Though I’ve never been there, I’ve read much about California.
I’ve met people who lived there in the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and so many of them described it as great - a land of great weather and more importantly, great opportunity. It was never perfect but most seemed to enjoy it. In many ways, the American Dream could be found there.
But from all accounts, it has turned into a cesspool. Bad transportation infrastructure, bad schools, crime, illegals, etc - you name it, California has that affliction.
Years ago, I’d have loved to have lived there. Orange County, the San Fernando Valley, Santa Barbara, etc. But now I’m not even sure I’d want to visit.
I’ve never really understood...why V.D.H. continues to live there.........
It still very much is a land of opportunity. Just stay away from Los Angeles :)
I was born and raised in California, in the 1950s and 1960s. After I got out of the Air Force in 1974 I returned to where I grew up. It was changing even then. By 1979 I saw the writing on the wall, and realized that California was headed down the tubes. So, I left California in 1979 and never looked back.
We left when the decay was becoming obvious but the story is the same that you described. It started as a wonderful place to live with a great climate and good jobs. We also enjoyed wonderfully tolerant people where different opinions were OK.
It all went to hell when the goodie-goodie libs put up the "don't run over immigrant signs" at the border and San Onofre checkpoints. That signaled that the gates were open and the illegal alien flood never stopped since. All the major metro areas now are third world enclaves.
Then the greenies regulated all the manufacturing industry to death chasing my job to more friendly states. We had to go where the work was.
San Fernando Valley has become occupied territory.
I want you to try to think how your local community would be affected by 25-40% the illegal aliens from Mexico?
Think of your schools, roads, crime...
Imagine one million more drivers on Southern California freeways, and ask yourself if that would impact traffic at all. Ask yourself if millions more illegal aliens would impact your public transit, and a number of other things related to infrastructure.
As for educating the children of illegals, the costs are very illusive.
These foreign nationals take over our schools, and then the White middle-class has to scramble to cover the cost of educating their own children in parochial schools.
Our parents are paying for the education of their own children, and the children of others.
When you see the costs of illegal immigration, they never add in the cost to private citizens affected by the illegal immigrant.
When folks defend the illegals, they don’t address the issue that these kids stole the seats our citizen’s children should be sitting in.
Some will try to ask, “What, you’re too good to have your kids there with children of another race?” This isn’t an issue of that. These kids speak a different language and gang up on our kids. The parents have to move their kids out for their own safety.
Our parents just go on silently carrying the load of illegal aliens on their family’s budget.