zoony Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/19/big-idea-california-is-so-over.html What we are witnessing the breakdown of a once-expansive, open society into one dominated by a small group of plutocrats, largely in Silicon Valley, with an “amen” crew among the low-information donors of Hollywood, the public unions, the green lobby, and wealthy real estate developers favored by Brown’s pro-density policies. This coalition backs Brown and helps maintain the state’s essentially one-party system. No one is more adamant about reducing people’s carbon footprint than the jet set of Silicon Valley or the state’s planning elite, even if they choose not to live in a manner that they instruct all others. This fundamentally hypocritical regime remains in place because it works—for the powerful and well-placed. Less understandable is why many Hispanic politicians, such as Assembly Speaker Kevin de Leon, also prioritize “climate change” as his leading issue, without thinking much about how these policies might worsen the massive poverty in his de-industrializing L.A. district—until you realize that de Leon is bankrolled by Tom Steyer and others from the green uberclass. So, in the end, we are producing a California that is the polar opposite of Pat Brown’s creation. True, it has some virtues: greener, cleaner, and more “progressive” on social issues. But it’s also becoming increasingly feudal, defined by a super-affluent coastal class and an increasingly impoverished interior. As water prices rise, and farms and lawns are abandoned, there’s little thought about how to create a better future for the bulk of Californians. Like medieval peasants, millions of Californians have been force to submit to the theology of our elected high priest and his acolytes, leaving behind any aspirations that the Golden State can work for them too. Pretty interesting take on the water shortage and the state of things in CaliforniaI think a lot of it is on point, especially the cultural and economic elite ruling from the coast in an economy that has no room for the working and middle class Also I think the author is a liberal but I'm not sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 He makes some decent points, but he's also kind of full of poop. There's a lot more going on than "bad plutocrats and hypocrites blah blah blah." Kotkin's not a liberal. He works at Chapman University (which is evangelical Christian) and he calls himself a conservative (but he's not affiliated with the Republican party as far as I know). Basically, he's just ideologically opposed to all state or city planning or zoning. He hates railroads and mass transit and "walkable cities." His favorite city is Houston, and he thinks endless suburban sprawl is the perfect form of human living arrangement. He gets hired as an "expert witness" every time any developer wants to fight against any planning regulations, and as a result, I have read his stuff many times. Here's an article countering Kotkin's arguments from an economic point of view. http://grist.org/cities/joel-kotkin-thinks-you-want-to-live-in-houston-heres-why-you-dont/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Houston??....the man is clearly insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Houston??....the man is clearly insane. I'm not knocking Houston. Kotkin is knocking California. He has written this same article about 100 times now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdcskins Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 I didn't read the article, will later. But as a California resident and recent homeowner, I'm concerned about this water shortage and how it will affect the environment and my pockets. I already am thinking about moving up north (ie Oregon) where the water is plentiful and the air is clean. Plus way less people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 1. The issue of society stratifying into rich coastal elites, a huge permanent underclass, and a disappearing middle class is a national issue, not just California. 2. He seems to imply that supplying cities with water is a major cause of the drought. Cities in California use less than 10 percent of its water. He's correct about landscaping - though - since half of the city-based usage goes towards that. 3. He fails to address that the true driver of the wealth of California's suburbs and its manufacturing sector was The Cold War. Federal spending on national defense grew 246 percent from 1950 to 1960. Fully one fourth of that spending impacted California. That largely vanished around 1990. Silcon Valley filled the hole in terms of economic numbers, but that's a field where fewer people make a lot more money. The defense industry built and fed a vast suburban middle class. Pat Brown was a true visionary, but he had a huge checkbook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatteredFanSyndrome Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Taking a drive from LA to Bakersfield for work today it would appear that the lack of water is due to the huge corporate farms that cover the land in between. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Taking a drive from LA to Bakersfield for work today it would appear that the lack of water is due to the huge corporate farms that cover the land in between. It's a little more complicated than that, but half of all water in CA goes to farming. The lack of water is due to their being an actual lack of water. The question is, should you be doing such water-intensive farming in a desert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 The article isn't about the drought. The drought is just an excuse to write the same old article Kotkin always writes. If the article actually was about the drought, Kotkin might try to explain how worsening drought conditions favor the expansion of his beloved suburbs rather than the concentrated cities he hates (hint - they don't). