Yes, I know we here at COTTonLINE harp on California’s troubles. What else would you expect from a native Californian who watched his Golden State tarnish into a hot mess?
Today I bring you a link to a quite good summary of where CA went wrong, written for City Journal by Michael Shellenberger. If you’ve followed the CA story you won’t find a lot new in his treatment, but he does pull the various strands together in a comprehensive way.
Shellenberger makes one claim that is new, the risk of contagion. See what he writes.
It is thus understandable why so many have given up on California and treat it simply as an example of what not to do. But change in the U.S. often starts in California and moves east. And neither party has set forth a compelling alternative to the California model.
DeSantis in Florida is certainly trying to set forth an alternative to the California model, he often points out the contrasts. Shellenberger may not view those as “compelling.” With apologies to Joni Mitchell:
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
