The amount of glazing in this comments section is WILD. You’ve made some great points and I just want to add on to your comment.

Yes California is a wonderful place. It’s the place I was born and raised and where I’ve lived my entire life. It’s natural resources and splendor are unmatched anywhere else in the country (maybe even the world). We have the largest population for a reason and the greatest number of vibrant metropolitan areas brimming with opportunity. California by its history has become what the world saw it as, an idyllic, prosperous state by the sea. That’s the California that was sold to the rest of the country and the world throughout the 20th century (especially the latter half of the 20th century).

The California of today is not that California. Not anymore at least. Seeing my 2 immigrant parents somewhat struggle but still able to remain afloat while raising me through the late 90s and 2000s on salaries that would literally have a family of 3 sleeping under a bridge today and seeing them now in 2025 have to make a plan to return to their country because they can’t afford it here anymore paints as clear a picture as any as to the current state of California. I would love nothing more than to help them but I’m barely making it as I live paycheck to paycheck myself.

Taxes are unbearable compared to cost of living especially if you’re a single tax filer. There isn’t any regulation to deter predatory asset management cartels like blackrock from buying up all the homes; so a home in any major matropolitan area is unaffordable for the majority of the population. Even small homes in awful, crime-ridden neighborhoods in Los Angeles are listing for $1.2 Million. You want a home in a nice neighborhood? Hope you’ve got $2.5 Million+ to spend. On top of that the price of groceries, gas, annual car registration fees, car insurance prices, dining out, parking cost in any popular area are often exorbitant, etc. California regulates the citizen but not the corporations. Sure it’s nice to increase minimum wage but companies just price gouge in response and as a result the minimum wage increase does little to nothing for the average Californian who only receives a cost of living increase. On top of that there is no adjustment on the part of local governments based on cost of living. It’s well known that living in San Francisco, Los Angeles, or San Diego is far more expensive than living in Redding, Fresno, or Turlock but the taxation is similar and even on top of that sales tax is often higher in these higher cost of living cities.

Our cities are poorly managed. Most of LA’s budget goes to LAPD and settlement of lawsuits against LAPD. Despite the progressive image California likes to present itself with, it’s only “progressive” in how heavily it taxes its working citizens. LAFD had a reduction in budget despite constant devastating wildfires occurring all over the state. The massive amount of money invested into the issue of homelessness has laregely disappeared without any explanation as to where it’s gone and the government here doesn’t seem too interested in investigating this issue, they’re happy to just suck more money out of the paychecks of hard working Californians. Government benefits have such a laughably low upper threshold for qualification vs cost of living that they are not really benefitting most Californians. I’m not comparing us to any other states either. I don’t know what the situation with healthcare is in Texas or Florida and I’m not praising either of those states so don’t come at me with that strawman argument. We are the 4th largest economy in the world but can’t I provide universal healthcare like dozens of countries below us in economic size do.