The Emptying of California

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*This is anecdotal; there is no link, so I have reproduced it in whole here. If this violates any forum rule, moderators may feel free to remove this content with my thanks.*

A California resident in LA wrote the following letter to his state politicians, including the governor:

From Mark, resident of California,
To Governor Gavin Newsom 5/20/19.

Governor Newsom,

The boxes are filled. The bags are packed. The hearts are breaking.
My family is about to be divided, separated, perhaps forever. I wish you cared.

Our wonderful daughter, along with her husband and their two young children has given up on life in California. The only place they’ve ever called home has become intolerable for them. They’ve found a new home in a southern state, far away from here, in the real America.

I’ve heard the story innumerable times- people leaving, or wanting to leave, what was once the paradise of the West Coast. Not so long ago, kids could walk down to the corner store, or to school, without their parents worrying about their safe return. No more.

You once could visit a neighborhood park, and not fear for your life. No more.
Walking across the street did not require careful examination of the pavement to avoid feces or used hypodermic needles. Now it does.

Illnesses are again being seen in this state that had been rare or non-existent until recently. Typhus, Tuberculosis, Mumps, Measles, Hepatitis A, B, and C are all here again. A worker on the upper floors at L.A. City Hall recently came down with typhus, spread by rats living in the disgusting conditions around the Civic Center. But you’re concerned that I might ask for a plastic straw.

Your priorities for managing this state are crystal clear, and the middle class is nowhere near the top of the list. I learned in Civics class years ago that the primary job of government is to keep the people safe. What happened? When did our safety and well-being fall off the radar?

Not too long ago, my daughter had her new vehicle stolen from her driveway, in the short time it took her to walk the kids to school. Someone was watching, waiting for them to leave. It gives me chills just thinking about it.

You release violent criminals back onto our streets to terrorize our communities, you proudly remove the death-penalty as an option, sending a friendly message to the worst of the worst, and you handcuff our law-enforcement officers, challenging their every move. Officers now must take an extra moment, perhaps just a second, questioning their training and best judgment, before using any amount of force to apprehend a violent criminal. When this results in another dead cop, and it will, the blood will be on your hands, sir.

A few weeks ago, we watched on television as a violent felon led police on a three-hour pursuit, destroying property and narrowly missing pedestrians and other vehicles. We saw him brutally beat his female passenger while driving close to 100 mph. Then last week, a murder suspect shot at police out the window of the car he was being pursued in. It’s a miracle nobody was killed. Turns out, both suspects were free on “early release” through AB-109, that you and other politicians (who all live behind walls, with armed security) forced upon us in the name of compassion. Where’s your compassion for law-abiding citizens, Mr. Governor?

And don’t get me started on taxes and regulations. The amount of money taken from us by this state is criminal. Just living here is expensive enough, but imagine trying to run a business and stay afloat. We have the highest gas prices/taxes in the country, and still our roads are a mess. I recently hit a pothole and the damage to my car was over $1000. We pay you enormous sums to manage the state’s affairs, yet people by the thousands sleep on our streets at night. Homeless encampments are everywhere, in neighborhoods we never imagined they’d be.

And still, you want more. There’s a move now to weaken Prop. 13. No doubt it will pass. And I just read that you want to tax online sales now, too. Along with proposals to tax water, telephones, dairy products, fertilizers, health care, and more. But taxing those things will not affect the “super rich 1%”. They’re just more hits on the middle class. You Sacramento politicians have an insatiable addiction to other people’s money. But many citizens have had enough and are walking away.

Which brings me back to my family.

They’re closing their business here. You’ll get no more of their hard-earned money. They’ve purchased a home in their new state, big enough for the four of them and a dog or two. Maybe even a horse. The kids will get a great education. They’ll be able to leave a window open at night, knowing that the criminals are the ones who are afraid- afraid of the police, afraid of the courts, and afraid of the citizens who exercise their right to defend themselves. Oh, and gas there is about $2 a gallon.

Somehow, they’ll have to survive without a Fantasy Train to nowhere, but I’m sure they’ll find a way to get by.

Meanwhile, your tax base shrinks and Atlas shrugs. Soon the only people left here will be the very rich and the very poor. It’s almost as if you planned it that way.

And now, my family is broken. As are countless others. No more school plays, no more little league games. No more weekend breakfasts at IHOP or Thanksgiving dinners. I’ll happily burn a ton of fossil fuel to go visit them at their new home as often as I can. But, I won’t be there as an instant babysitter when needed on short notice, and I’ll actually notice their growth from visit to visit. I’ll pray every night for their safety and happiness in the years to come. And I’ll cry that I can’t hold them tight. I’m angry as hell, and I miss them desperately already.

But they’ll get no going away card from you and no apologies. You simply don’t care.

Mark (Last name withheld).
 

chevyontheriver

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Meanwhile, your tax base shrinks and Atlas shrugs. Soon the only people left here will be the very rich and the very poor. It’s almost as if you planned it that way.
What I worry about is that the refugees from California may have learned nothing and will push for the same policies in their new homes that brought California down.
 
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crossnote

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I've seen So. Ca in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 2000's, and 2010's, it has bombed but the problem is wayyy bigger than Newsom. It has been a long deep decay and of late that decay has accelerated but it is due to many factors, much more than one Governor.
 
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eastcoast_bsc

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Not a Californian but I have heard that San Francisco is now an absolute cesspool.

Diseased+Streets_IUnit+Logo.jpg



san-Francisco-slums.jpg




Same thing with Seattle.
 
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eastcoast_bsc

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It is not compassion allowing people to live on the streets and shoot dope. There needs to be rules and acceptable ways of helping the less fortunate.

