Scroll down to read this post.

 

Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. I keep the website clean from pop-ups and annoying demands. Instead, I depend entirely on my readers to support me. Though this means I am sacrificing some income, it also means that I remain entirely independent from outside pressure. By depending solely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, no one can threaten me with censorship. You don't like what I write, you can simply go elsewhere.

 

You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
 

3. A Paypal Donation:

4. A Paypal subscription:


5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
 
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652

 

You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.


A feudal and isolated California

Link here. It is very clear that politically California is increasingly isolating itself from the rest of the country. From the article:

Today California is returning to its outlier roots, defying many of the political trends that define most of the country. Rather than adjust to changing conditions, the state seems determined to go it alone as a bastion of progressivism. Some Californians, going farther out on a limb, have proposed separating from the rest of the country entirely; a ballot measure on that proposition has been proposed for 2018.

This shift to outpost of modern-day progressivism has been developing for years but was markedly evident in November. As the rest of America trended to the right, electing Republicans at the congressional and local levels in impressive numbers, California has moved farther left, accounting for virtually all of the net popular vote margin for Hillary Clinton. Today the GOP is all but non-existent in the most populated parts of the state, and the legislature has a supermajority of Democrats in both houses. In many cases, including last year’s Senate race, no Republicans even got on the November ballot.

The article goes on to note the number of ways California also differs from the rest of the country in matters of policy. Sadly for California, those policy differences are not to its long term advantage. As I read I was reminded of New York and how, during the 1960s and 1970s when the politics there were completely controlled by leftwing Democrats, the state’s dominate position in the nation’s economy collapsed and New York became looked at as a poor neighbor, unable to pay its bills even as industry and private sector fled the state. I expect the same to happen in California in the coming years.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

16 comments

  • wayne

    Victor Davis Hanson
    “Insights from Mexifornia”
    Brian Lamb talks to VDH 2003
    https://youtu.be/egn3kp2mI5w
    (12:41)

  • Orion314

    The Democratic party is nothing more than an insane suicide pact , and CA is a fine example

  • Des

    California had the second fastest growing economy in 2015, Oregon was the fastest growing. http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/06/16/states-with-the-fastest-and-slowest-growing-economies-2/3/

  • Des: I don’t think you read the article I provided a link to. That article recognized California’s recent growth, but it also took a closer look, and noted that it is very concentrated in one sector and one region, which appears to be prospering while the rest of the state is suffering badly. I expect that concentrated growth to fade with time, based on consequences of the leftwing regulatory policies the state government is imposing. I saw that happen in New York. I saw it in East Europe and Russia, caused by the same policies of the Soviet Union. I saw it in England in the 1970s, for the same reason.

    Socialism and government regulation has the sad reality of sounding great, but always causing misery and then failing in the end.

  • LocalFluff

    Wouldn’t a California secession be great!
    The US would get rid of a hopeless mess, fanatic leftists and Hollywood. Democrats wouldn’t have a chance for the White House ever again. Let them leave, the sooner the better. Just extend the wall to protect against that huge continental Cuba in the west. Sell it to Mexico.

  • Des:

    “California had the second fastest growing economy in 2015, Oregon was the fastest growing”

    Because of all the Californians moving here.

  • wayne

    Blair-
    Good stuff, (and good stuff at the Blog this month!)
    [fyi- it’s 8 degrees at the Bridge today; http://www.mackinacbridge.org/fares-traffic/bridge-cam/%5D

    >Is not the unemployment rate in Cali & Oregon, above “average?” (even with the cooked numbers.)
    >Where do all these folks moving to Oregon, think they are going to live? My friends in Tigard tried to explain to me the “urban growth boundary zones” (or some such zoning “plans” in place) wherein it is extremely costly to build anything on the fringes of greater Portland.

  • pzatchok

    Californians have a bad habit of thinking that they actually finance the federal government more than the rest of the nation does.

    In my opinion they do not. In fact they are financed by the rest of the nation.

    First off who is going to end up covering for their underfunded state retirement plans?
    Second what other state has to have the court system order other states to keep selling them water at a cheaper than market price? Who is going to pay for it?
    Third, the same with electricity. What other state has rolling blackouts because of unpaid electric bills? Who is going to pick up the difference.
    And now California wants to go entirely non nuclear for their energy needs. Will they stop buying electricity from producers outside the state that do use nuclear power?

    I hope they do secede. Then they will no longer be protected by the 9th court. They will no longer be able to force outside entities to cover their short falls. They will no longer overspend and hope the feds cover their expenses.

    Like children finally moving out on their own they will quickly realize the true cost of being independent and self sufficient.
    Like good parents we will of course always accept them back into the ‘home’ but we have no obligation to pay their past due bills to keep their credit rating up.

  • Phill O

    Should California, Illinois and New York leave, the USA would have one of the lowest crime rate (and incarceration rates) in the world. Canada needs to get rid of Quebec, Toronto and Vancouver to have a similar effect.

  • Wayne:

    OR’s jobless rate is actually slightly below the national average, while CA’s is well above. I suppose businesses are fleeing faster than workers. At street level there are ‘Help Wanted’ signs *everywhere*. I find it hard to believe an able-bodied person wouldn’t be working around here. Or more likely have the two part-time jobs they need under ObamaCareonomics.

    You can read my take on Urban Growth Boundaries at https://bkivey.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/urban-limits-to-growth/

  • D.K. Williams

    Coastal California is welcome to secede. The central valley can stay.

  • wayne

    Blair–
    thanks for that link to your Urban Growth Boundary Zone post. (I knew you were up on the pesky details.)
    –I’ll toss in a recent Policy Analysis from the CATO people.

    “The New Feudalism: Why States Must Repeal Growth-Management Laws.”
    https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/new-feudalism-why-states-must-repeal-growth-management-laws

    Referencing California & secession — didn’t we fight a Civil War over such matters?

    There is an intriguing movement to divide Cali into 6 individual States. (Which would be a legal event.)
    http://www.sixcalifornias.com/

  • Edward

    D.K. Williams wrote: “Coastal California is welcome to secede. The central valley can stay.

    I’m thinking that the California coast north of Marin county should be allowed to stay, but San Francisco and Berkeley and everything south should be allowed to go. Maybe even encouraged. I’ll have to move house, but that does not seem like as much of a burden as being here.

    wayne wrote: “didn’t we fight a Civil War over such matters?

    Picky, picky. Well, maybe the correct decision is to overcome the socialist training to which Californians are continuously exposed and get them to accept free markets and democracy over socialism and centralized control. That is a much more difficult solution, but maybe it is worth it if California can get back to being the third largest economy in the world again.

    Plus, I won’t have to move.

  • Sandra Warren

    There are plenty of Republicans in CA, but they have gerrymandered us out of any importance. My Congressional district looks like a 20 legged spider. This naked political intention to minimize any opposition ought to be frightening to these children of the 60s, but as long as it suits their cause, it’s all just, verdant and peaceful in CA.

  • wayne

    Sandra–
    Excellent point that doesn’t come up often enough, ref: gerrymandering.

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.

 

However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.

 

Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *