California: The “Not So Golden” State

This post is for all you out-of-staters that sit in front of the T.V. watching the Rose Bowl Parade once a year, and drool all over your lap wishing you lived in California.  Oh, if you could only move to where the palm trees sway, and where the sky is blue, and where you’d be accepted and valued no matter your race or political persuasion.  Where you’d have unbridled freedom to do what you want, when you want, and often with the financial blessing of a government so eager to enable your unique lifestyle.  Ah, YES, the aptly nicknamed, Golden State… where you can almost imagine the streets littered with shiny doubloons, and the freedom to stuff your pockets with them.

Hey, Pilgrim, WAKE UP !  Slap yourself in the face a dozen times, or jump into a cold lake clothes and all.  SNAP OUT OF IT, for goodness sake !  Other than the weather, the whole thing’s an illusion, just like the voluptuous breasts and perfect teeth of many of those beauties atop the floats.  If you don’t believe me, consider this.

In their most recent study, the Mercatus Center of George Mason University ranked California FORTY-NINTH out of the fifty states, for personal and economic freedom.  And every day it gets even worse, with a host of new “constraints” being instituted by Nannycrat legislators in Sacramento.  Yeah, that cool surfer dude you see skimming freely on the crest of a California wave, is really not as free as he looks.  Let me quote, verbatim, from the study’s conclusions:

- “Contrary to popular perception, California not only taxes and regulates its economy more than most other states, it also aggressively interferes in the personal lives of its citizens.”

- “California simply needs to cut government spending.  The budget categories most out of line with the rest of the country are administration, social services, environment and housing, and “other.”

- “Labor laws are extremely strict…  Health insurance coverage mandates add about 49% to the cost of premiums in the state.”

- “Eminent-domain reform has been cosmetic, and the state’s liability system almost reaches the abysmal quality of the Deep South’s.”

-  “… It also has the most restrictive gun laws in the country, a highly restrictive policy regime for motorists, and smoking bans.”

-  “The state’s civil asset-forfeiture regime is arguably the best in the country, apart from North Carolina’s which has only criminal forfeiture.” 

Wow, pretty harsh!  But just so everyone doesn’t have to unpack their suitcases and cancel the move west, the study was clear that California DID get good grades in at least two specific  categories of personal freedom:

-  “California does well on same-sex partnerships and marijuana…”

So there you have it.  Besides the weather, what might be considered as positive freedoms are only a  reality for a minority of those “categorized” populations living here.  Meanwhile, the rest of us shake our heads in dismay, looking ahead with horror to the next Rose Parade and it’s deceptive, one-dimensional portrayal of California life. And while we hope that outsiders recognize it as “smoke and mirrors,” we nonetheless stay indoors through March, seeking to avoid being run over by a stampede of out-of-state hopefuls, who’ve come here looking for the “gold” and personal freedoms they think exist.

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If you want to check out how YOUR state ranks in the categories of personal and economic freedom, you can do so by clicking the "List View" tab at the top-right of this map:  www.freedominthe50states.org
   

Oh, How Things Have Changed !

Recently I went to the memorial service of a friend who was a teacher and principal back-in-the-day when my career began.  The service was a wonderful tribute, not only to his life, but his days as an exceptional educational leader.  I’m sure he was smiling as he listened to, and watched the proceedings from his lofty new vantage point.

One of the things that people remembered about him most, was his closeness to the kids that went to his school.  There was not one child whose name he didn’t know, as well as that of siblings, parents, and long-lost relatives.  And that wasn’t all.  He took a personal interest in every last one, making the time to know and appreciate them as real, live people.  They were like his very own children, not simply educational “clients” that he and his staff were obligated to serve.

In my recent return to school, my dear friend’s philosophy about dealing with children is all but extinct.  While it was simply the way we did things back then, today it’s not a priority to put the human aspects of kids before the intellectual challenges which manipulate them into getting higher test scores.  In fairness, teachers no longer have much time for true personal interaction.  They’re on a rigid schedule of “skill drill,” and under relentless scrutiny from the numbskulls at the district office who sit at their computers and study benchmark scores.  What a tragic turn of events for everyone !!

If you don’t believe me, consider this.  Despite my decades of teaching experience, in order to sub I had to recently take a “Sexual Harassment” class in order to qualify.  And while the obvious subject of “physical contact” issues were discussed, another one came up that threw me for a loop.  In essence, beyond touching kids inappropriately, the message of staying out of their personal lives was clearly invoked.  “DON’T GET INVOLVED,” they said continually, either directly or indirectly.  “KEEP YOUR EMOTIONAL DISTANCE,” they warned.  You are a teacher, and to be an effective one does not call for anything more than strong instructional skills.

