When I was growing up in Southern California in the seventies and eighties, it was often said by media observers and otherwise envious souls that the Golden State led the nation.
Granted, I was biased, but I agreed with those mostly anonymous assessments. Heck, we Golden State natives had the world’s greatest weather (or so I thought). We also had Disneyland, the beach was just a short drive away, so was some of the best skiing and hiking anywhere, you could golf year-round and my locale was the adopted home of the greatest president ever, Ronald Reagan. Hollywood produced multitudes of movies and TV shows practically right in our backyard, therefore giving California the unofficial designation of the cultural center of the American universe.
But somewhere along the line Californians got spoiled with all the living standard largesse gifted to us by our forebears with their hard work ethic and selfless adherence to providing for themselves as used to be considered the American way. In the old days, folks recognized the special place that was the Golden State and acted accordingly.
A wave of newcomers seemed to have different impressions, however, so much so that the land of plenty also became the domicile of grifters, welfare cheats and illegal aliens. These people weren’t workers, they were takers. And they voted for Democrat office-seekers, too. California’s political transformation from one of the best places to live – anywhere – to the hellish overpopulated and morally bankrupt dystopia we see on the evening news today was breathtaking.
And it keeps getting worse there. Turn the government over to liberal idiots, and idiocy is what you receive in return. In a piece titled “California task force suggests paying $223,000 in reparations to Black residents”, Matt Delaney reported at The Washington Times last weekend:
“A California panel has recommended that the state pay more than $223,000 to applicable Black residents who have been affected by housing discrimination, according to a report. The state’s nine-member Reparations Task Force arrived at that figure by looking at California’s discriminatory housing practices used from 1933 and 1977 and how it affected the Black residents whose ancestors were in the U.S. in the 19th century, according to a Thursday report by The New York Times.
“The task force suggested that Black residents lost out on over $5,000 per year during the designated time period, according to KTTV. Discriminatory housing practices include Black communities being bought out or seized through eminent domain in order to be bulldozed for new infrastructure projects, according to the New York Post.
“There are multiple ways the reparations could be paid — either through tuition, housing grants or direct cash payments.”
Reading this felt akin to those rare times as a youth when many of us fell victim to a cruel older brother or sister who would tickle our midsections until we giggled so hard it felt like death was imminent, from which we’d yell “Stop! Stop! STOP! You’re killing me! STOP”
Unfortunately, the hilarity of such an insane “reparations” idea was killed by the fact that this is a serious proposition from a legal policy body (created by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020) that could’ve been dreamed up only in a wacko-infested nutcase utopia that is contemporary California. The even more sobering realization is, if this proposal somehow becomes firm government policy in kook-ville California, the crackpot notion will spread like wildfire to other solid blue enclaves such as (name your favorite big city or blue state here).
Margaret Thatcher once said about these types of semi-good intentioned but heartily unwise giveaways: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
The so-called reparations Task Force estimated that as much as $569 billion is owed to the Golden State’s black residents. If payments occur, the amount dwarfs the state’s annual budget. All of that revenue from fracking and drilling and harvesting of the state’s rich natural fossil fuel resources ain’t lookin’ so bad now, is it liberals?
By comparison, the 2022 U.S. Defense budget is $722 billion.
“Slavery reparations” would amount to the ultimate leftist feel-good giveaway of all giveaways, wouldn’t it? Can’t you just imagine California’s growing homeless population, a large percentage of which is African-American, lining up for and receiving a check and then heading to the nearest sporting goods outlet to use the restroom and then purchase a brand spankin’ new tent and various cooking utensils and a pit toilet? The rest of the dough would go to the local drug dealers and hooch retail outlets, but isn’t this just consumerism at its best?
Some would call it California dreamin’.
For a state that has endured massive waves of out-migration of the productive class since Democrats became a one-party ruling class in the 1990’s, there could be a reversal of the trend. A huge tsunami of anyone in the world with a drop of African blood will make a beeline for the porous Biden Administration-fostered open southern border seeking their share of the California cash pie. Hispanic illegal aliens will then get their representatives in Sacramento to argue for their own “reparations” task forces, since the land used to be part of Spain and Mexico, right?
Why stop there? California’s significant Asian population won’t stand for being mistreated – again – and will demand payments for discrimination in college admissions and because their ancestors were the key labor force in constructing things like the transcontinental railroad.
Where’s the justice? The same kind of nonsensical prejudices against all minorities must’ve led to the same types of discrimination for others. It’s not just black families who suffered under the old ways, yet these other lighter skinned groups likely don’t have a comparable strength in lobbying operations – and certainly don’t vote for Democrat political candidates in the same percentages. In that sense, California offers a pretty unique opportunity for the race hucksters, and empty-brained elitist Gavin Newsom exhibits a degree of white guilt that few others could ever hope to match.
Slavery reparations on the west coast? Interestingly enough, there is an actual history of slavery in California. Admitted to the union as a free state as part of the compromise of 1850, some southern-based settlers to the new, Pacific-bordering American territory sometimes brought their slaves with them, though there was no will among the established inhabitants to enforce the fugitive slave law. So, slaves would run away and the masters couldn’t do much about it.
Being geographically isolated from the east and south meant California escaped much of the physical strain from the Civil War. And the state’s residents never really developed a taste for holding others in legal bondage. Yet still the Golden State’s powers-that-be have now created their own excuses for desiring to pay people based on genetics and what they look like.
As I’ve wondered in the past, where does such sick logic end? Oprah Winfrey is black, will she receive a California government check to repay her for the burdens the state imposed on her because of her dark complexion? How about LeBron James? As the leading voice of “woke” America, the NBA legend must feel entitled to some sort of restitution for past wrongs from the likes of Gavin Newsom and Adam Schiff.
Will Kamala Harris get her share, too? Or would hers be reduced by the fact her mother was of Indian (not Native American) ancestry?
My familiarity with the subject isn’t on the level of the members of the Task Force, but how will eligibility be determined? Various Native American groups have put a number on the percentage of American Indian blood an individual must possess in order to qualify as authentic. Otherwise, one would speculate there would be an army of Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warrens ordering DNA tests to prove their bona fides. I think Warren still bills herself as a native even though she’s only 1/1024th Cherokee.
And, if a biological man can simply declare himself a woman, can’t a white or slightly tan dude say he felt as though he were black in a former lifetime and is therefore in need of compensation now?
California’s political leadership is so horrible and “woke” brainwashed that it’s not surprising the state’s government is considering paying “slavery reparations” to black residents. Maybe it’s about time that liberal voters felt the full weight of their political choices, but there’s no such thing as fairness and equality in a Democrat’s world. Who knows, maybe California will fall into the ocean after all.
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