Blackouts, Increasing Crime, Rampant Homelessness, And Man-Made Drought: Is This California Or A Third World Nation?

California is arguably the most politically “progressive” state in the country. So why can’t it make progress in eradicating problems that don’t fit its image as an innovative, forward-looking, ever-advancing state? The answer starts with a lesson: Never confuse “progressive” politics with human and civilizational progress.

 

https://www.terrellaftermath.com/

"While still trying to process the unwelcome news that we’re going to have to grind through yet another year of drought, California energy officials told us to also be ready for the power to go out when the days grow long and warm.

“ 'The managers of California’s electricity system,” the Sacramento Bee reported May 5, “can’t promise they’ll be able to keep the lights on this summer.”

"Though officials insist “they’ve fortified the power grid against more outages,” they at the same time concede “that another extraordinary surge in temperatures could spell trouble.”

"Sounds more like an implicit warning than a mere observation of what might be possible in the extreme.

"This is only one of several contemporary California afflictions. A drought “watch” began in early April with reports the state had arrived on the “edge of another protracted drought.” Then we were told the Bay Area had landed “in the ‘extreme’ drought category,” and that conditions across the state “have gone from bad to worse in scarcely a month.” By the second Monday of May, Gov. Gavin Newsom had included an additional 39 counties in his drought emergency declaration, only days after the U.S. Drought Monitor indicated that nearly 93% of the state was experiencing either severe, extreme, or exceptional dry conditions.

"But there has to be some good news, right? Somewhere there is. But a quick look at the headlines beyond blackouts and drought tell us deadly crimes in the state’s largest cities are on the rise, homelessness continues to grow, and the wildfire season, which is “already off to a fast start,” “could quickly become the worst on record.”

"This is progress?

"California is arguably the most politically “progressive” state in the country. So why can’t it make progress in eradicating problems that don’t fit its image as an innovative, forward-looking, ever-advancing state?

"The answer starts with a lesson: Never confuse “progressive” politics with human and civilizational progress." . . .

California’s Progressive Betrayal   "California’s left-wing policies hurt working-class and middle-class residents."

How long can working- and middle-class Californians endure such conditions while being hectored by billionaires and celebrities? An alternative may exist: the development of a pragmatic, solutions-oriented new party, as proposed by former GOP congressman Tom Campbell. This would constitute what the late historian Kevin Starr called “the party of California”—one that doesn’t adhere to a green religion or do the bidding of tech mavens but instead seeks to restore the promise that attracted so many to this peculiarly blessed state.