California Has Become America's First Third World State

originally posted by: NautPsycho

The opportunity to help each other, clean up the streets and transform the idea of beauty into the manifestation of it through utlizliing what most call ugly and decrepit as the compost for a healthier state is not only possible but Soul enriching. California is a dirty crystal but still a crystal.

This.

What you have said here epitomizes, to me, the very essence of “California”. What California has always represented to the US culture, it’s self-identity as more than just another state.

It is, also, perhaps, why, so many who have grown discouraged and cynical of the “American Dream”, and even, of their fellow humans, find in California, or the philosophy engendered by “California-ness”, an easy target for their despair and derision.

We Californians recognize that we live in a paradise, and that makes it almost easy to face life with optimism few can match. That optimism has always driven us to dream of a bigger, better future.

And those dreams have often come true, for the benefit of not just Californians, but for the rest of the world as well.

When a Californian sees a dusty crystal, optimism motivates the elbow grease that polishes that crystal into the diamond all desire.

The big différance in calif is between rural and the big cities.

I live in a rural area and pay $300 a month for rent that for the same thing in the city you would pay $1200 a month.

We also have less crime and gangs and cleaner air , but we pay the taxes that the state uses in the big cities instead of local.

This is one reason many want to split the state up into 3 to 5 states

a reply to: opethPA

I grew up in SF. The tenderloin has always been very sketchy.

When I was a kid, the police would not let the homeless stay in the city. They would run them off. You'd only seem them if you went to some poor areas. Now, it's not PC to run off the homeless so, depending upon where you go, you will see them.

However, I have been to third world countries. California does not compare to them.

I do think that our country needs to come up with a way to help the homeless.

originally posted by: Riffrafter

California is the epitome of failure.

Let's review, almost a quarter of the population lives below the poverty lines. Another fifth are near the poverty line.

California has the highest population in the nation (135,000) and a shocking 22% of all of the nation's homeless population live in California.

California Has Become America's First Third World State

One of CA's own radio stations is saying what a lot of people already know.

Dues to the expert political and financial leadership shown by the CA governor and many of it's mayor's, the once beautiful state of CA has become a sh#t hole. I used to live there in the 80's and it was a beautiful place to live.

It's a national tragedy now....

I'm pretty sure Hawaii is worse. I grew up there and it was typical for people to have 3 generations of family in one house and multiple jobs because the price of everything is super high. Maybe if People who lived in California stopped being so bougie they might be able to afford to live there like a normal person. This was 20 years ago, it's only gotten worse.

originally posted by: game over man

originally posted by: smurfy

originally posted by: strongfp
a reply to: game over man

There really isn't. But there is at the same time.

California is a well oiled corporate monopoly, it's a cash cow for investors and ultra rich, don't let the Democrat strong hold tell you otherwise, Trump lowing taxes has only made it worse.
Even the people who work in the high paying jobs live out of their cars, and it doesn't help that all the of west coast is plagued by foreign investors buying up real estate.

Also, cali, isn't the only state that looks like a third world nation.

I just looked at a Bay area's restaurant menu, and a steak dinner is $65 for two...that's not so expensive, and what a view!

Debunked! Street tacos for $1.00, Cali is cheap! You have to be kidding right? Some random restaurant has dinner for two @ $65 and the whole State becomes affordable? LOL

Who cares about street tacos when the roof over head costs well over 1200 for a studio apartment in some of the worst parts of Oakland. Parts where you will wish you had every bit of your second amendment and self defense rights fully protected. And you ask about a correlation between trumps booming economy and california’s poverty issue... the correlation is quite clear. California has done everything in it’s power to do the exact opposite of trump’s plan in almost every form. All the way down to creating “sanctuary cities” to divert away from the most basic fundamentals. It has nothing to do with trumps, booming economy as you put it, but rather California’s desire to completely overturn anything related to trump.

originally posted by: Riffrafter

California is the epitome of failure.

Let's review, almost a quarter of the population lives below the poverty lines. Another fifth are near the poverty line.

California has the highest population in the nation (135,000) and a shocking 22% of all of the nation's homeless population live in California.

California Has Become America's First Third World State

One of CA's own radio stations is saying what a lot of people already know.

