Posted on 12/15/2010 12:31:51 PM PST by ScottinVA
Abandoned farms, Third World living conditions, pervasive public assistance -- welcome to the once-thriving Central Valley.
The last three weeks I have traveled about, taking the pulse of the more forgotten areas of central California. I wanted to witness, even if superficially, what is happening to a state that has the highest sales and income taxes, the most lavish entitlements, the near-worst public schools (based on federal test scores), and the largest number of illegal aliens in the nation, along with an overregulated private sector, a stagnant and shrinking manufacturing base, and an elite environmental ethos that restricts commerce and productivity without curbing consumption.
During this unscientific experiment, three times a week I rode a bike on a 20-mile trip over various rural roads in southwestern Fresno County. I also drove my car over to the coast to work, on various routes through towns like San Joaquin, Mendota, and Firebaugh. And near my home I have been driving, shopping, and touring by intent the rather segregated and impoverished areas of Caruthers, Fowler, Laton, Orange Cove, Parlier, and Selma. My own farmhouse is now in an area of abject poverty and almost no ethnic diversity; the closest elementary school (my alma mater, two miles away) is 94 percent Hispanic and 1 percent white, and well below federal testing norms in math and English.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
What is happening to Kalipornia is entirely predictable given all of those self-imposed circumstances.
California is doomed..Thread # 9,573
With many more to come.
Cubafornia?
Everyone in the country ought to have to read this and ask themselves if this is what they want for their state. We are being turned into a third world country before our very eyes, and only a few have noticed.
How many times can it get doomed?
lol...
You're in an ideal position as a Fresno resident (and as our fearless leader) to assess whether the NRO article is accurate or not.
Are the perceptions of Victor Davis Hanson accurate?
I had always thought that the Central Valley was the better part of California compared to the communist coastal regions. I know that Bakersfield seemed nice and sane compared to Los Angeles during a recent visit but I've never been to Fresno.
Judging by the actions of the majority of its voters and its political leaders, it always seems to be one short.
Can’t be stated enough. Sadly, some people might just now be starting to pay attention.
Well, at least until the next bong hit.
How true it is!!
I have lived in or visited several socialist/communist countries - and that is exactly the case. Everything is regulated or illegal, but nothing is controlled. The more that is regulated, the more chaos actually results.
I agree.. if the rest of the country would like to resist what seems to be an inexorable trend toward third-world status, the time to act is now.
Good post!
Is this the area where the jackwagons turned off the water to the fields because of a frikkin’ fish?
Urban California is liberal. Small town California is conservative, but only because its illegal alien community is either too illiterate or has not yet screwed up the courage to vote.
Thank you!!
Not doomed, just as many left wing hell-holes are not doomed it is just a lousy place to live and getting worse, as it slips deeper and more irreversibly into liberalism.
Socialisms goal is a society where anything not forbidden is compulsery.
I grew up in the central valley and now several of its counties rank as the poorest in the country. Very revealing article. How sad.
Spot On. The liberals aren't the only ones who are hypocrites.
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