California

It was dark when we reached the campground just off the Pacific Highway (Highway 1) at Leo Carrillo State Park. An hour before, we were navigating through the noise, tension, and confusion called the Los Angeles freeway system. With the tent pitched and the Pacific surf pounding the beach, we drifted to sleep knowing this was the paradise called California. The year was 1972. I have made five trips to the Golden State over the years, all of them driven by the remarkable diversity of natural resources that can be found at every turn.

Today, those resources remain as attractive as ever, but the social and political landscape has deteriorated to the point that the "paradise" I knew is essentially bankrupt. I've studied enough history over the years to know that California's success - once the eighth largest economy in the world - could not be sustained. What I didn't expect to see was the apparent lack of any long-term strategy to soften the coming landing. How could a government of, by and for the people lose such a rich gift as California?
























My favorite participant/observer of the California experience is Victor Davis Hanson, retired professor of classics and military history, and currently a fellow at the Hoover Institution . He farms in the San Joaquin Valley while revealing through the lecture circuit and the printed word how classical ideas underpin Western civilization and influence the decisions we make in day-to-day life in the United States. Hanson is a rare combination of academic knowledge and practical experience expressed through skillful communications.

He has two posts, here and here, about the reality of his home state. In 2004, he wrote Mexifornia:A State of Becoming, an analysis of Mexican immigation in California and its potential national impacts. Ordinarily, I don't recommend books I have not read. This is an exception based on excerpts, commentary, interviews and reviews encountered in the last few years as well as the author's work that I have read.

Will I ever again hear the Pacific roar from the beaches at Leo Carrillo? It's doubtful, but be assured that travel to California will be on our agenda. I can always find my paradise there.