Dues to the expert political and financial leadership shown by the CA governor and many of it's mayor's, the once beautiful state of CA has become a sh#t hole. I used to live there in the 80's and it was a beautiful place to live.

It's a national tragedy now....

Too late.. West Virginia, Mississippi & Arkansas already have this on lockdown. The three poorest states in the country. Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, DC, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina all have higher poverty rates than CA... but that doesn't suit your agenda..

a reply to: DoubleDNH

Too late.. West Virginia, Mississippi & Arkansas already have this on lockdown. The three poorest states in the country. Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, DC, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina all have higher poverty rates than CA... but that doesn't suit your agenda..

It's not my agenda per se, it's the author of the articles agenda.

Don't shoot the messenger...

But with that said, I agree with it. Parts of CA have gone from being a virtual paradise to being an actual sh#thole in a span of 20 years.

If you don't think that's sad & tragic, that's up to you.

As a former CA resident, it saddens me greatly.

originally posted by: Wildbob77
a reply to: opethPA

I grew up in SF. The tenderloin has always been very sketchy.

When I was a kid, the police would not let the homeless stay in the city. They would run them off. You'd only seem them if you went to some poor areas. Now, it's not PC to run off the homeless so, depending upon where you go, you will see them.

I think that’s one of the biggest reasons homelessness has become so common. Laws against vagrancy, loitering, panhandling and being a public nuisance were enforced by police, making it difficult for bums and the mentally ill to remain in one area for long.

originally posted by: opethPA

Which part of San Fran?

The three times I have been there were all almost overwhelming with the homelessness.

Primarily around the Convention Center and edges of the Tenderloin.

I live in the Bay Area and the homeless situation in SF is really bad. That is not really in disagreement. What the pretext of this thread is that its because Dems by and large control major cities whic is true. Large cities or even cities with say a major university tend to be more liberal than the surrounding areas for example say Raleigh, NC in what is a solid red state

originally posted by: Wildbob77
I do think that our country needs to come up with a way to help the homeless.

The first thing that needs to be done is to find out how many there are and where they are. Tag them if necessary by giving them free phones or something. Then they need to be interviewed and sorted to separate those who are homeless due to some unforeseen happenstance -- death of a provider, ripped off by a business associate, got sick and medical bills left them without money or a job, etc. -- and work on getting those people some immediate place to take shelter and start working on getting back on their feet. If the homeless person is crazy or on drugs or having difficulties along those lines, put them in a different place where they can get the medicine they need again with the ultimate goal of getting them back into society. These are the people who want to be part of society, but for whatever reason just failed. Intention is important.

For the outright criminals and those burdened with the "you can't tell me what to do man" attitudes, who have burned through all their friends and have become a bit less than human, we need another place. That's where outsourcing becomes important. We can hire Russia to set up camps in the middle of nowhere and ship these people to live there for pennies on the dollar. Why fill up our own jails, which are already pretty much at capacity? It wouldn't even need guards if the nearest person who even speaks English is 2000 miles away. Then these folks can have their freedom. They can do whatever they want without bumping up against authority or making things difficult for anyone else.

The initial expense for setting up a system like this might be a little steep, but it would rapidly decrease over time. The goal is to incentivize either good behavior or removal from society. It's their choice.

originally posted by: PhatalError
California has done everything in it’s power to do the exact opposite of trump’s plan in almost every form. All the way down to creating “sanctuary cities” to divert away from the most basic fundamentals. It has nothing to do with trumps, booming economy as you put it, but rather California’s desire to completely overturn anything related to trump.

Well, Trump's homeless "plan" which basically consists of local police cracking down even harder on homeless people is a bit sketchy. Yeah, you can go to Skid Row and bust heads. But then what? Don't ask the Trump folks, because they don't know. It's just the old homeless shuffle again. Here's a smack on the head with a nightstick and a one-way bus ticket. Get lost and don't come back. Problem solved.

I just hope that someday (and the FBI is probably keeping an eye out for this) some charismatic guy with some brutal pals don't start "recruiting" the homeless to join their "assistance program," where they get nice shiny uniforms and helmets and big boots and go around curb-stomping the homeless who won't join the program. What I'm saying is that if governments continue to ignore the problem or keep trying a "sweep it under the rug" plan, they're just asking for an ambitious person to make a big, tough army out of the homeless that could roll right over us all. It's happened before. It could happen again.