Kurt Schlichter writes "take no prisoners" conservative columns for Townhall. Today he dips his pen in sulfuric acid and etches a bitter portrait of today's California. Here is a sample.
Today’s California is a feudal society with an affluent aristocracy – their castles and keeps were the ones burned in this fire – lording over a huge caste of serfs. The middle class is either gone or leaving.
It was the middle class that made California a Republican state for so long. They were the ones who demanded good government. Most of them are now in Texas or Idaho.
That leaves a bunch of really poor people and a few really rich ones. The poor people vote Democrat because the Dems feed them scraps, and the rich people vote Democrat because it makes them feel that they’re not the complete scumbags that, in many cases, they are.
What remains of CA's middle class is the government employees who work for its cities, counties, special districts, the state, and the feds. Many are well-paid and have good benefits. Their unions fund the election campaigns of CA's Democrat elected officialdom who repay the favor when union contracts are negotiated.
In Schlichter's feudal model public employees occupy the role of the Church, Joel Kotkin refers to them as the "clerisy." In feudal times the Church enabled the nobles, today’s government employees fulfill a similar role. They "manage" the poor and the infrastructure on behalf of the current aristos.
