In COTTonLINE’s continuing coverage of the decline and fall of California, here comes a column at Chronicles which adds measurably to that discussion. Its contribution is in noting the importance of state and local government employees in the CA Democrat coalition.
The D coalition consists of the wealthy and the poor, that much is common knowledge. Add to that all the various government employees who are its middle class members. The Ds makes sure they are treated well and they make sure the state continues to vote D.
Consider California’s notoriously generous CalPERS (California Public Employee’s Retirement System) payouts. In an era where pensions in the private sector are increasingly rare, CalPERS benefits (while they last) are a boon to millions of middle-class Californians.
As one can imagine, this makes government employment for at least one family member very attractive and, in turn, fuels the demand for and creation of ever more government jobs—whether legitimate or, as in most cases, concocted.
Some are concocted, most are not. But government employment at some level - school or other special district, city, county, regional agency, state, or federal including military - provides many of the middle class jobs left in CA.
Demographer/pundit Joel Kotkin famously compares the role of government employees in modern society to that of the Church in medieval society, and refers to them as the “clerisy,” meaning “the literate ones.” I get a mental image of a fat friar - robe, sandals, tonsure and all, but of course it’s wrong.
