Decline and Fall of California

Edward Gibbon chronicled The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire long after it happened, the books first appeared in the latter 1700s. Modern technology speeds up the process, Victor Davis Hanson is chronicling the decline and fall of California in real time, as it happens.

His latest installment appears in National Review, and he summarizes the CA mess very well.

Some 62 percent of state roads have been rated poor or mediocre. (snip) One-third of Bay Area residents were polled as hoping to leave the area soon.

The basket of California state taxes — sales, income, and gasoline — rates among the highest in the U.S. Yet California roads and K-12 education rank near the bottom.

After years of drought, California has not built a single new reservoir. Instead, scarce fresh aqueduct water is still being diverted to sea.

One in three American welfare recipients resides in California. Almost a quarter of the state population lives below or near the poverty line. Yet the state’s gas and electricity prices are among the nation’s highest.

One in four state residents was not born in the U.S. Current state-funded pension programs are not sustainable.

One-third of California residents admitted to state hospitals for any causes suffer from diabetes, a sometimes-lethal disease often predicated on poor diet, lack of exercise, and excessive weight.

Nearly half of all traffic accidents in the Los Angeles area are classified as hit-and-run collisions.

Ugly outcomes for an originally lovely place. The problems: politics and immigration.