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdcskins Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Things that I took from this article: - Farmers have been slow to adjust and still grow crops that require tons of water. - Cities in California have not metered or calculated their water use. - Desalinization is the way to go. It may cost a lot of money to build the infrastructure, but it makes sense (as opposed to building some high speed train, which is the example used in the article). - There are no, "green jobs," to be had in the state. Moreover, there is a lack of infrastructure to create jobs, which only highlights the disparity between rich and poor. The, "interior," of the state is suffering. Kind of just what I got, sorry if I misinterpreted anything. Interesting article, thanks for posting it. It is a critical problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 It's a little more complicated than that, but half of all water in CA goes to farming. The lack of water is due to their being an actual lack of water. The question is, should you be doing such water-intensive farming in a desert. w/o the farmers giving up land to bring the water in from the hills there would be no water. they need to better prepare for the inevitable droughts. I'm not knocking Houston. Kotkin is knocking California. He has written this same article about 100 times now. Knock it all ya wish, hell I avoid it as much as possible. still it is better than 90% of Cali .....SF is pretty sweet if ya can afford it though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 So California is not over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RawBBQSauce Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 2 words: desalination plants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 2 words: desalination plants That's more of a solution for the cities - an incredibly expensive, environmentally questionable solution but a solution nonetheless. It doesn't really do anything to solve the crisis in the Central Valley. The drought in the Central Valley really needs to be treated as a national issue since so much of our national food supply comes from there. This article is strange as the thesis is very much near the end. The programs that Pat Brown and past leaders pushed created the suburban sprawl that is really what defines California in a lot of ways. The author wants programs that makes the sprawl bigger. It's not clear why that it is a good idea even if there was not a drought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 California just passed Brazil as the worlds 7th largest economy. Over you say? Pssssh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 That's more of a solution for the cities - an incredibly expensive, environmentally questionable solution but a solution nonetheless. It doesn't really do anything to solve the crisis in the Central Valley. The drought in the Central Valley really needs to be treated as a national issue since so much of our national food supply comes from there. This article is strange as the thesis is very much near the end. The programs that Pat Brown and past leaders pushed created the suburban sprawl that is really what defines California in a lot of ways. The author wants programs that makes the sprawl bigger. It's not clear why that it is a good idea even if there was not a drought. name the smelt and salmon national security risks instead of endangered species.....and build some damn dams. California just passed Brazil as the worlds 7th largest economy. Over you say? Pssssh. Texas is gonna catch ya....just wait till the big ditch is finished gonna steal more of ya jobs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Texas is gonna catch ya....just wait till the big ditch is finished gonna steal more of ya jobs Ha. Right. Texas needs to add about 600 BILLION in GDP to even come close. That's the GDP of the 7th largest state economy in the US (Ohio). I don't see that happening anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Ha. Right. Texas needs to add about 600 BILLION in GDP to even come close. That's the GDP of the 7th largest state economy in the US (Ohio). I don't see that happening anytime soon. Not a problem.....Ohio needs to pick up the pace though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 California just passed Brazil as the worlds 7th largest economy. Over you say? Pssssh. If California is our economic future, you all can keep it. A privileged economy for the select few. Home ownership is out of reach, and not so much a squeeze on middle and working class, but an outright war. Progress towards a landscape populated by dull, wealthy, bored people who all want to throw gobs of money at the next thing. Except the next thing is more of the same. The best art, food, music, and culture is born from the lower class, not the upper. ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 If California is our economic future, you all can keep it. A privileged economy for the select few. Home ownership is out of reach, and not so much a squeeze on middle and working class, but an outright war. Progress towards a landscape populated by white, dull, wealthy, bored people who all want to throw gobs of money at the next thing. Except the next thing is more of the same. The best art, food, music, and culture is born from the lower class, not the upper. ..... WTF are you talking about? Home ownership isn't out of reach in California. It's out of reach for the average schmoe in 2 metropolitan areas in the state..maybe. Yes, the average joe can't afford to live the SF Bay Area or San Diego. That leaves a thousand other cities that they can afford to live in. As for you other comment. Are you are really claiming that California is white? The most diverse populated state in the US is white? Are you out of your ****ing mind? For some housing data, check this -- http://www.realtor.org/sites/default/files/reports/2015/embargoes/2014-q4-metro-home-prices/metro-home-prices-q4-2014-single-family-2015-02-11.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 No not white just dull and predictable And yes I'm sure you have an awesome house Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xameil Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 No not white just dull and predictable And yes I'm sure you have an awesome house I guess he thinks all whites are dumb and predictable? Such racism in this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinz4Life12 Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 I've owned my home for a little over a year now in SD and my parents have owned for a few years as well. Definitely not cheap but definitely not out of reach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Look..I get that you and TWA hate California, zoony. But c'mon..some of your hate is misguided and quite ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xameil Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Look..I get that you and TWA hate California, zoony. But c'mon..some of your hate is misguided and quite ridiculous. Misguided hate? That never happens...on ES...in every thread..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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