Funny thing is when a Veteran in Massachusetts gets a check under a program section 115 that gives an unemployed veteran a weekly check and assists with housing, the veteran is required to prove they are searching for work. Why is that not required of others. Detox and rehab should be required for those struggling, food and shelter should also be provided but with that should come expectations.

What are your thoughts?
 
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thecolorsblend

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I wish you cared.
I wish I cared, tbh.

Our wonderful daughter, along with her husband and their two young children has given up on life in California. The only place they’ve ever called home has become intolerable for them. They’ve found a new home in a southern state, far away from here, in the real America
I kind of resent this. I have quite a few neighbors from sunny California who show nothing but disdain for this state... but they were forced to move here because California is alternately unaffordable, uninhabitable or just plain too dangerous.

They vote for these policies year in and year out, destroy their state and then move some place else to infect it with their left coast psychosis. Part of me hopes Trump builds the wall across California's border with other states so that they can enjoy the cesspool they voted to create.
 
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antiquarian

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I wish I cared, tbh.
Part of me hopes Trump builds the wall across California's border with other states so that they can enjoy the cesspool they voted to create.
Well, you'd have to let California secede first.... hmmm, not really seeing a downside here. Can we throw in Oregon, Washington State, and NYC while we're at it?
 
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chevyontheriver

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Well, you'd have to let California secede first.... hmmm, not really seeing a downside here. Can we throw in Oregon, Washington State, and NYC while we're at it?
Don't forget Chicago.
 
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Gnarwhal

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What I worry about is that the refugees from California may have learned nothing and will push for the same policies in their new homes that brought California down.

I can understand that concern. From what I've seen so far (and I'm a Californian) is that the majority of people leaving California are conservatives because we simply have no representation at the state level. We may live in conservative districts but the Assembly and the State Senate are overwhelmingly liberal. That's why obscene legislation like the bill that proposes free healthcare for illegal immigrants, and (worst of all) the bill that would force priests to break the seal of confession, glide right through Sacramento with hardly any opposition.

I've known several people moving away, they're conservatives who have relocated/are relocating to Arizona and Idaho, respectively. They certainly despise the policies that have turned California into what it is today, and would not vote for those same policies in their new states, nor would they vote for anyone who supported those policies.

I, myself, am hoping to land a job in East Texas. While I'm saddened to think of moving out of the only town I've ever known and leaving my family behind, I know I can't abide by the wickedness of this state anymore. Living in Texas by comparison seems heavenly. The state embraces better morals, and is not descending into ideological madness like the liberal states. My parents have expressed a desire to follow me for the same reasons. They're both retired, very conservative folks, and would much prefer the sociopolitical climate of Texas to California.

If I don't get that job I might start join the State of Jackson movement because something's gotta give. I can't stand the leadership of Gavin Newsom, or any of the other lecherous fools who run this state.
 
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chevyontheriver

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I can understand that concern. From what I've seen so far (and I'm a Californian) is that the majority of people leaving California are conservatives because we simply have no representation at the state level. We may live in conservative districts but the Assembly and the State Senate are overwhelmingly liberal. That's why obscene legislation like the bill that proposes free healthcare for illegal immigrants, and (worst of all) the bill that would force priests to break the seal of confession, glide right through Sacramento with hardly any opposition.

I've known several people moving away, they're conservatives who have relocated/are relocating to Arizona and Idaho, respectively. They certainly despise the policies that have turned California into what it is today, and would not vote for those same policies in their new states, nor would they vote for anyone who supported those policies.

I, myself, am hoping to land a job in East Texas. While I'm saddened to think of moving out of the only town I've ever known and leaving my family behind, I know I can't abide by the wickedness of this state anymore. Living in Texas by comparison seems heavenly. The state embraces better morals, and is not descending into ideological madness like the liberal states. My parents have expressed a desire to follow me for the same reasons. They're both retired, very conservative folks, and would much prefer the sociopolitical climate of Texas to California.

If I don't get that job I might start join the State of Jackson movement because something's gotta give. I can't stand the leadership of Gavin Newsom, or any of the other lecherous fools who run this state.
I feel for you. But I wonder if a California conservative (the average one anyhow, not you in particular) is not a liberal by the standards of some other states.
 
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antiquarian

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I, myself, am hoping to land a job in East Texas. While I'm saddened to think of moving out of the only town I've ever known and leaving my family behind, I know I can't abide by the wickedness of this state anymore. Living in Texas by comparison seems heavenly. The state embraces better morals, and is not descending into ideological madness like the liberal states. My parents have expressed a desire to follow me for the same reasons. They're both retired, very conservative folks, and would much prefer the sociopolitical climate of Texas to California.
I don't know if Texas is the answer long term. Yes, the state as a whole is conservative, but the major cities, Dallas, Houston, and Austin are now mostly Democrat, with more arriving from blue states on a daily basis. Beto bumper stickers can be seen on a regular basis, even after his drunk driving incident was made public.
 
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Gnarwhal

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I feel for you. But I wonder if a California conservative (the average one anyhow, not you in particular) is not a liberal by the standards of some other states.

There’s always that possibility. What would be the litmus test?

Every conservative I know here voted for Trump, supports the border wall and stricter immigration laws, is staunchly pro life, against marriage equality and all other LGBT issues like “gender-neutral” bathrooms, wants lower taxes, a stronger military, and end to excessive entitlements, and an end to the absurd racial politics running rampant.

Not to mention we think the virtue signaling of the left is so utterly stupid. What, with dog whistle terms like “diversity” and “inclusion” part of everyday speech now.

I mean, the conservatives who are left in California are the same ones who gave the country Ronald Reagan.

This whole region where I’m from is overwhelmingly red and wants to break off from California to form a new state where we’re duly represented.
 
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