I spent sixty-eight of my first seventy years living in various parts of California, including Monterey Park (near Los Angeles), the Santa Cruz Mountains (near the S.F. Bay Area), Merced (in the Central Valley), Covina (in the San Gabriel Valley), and Murrieta (in the Inland Empire). I was educated in the State, including stints at Cal State Los Angeles, Merced JC, Stanislaus State, and the University of Redlands. And I’ve vacationed in just about every nook and cranny of the State.
You might say that I’m an expert on California.
We haven’t been home (southern California) for a couple of years, so this year’s drive into the megalopolis was an eye-opener for us: smog, severe traffic congestion, crazy drivers, a disjointed economy, and lots of homeless people. Business appears to be “normal”, but there are “Help Wanted” signs everywhere from Barstow all the way into the Los Angeles basin.
Gee, years ago (2004) there was a movie called “A Day Without a Mexican” which contemplated what would happen in California if “Mexicans” (i.e. illegal immigrants and Mexican-surname individuals) didn’t show up for work. The implication was that the California economy would collapse…which was pretty apparent to any educated Californian. There is a lot more going on right now in America that is affecting the economy, but the lack of menial workers to fill slots in the hospitality sector, agriculture, and industry is seriously affecting the economic recovery. A couple of years ago, when the Trump administration was gleefully making it difficult for Mexicans to fill jobs in the U.S., no one anticipated the fallout when Covid-19 tanked the U.S. economy. Now, employers are desperately seeking low wage laborers and can’t get them…because they can’t get across the border or are saying to former employers who disrespected them…fuck you!
The unfortunate fact of life is that the American economy is built on two foundations: the military-industrial complex and cheap labor imported from Latin America. In order for the economy to run at full throttle, we need: (1) a war or two where we can focus our military might and spend a godawful amount of money; and, (2) “leaky” borders to the south, so that cheap labor can find its way into U.S. agricultural areas, Midwest meat packing plants, bars and restaurants throughout the Nation, and ritzy enclaves where domestics, gardeners, and “nannies” can tend to the needs of the well-off.
It is ironic to see “Help Wanted” signs festooning businesses all over Southern California while there are obvious “homeless” (jobless?) people on street corners all over Southern California. We saw them in Oregon, too.
I’m wondering if the pandemic experience has caused a lot of able-bodied workers to reconsider their vocations: poorly paid workers who were deemed “expendable” (the government deemed them “essential”!), having to expose themselves to a potentially deadly virus while others sheltered-in-place, were able to work from home, or had medical insurance to fall back on. Perhaps a good proportion of those workers are now opting to pursue other lines of employment, going back to college, or demanding more of their previous employers…like the ability to work at home.
A major shift is underway.
A “recall” election is being held in California as I write this blog today. Disgruntled Republicans (for the most part) are taking advantage of state law (a petition) to force a no-confidence vote on Governor Gavin Newsom who, up until Covid-19, was riding high. It would shock me if the recall succeeded, because Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans in California, and the whole recall effort appears to be tied to Trumpian politics (i.e. find someone to blame for your unhappiness). If the recall succeeds, then the highest vote-getter among the candidates not named Newsom will be elected to fill the remainder of his term. This is the procedure that elevated bodybuilder/actor Arnold Schwarzeneggar into the California statehouse some while back. That doofus couldn’t even pronounce “Kali-fornia”.
If the recall succeeded, the incoming Republican Governor would face an extremely hostile State Legislature, which is 2 to 1 Democratic. He would be impotent, much like the problem President Joe Biden faces with a hostile U.S. Senate. That’s not really what California needs right now. Newsom is not perfect, but what politician is?
The forest fires that have plagued California for the past couple of years continue to ravage the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The trees and brush in the foothills and forests are bone dry, easily ignited by sparks, and the reservoirs (which supply fire-fighting water) are drying up. Not coincidentally, the hottest six years on record (in past 142 years) have all occurred since 2015. Man-influenced climate change is real and will, literally, be the death of us all. Or, at least, cause major changes in the where and how human beings live on this earth because of hotter summers, colder winters, and more violent weather like hurricanes.
Farmers and water districts are desperately mining groundwater aquifers to quench the needs of industry and residents. The current drought is 20 years old and looks to continue on into the future.
Riverside County, where we worked and raised our four sons, has become very crowded. When I began my career in the County Planning Department in 1974, there were less than 400,000 people in the county scattered over 7,300 square miles. Thirty years later, when I retired as Deputy C.E.O. of the County of Riverside, the population was 1.8 million. Now it is 2.5 million, making it the tenth most populous of the 3,000-plus counties in the United States. And, as large as it is, it is just a portion of the humongous metropolis glob that is Southern California. It’s a money-making machine but its becoming a shitty place to live.
The urban dwellers in So Cal drive like bats out of Hell, racing on crowded roads to gain one car length on the next insane bastard. They seem in an awful hurry to get to work or into a casket.
There are lots of good paying jobs in California, for sure, but way too many people, cars, deteriorating infrastructure, and homeless. If this is the future of my home state, I’m glad that I live out in the desert frypan called Mesquite, Nevada. California is a nice place for a short visit, but it is more and more looking like the dystopian future of Mad Max movies.
At least the beaches are nice.