No wonder today’s kids seek other sources of personal interaction that often get them into trouble.  There was a time when their teachers ministered to their WHOLE being, which  meant far more than just their brain.  Through personal involvement we showed kids what was right and wrong, what was cultured and what wasn’t. We gave children insight into their budding talents and abilities, and gave them strategies to deal with personal limitations as they appeared.  We impressed upon them their citizenship in the human community, and the obligation to try one’s best to make everyone better by using personal strengths for the greater good.  We shared the things that we loved, hoping that they would learn to love them, too.  And we taught, through example, that treating others with kindness and respect was the most productive way to live one’s live, while making the world a better place.

Before I put my violin away, then, let me say a few last words to those of you who have turned education into a bad production of the “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” and exposed its ass with your delusion about high test scores (which mostly serve to make YOU look good).  Another thing about which I was reminded at my friend’s service, was that when we focused on the WHOLE child back then, and got involved with them as important living creatures, a ton of them went on to be outstanding members of the community… doctors, lawyers, heads of corporations, teachers, pastors, and high-powered players in society.  They also became skilled craftsmen, technicians, and service providers, concurrent with functioning as successful parents and exceptional role models to the young. Just luck, you say?  Not a chance.  And if my old friend H. B. was still here to comment, I know that after he smiled and stuck out his chest for his role in that truth, he’d agree with this final statement… but say it in a much classier and diplomatic way than I:  “You self-serving, “justify-your-job,” pseudo-expert district test freaks, are getting an absolutely, positively FAILING GRADE  when it comes to educating our kids for real life!”

Young Paisano, The Public Prattler

As I was stashing my December 1, 2012 “Letter To The Editor” in a folder of other letters, I came across a yellowed newspaper clipping of something I had written to a local editor the year after I graduated from High School.  It was mostly a self-serving appeal, considering I built and was driving a modified car, and was one of the more “literate” car guys who might have a shot swaying public opinion to the benefit of all the hot rodding brotherhood. Anyway, as most of these opinion letters go, it ended up as an impotent exercise that only vented our collective frustration.  It never changed one “establishment” mind about the subject, and didn’t move our cause ahead one inch.  It did, however, have an unexpected benefit.  My image soared among other backyard mechanics who liked what I said, and it became my first, “fifteen minutes of fame.”  Anyway, here it is… the opinion of a gadflying teenager with grease under his fingernails.

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Letter To The Editor:

In a front page article on August 2, a familiar and often reiterated statement was made by an irate city judge as he viewed a case at hand.  It read, “We have to do something about the speeding and racing going on around here.” His apparent solution: A $100 fine imposed on each of the two guilty individuals.

I must say that this $200, while no doubt increasing the city’s treasury, contributed little, if anything, to the curbing of this ever increasing problem.

First of all, there are things that the average person should be filled in about concerning the topic, “Niagara Falls vs. Speed.”

     1. While being comparably small in size, our city has a higher percentage of modified cars (either licensed or strictly competition) than do cities of double population.
     2.  There are hundreds of cars being built in backyard sheds, that while unfinished today, will be on the road in the future.
     3.  Also, Niagara Falls has the honor of claiming the fastest car in New York State and surrounding areas, as well as Canada, one which also holds a “World’s” speed record.
     4. Car enthusiasts spend thousands of dollars each year, for racing and speed equipment.
     5. Finally, Niagara Falls has scores of victory trophies from various sanctioned speed events as far away as 500 miles.

Now, let’s face it!  Speed is as much a part of our city as the Falls itself. Although officials have pondered this problem endlessly, the only hope instilling answer comes from the car enthusiast himself.  For at least two years the plea for a local supervised drag strip has been made.  Land and financial backers were sought.  Sheriff and State Police Departments were asked to supervise these events.  And even though a majority of people were for it, a varied few blocked the move with such “flimsy” arguments as “cars making too much noise while in competition.”

All in all, to those people I say, if standing a little noise one day a week is harder to bear than perhaps attending the funeral of a child who was hit by a speeding car, your concepts are warped beyond reason.  If the speed urge needs an outlet, give it a safe one in the form of supervised, clean competition.  Let’s get the horsepower out in the country where it belongs… with the rest of the horses!

Paisano  (August 6, 1960)