Two Californias (Davis, San Joaquin, Wallace: sales, public schools, subsidized)

[Kele]

Abandoned farms, Third World living conditions, pervasive public assistance -- welcome to the once-thriving Central Valley.

The last three weeks I have traveled about, taking the pulse of the more forgotten areas of central California. I wanted to witness, even if superficially, what is happening to a state that has the highest sales and income taxes, the most lavish entitlements, the near-worst public schools (based on federal test scores), and the largest number of illegal aliens in the nation, along with an overregulated private sector, a stagnant and shrinking manufacturing base, and an elite environmental ethos that restricts commerce and productivity without curbing consumption.

Sad, sad state of affairs in the state that I love.....

Two Californias - Victor Davis Hanson - National Review Online

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Kele

Abandoned farms, Third World living conditions, pervasive public assistance -- welcome to the once-thriving Central Valley.

Sad, sad state of affairs in the state that I love.....

Two Californias - Victor Davis Hanson - National Review Online

If you love California and remember what it was, how can you not weep at what it's become?

[.highnlite]

Victor Davis Hanson is a right wing nut case, you cannot take anything he states at face value, He has and does distort facts to fit his particular and peculiar viewpoint. You should read his writings on how homosexuality was an important part of Unit Cohesion in the ancient Greek phalanxes.

If our military took his work seriously they would introduce homosexuality within units to promote Unit Cohesion.

His "abandoned farms" did not exist at all before the California Aquaduct was built, those "abandoned farms" were all dependent on large scale water welfare.

Funny thing, agriculture is thriving in this state, it is worth billions upon billions of dollars, Veektor is just another Glenn Beck, except perhaps, less honest.

Farms that do not use welfare water are thriving. The limitations on big government welfare water are bitterly opposed by supposed small government anti welfare groups.

[KC6ZLV]

.highnlite

Without the water most farms in the San Joaquin Valley wouldn't exist. That area has the world's highest agricultural productivity in the world, and is a very important part of California's economy. Without agriculture California would be in much worse shape that it is.


And you can't have a discussion about water issues in California, subsidized or not, unless you include the L.A. Basin. Simply put, most of Southern California couldn't exist without water from Northern California or the Colorado River.

[Snort]

his writings on how homosexuality was an important part of Unit Cohesion in the ancient Greek phalanxes

C'mon! You can't make the argument that sodomy didn't keep them together!

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by Snort

C'mon! You can't make the argument that sodomy didn't keep them together!

Boy, talk about who you'd want in your foxhole under hard conditions ...
(I'll pass though ... not a fox hunter)

But we'd better get back to the topic here with a quickness

[nullgeo]

OK then, as we were discussing, California is in a precarious dilemma

and appears to be stripped of its dignity!



Will this situation result, as Victor David Hanson might suggest, in the need for strange bedfellows to survive?

[.highnlite]

Without the water most farms in the San Joaquin Valley wouldn't exist. That area has the world's highest agricultural productivity in the world, and is a very important part of California's economy. Without agriculture California would be in much worse shape that it is.


And you can't have a discussion about water issues in California, subsidized or not, unless you include the L.A. Basin. Simply put, most of Southern California couldn't exist without water from Northern California or the Colorado River.

Of course, without water, no farms would exist, no people would exist, no animals would exist, aside from kangaroo rats, In the west, the water is in the mountains, the people are on the flats, to get that water requires big government, the water is paid for by all California tax payers for the benefit of a few, these schemes are water welfare, and can be considered fine examples of socialism. And may lead in the end to the destruction of the farm land. There are plenty of examples in history of irrigation societies turning their land into a desert.

some light reading for you;
Hydraulic empire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beyond the 100th Meridian, Wallace Stegner

Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

Of course, without water, no farms would exist, no people would exist, no animals would exist, aside from kangaroo rats, In the west, the water is in the mountains, the people are on the flats, to get that water requires big government, the water is paid for by all California tax payers for the benefit of a few, these schemes are water welfare, and can be considered fine examples of socialism. And may lead in the end to the destruction of the farm land. There are plenty of examples in history of irrigation societies turning their land into a desert.

some light reading for you;
Hydraulic empire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beyond the 100th Meridian, Wallace Stegner

Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner

Even simpler concept to grasp: Easter Island --
for readers:
Jared Diamond, Easter Island's End
for those who want a less-than-3-minute video explanation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfbQA-Krx9Q
Recently, however, there are those who argue Easter Island's demise was due to rats, and not human stupidity. Personally, I'm sticking with the stupidity theorists. I cite California's management situations as a good example.

[.highnlite]

Darned good, I like Jared Diamond's work, I am currently reading The Third Chimpanzee, Interesting that our major differences from Chimps is that we like drugs, we like to kill each other en masse and singularly, we like art and religion.

And we are less promiscous, and that is about it.