thinking that their view of this socialist utopia was somewhat colored by the chemicals that altered their thought patterns in those days. The only problem with these people, who see the long-haired, peacenik of 1968 as the ideal citizen, is that they are now the Democrat majority in the state legislature.

Most people don’t know this, but I actually used to think like them. While the drugs of the 60’s were not a part of my experience, I used to think that the ideal social order was based on the principle “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.” Indeed, in those idyllic years, I conceived of an end to hunger and poverty in the coming United States socialist paradise. Boy was I stupid.

Unfortunately for my colleagues in the state legislature, they cling to this monumental misconception. Their solution to every problem that people face is another government program, and another tax on the rich. They just know that they can help you raise your kids, run your business, protect your job, clean up your neighborhood, and spend your money better than you. It’s like they provide you with your own personal bureaucrat finance director. When they had their way between 1999 and 2003, during the Davis years, they bankrupted the state.

I became a conservative because the principles of family, faith, free enterprise, and individual liberty are the principles of a solid social organization.

[El Oviedo]

I used to work at the Presidio in San Franciso during the 70s and I saw the moral decline that was taking place. Most of them in the Berkley campus.

[ladyinred]

I hate when people lump all of California together to make it sound as if we are all a bunch of left over hippy socialist free love losers. That is just not reality. Sick of it actually.

[foreverfree]

Haynes is from Riverside. Didn't Riverside County go red in '04 (& '00)?

ff

[LiberalBassTurds]

To your point...

Thanks for the logo Safrguns!

[durasell]

Shhhh, don't harsh their buzz, or they'll wake up from their 60's induced sleep to realize they're only getting back about 80 cents on every tax dollar flowing out.

[jonascord]

But, that's the way you vote...

[Graybeard58]

I hate when people lump all of California together to make it sound as if we are all a bunch of left over hippy socialist free love losers.

I don't blame you. I live in the "blue" state of Illinois. I'm used to seeing the entire state bashed because of all the dims in Chicago.

[FreeKeys]

California is called "The Granola State" because it's full of nuts, fruits and flakes.

"From each according to his ability..."

Find that phrase in THIS timely article too:

The REAL Story Behind Thanksgiving

Did you know that the first Thanksgiving was a celebration
of the triumph of private property and individual initiative?

William Bradford was the governor of the original Pilgrim
colony, founded at Plymouth in 1621. The colony was first
organized on a communal basis, as their financiers
required. Land was owned in common. The Pilgrims farmed
communally, too, following the "from each according to his
abilities, to each according to his needs" precept.

The results were disastrous. Communism didn't work any
better 400 years ago than it does today. By 1623, the
colony had suffered serious losses. Starvation was
imminent.

Bradford realized that the communal system encouraged
and rewarded waste and laziness and inefficiency, and
destroyed individual initiative. Desperate, he abolished it.
He distributed private plots of land among the surviving
Pilgrims, encouraging them to plant early and farm as
individuals, not collectively.

The results: a bountiful early harvest that saved the
colonies. After the harvest, the Pilgrims celebrated with a
day of Thanksgiving -- on August 9th.

Unfortunately, William Bradford's diaries -- in which he
recorded the failure of the collectivist system and the
triumph of private enterprise -- were lost for many years.
When Thanksgiving was later made a national holiday, the
present November date was chosen. And the lesson the
Pilgrims so painfully learned was, alas, not made a part of
the holiday.

Happily, Bradford's diaries were later rediscovered. They're
available today in paperback. They tell the real story of
Thanksgiving -- how private property and individual initiative
saved the Pilgrims.

This Thanksgiving season, one of the many things I'm
thankful for is our free market system (imperfectly realized
as it is). And I'm also grateful that there are increasing
numbers of Americans who are learning the importance of
free markets, and who are working to replace government
coercion with marketplace cooperation here in America and
around the world.

Paul Schmidt

PS: A special thanks to long-time Advocate volunteer Cris
Everett, who told us about this neglected bit of history
several years ago, and who celebrates Thanksgiving on --
you guessed it -- August 9th.

-- copied from http://FreedomKeys.com/thanksgiving2.htm
which was copied from the Nov. 20, 1997 issue of THE
LIBERATOR ONLINE at
http://www.theadvocates.org/liberator/vol-02-num-21.htm

for more detailed accounts see The Great
Thanksgiving Hoax at http://snipurl.com/apur
Thanksgiving: The Producers' Holiday at
http://snipurl.com/apuv
and How Private Property Saved the Pilgrims at
http://snipurl.com/apuw
Find a general commentary, Creating Our Own
Blessings at http://snipurl.com/apuy
ALSO SEE: Giving Thanks for the Big Tent HERE:
http://snipurl.com/apv0

-- copied from http://FreedomKeys.com/thanksgiving2.htm

Please pass it along!

[El Gato]

They long for the socialist utopia they thought was possible then, not thinking that their view of this socialist utopia was somewhat colored by the chemicals that altered their thought patterns in those days.

What do mean "in those days"? From their behavior, I'd say those chemicals are still in use and still doing their thing these days.

[SierraWasp]

Ok, I just found this great article as I heard it referred to, this morning on KSFO while Ray Haynes was being interviewed!

I happen to live in the backwater county of "The Backwater State," literally! This backwater has been politically poisoned by a bunch of commercial whitewater rafters of the type that Ray Haynes describes!!!

They are currently trying desperately to stop all growth, and with it, any economic progress!!! Our only growth industry is county government!!!

[jcon40]

Hey there friend. I see you refer to what may possibly be the county I live in (El Dorado) ?

How do you post to the rest of us as a group?

[SierraWasp]

I just keep sort of a list to ping those I believe to be EDC residents. I ping them on occasions when the subject matter of a thread may be of interest to them until they ask me to stop.