I'll give you a softball again.
Meet the most $&^%@# up state in the union, California..
This is a set of three - yes, you have to read three! - articles on the woes and troubles of the state to the left of us (if we're facing north).
'm going to post a few articles about the problems CA has, and ask you to comment on these three short pieces.
The first - from the New York Times - can be found here.
The second - from Business Insider.com - has an interesting plan. Find it here.
The third - from UK website The Guardian - is the longest. It can be found here.
Three interesting opinions. Even though they are dated (Arnold isn't governor anymore), there are still questions worth asking. And the problems have only gotten worse.
So, what say you? Should we get used to the idea of not having 50 stars on our flag anymore? Which, if any, of these ideas would you support? Or are we simply overreacting to an immediate, short term problem? Put forth your opinions and ideas in 300 words or so. This is also due MONDAY, JANUARY 24. That will put us back on track for the blogs.
Next week, the blogs get nastier. Think "Eco."
-- MP
I think the first article was completely ludacris. The idea that California will split off into their own nation, is completely outrageous. Not only do I think the idea is ridiculous, but apparently writers of the third article do too; California is in massive debt. Their problem is their ideas of spending. When I was in Civics class my senior year of high school my teacher popped in a video, as he often did, this one being about the economy as a whole. The video stated that though we seem to be worried about unemployment, America's richer than ever. These articles reminded me of this movie. I completely disagreed with the movie, beacuse their argument was simply that "Americans can buy more now than they ever could before." They writers of the movie must not have taken into effect the fact that the only reason Americans have so many things, is because they charge it. We have this 'spend now pay later' idea, and this is the sole reason we have gotten into ourselves into so many financial problems. California is POISENED with this idea that if you spend your money now, you can pay it off later. You can't get into debt unless you owe something. It's simple enough: don't spend money you don't have. California would never be able to survive on their own, unless of course, as the third article stated, they come up with some sort of innovation to pull themselves out of the deep waters. But considering the education has gone to crap, and instead of pulling money from other areas California has cut plenty of teachers, the motivation to innovate and change will likely not be present. What I think California needs is to continue on the idea of going "green" and flourish from that. I also think that they need to stop spending money they do not have. Lastly I think that they need to give back money to education to allow students, the new generation, to flourish. Feed them ideas of going eco-friendly and let the new generation become the leaders of the world.
ReplyDelete-Rachel Marabito
First off what in the world was the California population expecting when they elected Arnold Schwarzenegger who I still can’t even understand unless he says I’ll be back. I mean did they think he was actually going to do something good for the state he couldn’t even remember more than 10 lines in his movies. He even admitted himself that no one could control that many people in such a large area. When in reality he meant that he wasn’t qualified for the responsibility. But on the other hand I would have to say separating the large state of California into 4 smaller regions would be ridicules. Maybe it’s because I don’t understand politics and the economy but if they split up the state wouldn’t the smaller regions still have the same problems as before because it still would be the same people voting and spending money. So they don’t need to separate the state but instead the people need to stop waiting for the government to bail them out and figure out a way to get money flowing again not only in the state but the country. Also the way I see it is the reason why the state of California is still decreasing all around in economy, education, and population is because all the smart people are leaving. Because they see the writing on the wall, that this depressing status of California is not just a short term situation but instead is a problem that will not get fixed any time in this generation. So once all those smart people leave there will be no hope for California and the best thing that could happen would be that the state will fall off the fault line and wash into the ocean.
ReplyDeleteCalifornia. The state that everyone wants to emulate. The state that is taking charge of its own destiny. The state that is leading the pack on every environmental issue known to man. This all, according to California.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rachel. Somewhere along the line it became popular to borrow money excessively. Long gone are the days of saving your hard earned scrilla to buy the material item that your heart desired. It simply wasn't enough to have only what you could afford. In order to stay trendy, you had to establish credit. You had to have the newest automobile and a house far larger than necessary. You had to be the envy of your neighbors. Stop spending, and stop giving your money away.
