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Thursday, December 16, 2010

The California Canary

(Image:  Mexifornia by Cox)

One of our favorite commentators, Victor Davis Hanson (VDH), discusses the "two Californias" in this article posted on the National Review Online (NRO):

Comments from my friends ranged from tongue & cheek (but true):

A great article. The first paragraph is a great summary of condition of the State of California. I think the Golden State however, should be eventually be renamed based on the proliferation of these conditions and the likely addition of more onerous or even heinous conditions and acts by the State's occupants. To reflect the decay of this once great state, one where I grew up and currently live, I propose the name be changed to the State of "Californiazimbabwe." The governor upon taking office will assume the title of "Mugabe Governor," like " Mugabe Governor Jerry Brown." This title will remain as part of the official office title until things improve. If they do not, then when their term(s) expire, the governor, as a former public office holder, will retain the "Mugabe" portion of the tile in perpetuity and perhaps made to wear some special clothes or a funny hat during all public appearances. Conditional removal of the title prefix would be based on several metrics including economic growth (perhaps an adjusted mid-1980s standard (when the aerospace sector was a big contributor)), fewer small business regulations, environmental restoration (including a significant decrease in graffiti and other acts of vandalism), educational improvement, and infrastructural revitalization just to start. Or maybe we could just try to become part of Arizona.


Along with those concerned about problems within their own states

One of the commentators at the bottom [of the article on the NRO site] had it right though. California is the canary in the coalmine and what is happening there will come to your home town and not in the too distant future. Kind of like when I lived in NoVa in '94 and the Vagina-ians would say "Illegal immigration?! Not our problem!" I'm glad they enjoy the fruits of that wisdom with their entrenched MS-13 problem...

(Hence the inspiration for the title of this post).

Nor is the Third Worldization confined to southern border states:

The formerly peaceful, quaint, post card perfect and strict Christian small town Holland, Michigan has Hispanic gangs now.

And the illegal alien problem isn't confined to Hispanics either:

And, don’t forget Dearborn, Michigan . . . I mean, it ain’t just Hispanics we’ve got to worry about trying to change us. I mean anybody who settles in this country without the desire to assimilate.


Therein lies the key, as VDH mentions in his article:  The refusal to assimilate into America:

Crux of the problem - to the people who don't live in areas where the illegals settle, they are still just cheap labor. They can also turn a blind eye to the impoverished conditions Dr. Hanson described that their cheap laborers are living in. Until this changes, I don't see the problem going away. I also think that part of the way to start changing opinions is to start calling out those who view illegals as a great source of cheap labor (this includes Senator McCain) as defending a modern day version of slavery and helping to prop up a sick human trafficking network that is no different than the slave trade of old. I've found that this makes people very uncomfortable.


I like that angle—the problem is you’re ueber libs will come back with “That’s why we need amnesty etc etc!,” completely missing the point that any form of amnesty would not change the economics of the situation one bit.

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