California is no longer the land of opportunity. The only reason they are leading the charge against environmental hazards is because they have so many to deal with. This is not California leading America into a green age. This is California trying to fix its own problems, while the rest of the country looks on. I suppose I should give California some credit. What would you expect from a populace that believes they're living in a fantasy complete with reality television? California has learned that their previous methods of life were unsustainable, and are taking necessary steps to reach homeostasis. No, that has nothing to do with homosexuals.
The other, more sentient, 49 states should look at California and heed their suggestive measures in order to avoid such a similar catastrophe.
I had almost forgotten about California splitting from the union. Please, do not split from the United States. The last thing we want to do is get stopped at the border of Cali, only to be turned around because our car doesn’t meet the noise & emissions guidelines set by The Republic of California.
“I’ll be back” – Unofficial motto of The Golden State.
It seems like everyone so far agress that California spliting into its own country would be a bad idea. First off they dont have the economic strength to accomplish this, they owe money to everyone, at least now the federal government can lend them a little bit of assistance, plus the US would end up giving them assistance anyway. I do agree that California has done alot for the green movement and it would be good for them to continue on this route and maybe make some money off of this. Finally I think it would be nice if some of the stars living in California who are worth more than some of the small countries in the world would maybe toss a bone to some of their more needy neighbors within their own state, just a suggestion!
ReplyDeleteI feel the first article was completely uncalled for. It is stating that California is so well off when have of there population is on the streets. They most likely will never break off from the rest of the US because they really don’t have any backbone to lean on. Yes they are popular but what happens when slowly everyone starts to move out of the state? Without everyone in the Great LA, they would have nothing. Plus a lot of people have summer homes in California. What happens when they go back home? I feel if they tried to do this they would slowly lose people. It would not be a smart thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI mostly agree with the third article. Before they start bragging about all of the great things about California, you should probably look at some of the major problems you are having. It is not ok to have most of your population on the streets. And taking away health care and education will not help. If you want those people of the streets provide jobs for them! Teachers should not be so low that they have to rely on a hunger strike to get there jobs back! Yes, everyone knows you are going though a tough time financially but maybe if you stressed education a bit instead of all the “stars” in your area you might have people who will grow up and be able to work and pay you money. Most people drop out by the age 19 because they try college and then realize, “ Hey! Everyone around me is making tons of money by basically just acting or singing. I could do that!” But guess what? Not everyone can! We need other jobs besides entertainers out there. And maybe if California focused more on education, they could change their whole state around.
California. Why would California elect a movie star as their governor in the first place? The whole idea of California splitting off from the United States is ridiculous. If Arnold is so blind that he cannot see the states original problems in the first place why does he think he could have that much power? There was one quote in the articles that compared him to George W. Bush which I could not agree to more. If California could not last even as a state to the most prosperous countries in the world how could they last six months independent? The second article was a bit less out of line. “The first state to go would be Greater LA.” This quote made me laugh. It goes right back to the thought of movie stars and conceited rich people thinking they know how to run anything for that matter. They can’t even run their own lives! The third article was the most reasonable out of the three. It recognizes California’s problems and supports every fact they mention. California is failing and people need to realize this. I know we are in a recession but taking away education to any extent is wrong. Education is essential and no person should live without it. Does California have a chance of pulling out of this misery? I agree strongly with the article when they say “as long as they are responsible.”
ReplyDeleteCalifornia, what to do, what to do. I just finished reading the three assigned articles, each attempting to answer this question, and each, in my opinion, lending little to no practical solution. I'm no economist and I wouldn't try to claim to understand governmental debt and how to go about fixing it, nor do i even have a real strong understanding of what recession and bankruptcy mean for a state, other than people being out of work and the obvious issues this creates. I do however have a fairly good understanding of simple practicality and from what i just read none of these articles really offered any sensible solution to economic woes. I mean, did the New York Times really just suggest California seceding from the United State??? How is breaking away from a well funded central government who's purpose is to provide for its states and citizen going to help fix anything? Wouldn't a political move like that be both extremely costly and time consuming, leaving you in even more debt, while alienating you from the established political bodies that are meant to act as aid in these act sort of situations? The same goes for dividing the state into smaller states (this seems both costly, time consuming, and overall ineffective) I agree most with the third article, that California must review its entire spending procedure and most reform this in one way or another, though I nor the article have any real conception of how to do this. California, now is NOT the time to be listening to eccentric political theorist or misguided social revolutionaries. Now is the time to sit down, figure the books, work within the confines of the system you exist and logistically solve this dilemma. Will it be easy, will it be fast? No! But that doesnt mean its time to throw in the towel and give up on being the STATE of California and become the NATION of pipe dreams. Listen to actual economist, work within realistic parameters, and strive for obtainable goals. Thats really all i can say. California, wake up and figure your shit.
ReplyDelete-Elan
Personally, I don't think Arnold Schwarzenegger is fit to be a governor. I can agree with some of you on that one! I actually agree with all three articles. Not so much the first one though. California going off to be it's own nation? That doesnt even sound right, but changing it into 4 different states sounds crazy but is better than letting California be it's own nation. They should find a way to get their healthcar, education, and employment off the ground. Those are the three most important things in a society. And if Cali is lacking in that then theu really need to step it up. How about electing a better more improved governor. Maybe that would help them! And wow IOU's? I would be pissed if I was getting an "IOU" from the government! Their political system just counds whack to me! I would agree that California is the failed state in America. I'm glad I live in OHIO! :)
ReplyDeleteTo me I’ve always seen California as a “party” state; a place to go wild for a weekend. I don’t know anything about politics but a state that has the Terminator as their governor…I can’t take them seriously. He is so cocky and thinks that California is the “greatest place in the world.” The United States consists of 50 states….50! The idea of it being divided into 4 smaller regions is insane. They’re in debt yeah, but how exactly would splitting off solve this problem? Everything would stay the same everyone would just be separated. They do have another idea. “How about make California its’ own independent nation?!” The thought of that just makes me laugh. Who is going to pick up after them then? They would not be able to survive. That would make things way worse. “Hey we are in huge debt so I think that we should become our own nation!” That is so stupid. If this is such a big deal, why don’t the movie stars toss some spare change to the state? I think this is a huge overreaction. This was bound to happen sooner or later. Their money has been blown on movies or night clubs. That’s why I see them as a party state. Like I said, I don’t know much about politics but maybe they should elect a governor that actually knows what he is doing.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I'm going with Nay, California should not be on it's own I feel that making that action they really wouldn't survive. A case of better said then done. I do believe California lives way beyond their means with the whole lifestyle that is protrayed if you live there. I mean an actor was elected to be governor I think that was a joke itself for saying how Californians take their situation. I want to move to California and that may be very soon so after reading this it did make me concerned because how bad they made things sound was really over dramatic. Feeling like its so bad to split a state up is just mindboggling to me like who thought of that? Its like the hole that they have dug themselves in will never be filled again but I think that there are better solutions then being pulled apart. California depends on the U.S for things so how can we just abandon it, leave it high and dry,.. I really dont like that idea, they really need a helping hand and it may take time and more time but being left alone they may fall off the face of the earth. People panic thats what we do when were scared and clueless so I think one people put real thought into what can be done within time they will see their over reacting and move forward
ReplyDeleteI think that California is ignorant to think that they can survive on their own. They have all the resources in the state to keep themselves sustained, but the problem is not with that many people. The idea of splitting the state up into multiple regions to help govern how things are run is a good idea. It may not be as easy done as said but the idea has potential. I wouldn’t suggest making it four separate states, but politically split up the governing power and maybe higher another governor. There is such a large amount of jobs and taxes coming out of California that I think both the U.S. and California would suffer greatly. I also would agree with the one article when it stated that if California were to split up that the U.S. would stick its two senses into it and have to help kind of like we have been trying to change the government overseas. Also, electing a movie star that can barely speak our language and knows nothing else but shooting people and having babies is ridiculous. It seems like he is more concerned about getting his and his hot wives face on the television for a commercial. The only thing that I can see bailing California out of debt or at least get closer to it, is there tourism and high taxing of celebrities. For the government to go in and bail them out is also a big mistake. It’s like giving your kid a reward for misbehaving; they’ll just do it again. So in the end I do think we are over reacting to a problem that is more common then we think. This is happening in a lot more states then just California.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the first article drove me crazy, how could California ever afford to separate as its own nation? The former governor seems to have too big of a head in this article, comparing California to cities like Athens and Sparta. Its unsettling to me to see my dream state, the place I wanted to start my career is falling apart and is not as sunny as it always appeared. The second article was quite funny, the idea of dividing California into four different states is absolutely maddening. The article pointing out a lot of good reasons why it could never work, the variation of economic statuses of the parts of California would make it impossible for all four parts to sustain themselves. The statistics in the third article were just plain scary I don't even want to go there... I honestly don't know what could be in store for California, the population is too high and not making enough money to sustain itself. They are in desperate need of a new budget plan and probably a relocation program for all the hobos who need a better place to look for jobs.
ReplyDeleteAmerican has been formed over time by events that have both critically changed America as a whole and the states that individually make up the country. Though all ran under the same national government, each is governed by a different set of people that could drastically affect the efficiency of the state itself. California was run by people who invested much of their time in the mass amount of money they have acquired over the years. It has always seemed to be the “problem state” out of the fifty. In the three articles read, valid points were given as to why this is, and what the country can do about it. Splitting up the state was mentioned in the Business Insider article. This, however, would result in the failure of one or more of the four states that would have been made. In the first New York Times article, it is believed that “the bigger the nation, the harder it becomes for the government to meet the needs of its dispersed population.” And in the Third article, The Guardian, California is given the benefit of the doubt and looked at in a positive manner with “hope” at its side.
ReplyDeleteOver reaction was not an understatement when these articles were written. California was and still is seen as the underdog of the United States. But, getting rid of the state is somewhat of an extreme option. In The Guardian, California isn’t made out to be the best state around, but it has many positive attributes that could positively go towards the country and its efficiency. “California has long been an incubator of fresh ideas, many of which spread across the country. If America emerges from its crisis a greener, more economically and politically responsible nation, it is likely that renewal will have begun here.” California is working on changing itself and then hopefully changing the nation, giving the United States and ALL fifty states a bright, and more eco-friendly future.
California is and should forever be a part of the United Stated. “United” stands out the most in this instance, and unity isn’t about kicking out the weakest link, or for what many view, the biggest pain in the bum. Should California get on track with the rest of the country? Yes, this is evident. Maybe if they weren’t trying to do their own thing, they would be accepted by the other countries more and would be offered help. "I believe in California. It pains me at the moment to see it where it is, but I still believe in it," said Michael Levine in The Guardian. The people of California have hope. Now, all they need is the support of the rest of their country.
I have heard about California’s problems before. The three articles were interesting because i was not aware of the severity of the issue. The most interesting way of solving the issue was breaking it up into three states. As much as i doubt that to happen first it would be cool but secondly it sort of makes sense. The articles spent a lot of time talking about how large the state was and that is was bigger than a lot of countries so why not make it into four states. Instead of 50 stars why not have 53. The effort and planning and agreement that would go into that are highly unlikely thought. What i think is probably best and also most likely to happen is that California will kick its self into gear and figure out "innovative" ways to get its self out of this mess. This would probably be best because it fits into America’s ideals. Yes it may have gotten itself into this mess but with hard work and some good ideas I believe that it should be able to not have to break up into more states. And as far as it falling off the face of the earth and just becoming a wasteland that America doesn’t want to deal with is just not going to happen. No way would America let its integrity slip like that and let one of its awn states just die. I liked how the last article concluded with bright hopes and facts that it is already undergoing change. Having twice as much solar energy than then the rest of the states combine is a good sign that they could make this out of it alive. Good luck California.
ReplyDeleteThese articles are all trying to serve better ideas for California by helping with the predicament they are in. I know that nobody wants to see this state be split up. I somewhat agree though with splitting up the state beacuse this would make it easier for the superior people to govern there sections rather than having to govern the entire huge state. If they asssign one person per section this makes it easier for not only them but also the people that live their. They can possibly get rid of all this debt possibly and can just mainly concentrate on getting jobs back. Maybe they dont need to split up but they need to make a change for sure. There is just too many poeple and families losing their houses and jobs. California needs to be more concerned with all their people rather than just the rich and famous. It is all about blaming the problem on Arnold or others before him rather than focusing on just fixing their problem with the state overall and actually doing something about it.
ReplyDeleteThese articles are all trying to serve better ideas for California by helping with the predicament they are in. I know that nobody wants to see this state be split up. I somewhat agree though with splitting up the state beacuse this would make it easier for the superior people to govern there sections rather than having to govern the entire huge state. If they asssign one person per section this makes it easier for not only them but also the people that live their. They can possibly get rid of all this debt possibly and can just mainly concentrate on getting jobs back. Maybe they dont need to split up but they need to make a change for sure. There is just too many poeple and families losing their houses and jobs. California needs to be more concerned with all their people rather than just the rich and famous. It is all about blaming the problem on Arnold or others before him rather than focusing on just fixing their problem with the state overall and actually doing something.
ReplyDeleteThe first article stating that California could be its own country is kind of hard to believe considering it is populated by Americans and I am pretty sure that the rest of America would not be too happy if that happened. The fact that California is in terrible debt, does not mean it can come out of it and that does not mean the flag will lose a star. I don’t know much about America considering I haven’t lived here in forever so I’m not really sure about what I’m going to say but what bothered me was the part about how public officials get a decent salary, and even after all the money they are paid California is considering splitting up into 4 political units. In my head it doesn’t really make sense, but I don’t know much about politics and how to run a country. But I do know that the rest of the states should look onto California so they don’t repeat any mistakes they have made. I could not imagine California not being a part of America because people who are not American think of California as soon as they hear the word “America.” I know that the people of California are prestigious people who like to show off who has the most money. I think a state that is having a financial crisis like this should cut down on spending because they are probably charging everything on credit and then going into debt. I just think the state of California should stop spending so much money and focus on the problems at hand without having to split up.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel that it's a necessity to split California into multiple states, like the “Desperate California” article states, “if it were its own country, the US would be consulting with the UN and NATO about establishing a presence and supervising elections.” It is clear, however, that something needs to be done, and soon. I don't follow politics, and everything going on with the economy is a mystery to me. I choose to live like this though, to me, ignorance is bliss. I prefer not to know. What happens is going to happen. Though I also feel that because of my lack of knowledge, I can't really shed too much insight onto this topic. Anything I would come up with would most likely mirror Johnathan Swift's A Modest Proposal rather than bring about possible fixes for California's problem.
ReplyDeleteI do think, that the population of California should be most worried about this issue. It should be up to those residing in the state to keep the state from completely collapsing. With such a vast population, and the availability of industry and wealth, it should be somewhat simple to at least take a step into the light and work on pulling the state to its feet. I just find it so sad that so many people are being forced to succumb to poverty, to sit in parking lots and hot cars to wait for simple health care, and to surrender their homes to the government.
One article touched on the possibility of the “California Dream” coming to an end, and quite frankly, I have to agree...to a point. If the state continues to falter, if nothing is done to attempt to turn things around, then sure, everything is going to collapse. If government officials in California took the initiative, devised a plan, and acted on it, I'm almost certain that they could turn the state around. But in order for anything to improve, there has to be a starting point.