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Top 10 Reasons Not to Live inCalifornia

by Lee Standberry

California is often portrayed as a great place to visit.And certainly, there are many tourist attractions to seeand participate in. The weather is great and you can seeMickey Mouse do his thing at Disneyland . However, it’sbest to have fun during a short stay and then be on yourway. Why? Simply, California has to be perhaps one of the most hazardous places to live. If one were tomeasure the odds, it would be very easy to concludethat chance of some disaster befalling you is fairly high(increasing in direct proportion to the duration of yourstay). Don’t believe me? Consider these top 10 reasonsNOT to live in California:10. The Governor of the State is the Terminator

The man who has warned guys not to be a “girly man” isthe chief executive of the state of California- none otherthan Arnold Schwarzenegger. Actors turned politicianshave mixed results (depending on who you talk to).Under Governor Schwarzenegger’s reign, the stateof California has suffered through a number of tryingissues. Perhaps the most serious, and the ones that havecaused the most rancor among voters, are the economicissues. With shrinking state revenues, budget tighteninghas resulted in social programs being chopped, state jobsbeing eliminated, and a need to increase state revenue(higher taxes). All of this has many Californianslamenting that the Governor has reverted to his“Terminator” alter ego and is determined to extinguish alllife (or at least a comfortable life) in the state. (Note from

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editor: Yes I am aware the video I included was takenfrom Predator, not Terminator, but it was so good!)9. Seasonal DisastersNatural disasters seem to find consistent and continuallife in Cali. There are of course earthquakes. Theoccasional shake is common enough that manyCalifornians don’t think much of it, aside from having toreplace the odd broken dish. Then of course, there areever-present brush fires. While there is not a high loss of life with this particular disaster, there is a tremendous tollin terms of property damage, not to mention severeecological damage. If an earthquake or a fire doesn’t getyou, then a mudslide might. There are a lot of hills andelevated areas in California; when the seasonal rainscome, so does erosion. The result is the earth givingway, with people and property being in the path when itdoes. The results are devastating in terms of loss of lifeand property damage. These are just some of thecommon disasters that Californians have to deal with ona regular basis.

8. Impending Horrific EarthquakeKeeping with the natural disaster theme: there is of course the expected “big one” that many believe willeventually hit California. The state of California has themisfortune to lie over a major fault line (the SanAndreas). Experts predict that at some point in the futurethere will be a major shift of tectonic plates resulting in acatastrophic level earthquake. Along the lines of the

earthquake that leveled San Francisco in 1906, the next“big one” is expected to be even more devastating due topopulation and urban growth. If the recent earthquakesin Haiti and Chile are any indication, then a major shakehitting such populated areas as LA, San Diego and SanFrancisco would have horrific consequences. What’s

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scary about this is that scientists and experts warn that itisn’t a matter of “if” this will happen, but rather “when.”7. Will Eventually Fall Into the Ocean

This is more of a theory than an actual scientificallyproven fact, but this particular idea is so widespread andbelieved that one has to take it into consideration. Somehave predicted that, as a result of the likely catastrophicevents in #8 above, California will somehow break off from the mainland and sink into the ocean . Fortunatelyfor Californians, there doesn’t seem to be any hard datato support this particular theory outside of Hollywood.Even considering the very real tectonic activity, themotion that these plates generate is horizontal (asopposed to lateral, which could indicate a potential‘dropping’ of land mass). In fact, the constant shifting of the earth in the California area is along a north/south axis– meaning that LA is slowly creeping towards SanFrancisco at a whopping few millimeters a year. Whilethis bit of news may be problematic for SouthernCalifornians (in about a million years at the current rate

of speed), it certainly falls short of an apocalyptic event.Assuming, of course, that the ‘experts’ are to be believed(and they, naturally, are always right!)6. High Taxes Make Life Unbearable

The state of California is suffering through a fiscalnightmare. Simply, the state has more expenses than itdoes revenue. For any able minded politician, one quickfire solution (albeit an unpopular one) is to either raise

taxes, install new taxes, or a combination of both. Whilevoters have continually voted down higher tax proposalsthat have made it to the ballot, California is still leadingthe nation in a number of tax categories: income taxes(2 nd ), corporate taxes (8 th ), and sales tax (13 th ), to name afew. All total, the full tax load ranks 6 th in the nation.

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California’s heavy tax burden has caused concernsamong many about the financial ability of many familiesto realistically reside in the state. Further, even with thevarious taxes in place, the state’s budget has stillballooned – outpacing revenues by a large margin. Theresulting disparity has crippled any number of programs,especially those aimed at helping the poor – placing evenmore people in potentially dire circumstances.5. Hundreds of Prisoners Are Being ReleasedBecause of Budget ConstraintsFaced with shrinking funds, state legislators (andapparently supported by the Terminator – we mean theGovernor) determined that the state could realizetremendous savings by releasing thousands of prisonersfrom state penal institution s early. The move isestimated to save the state about $1.2 billion – not aninsignificant amount of money considering the prevalentfinancial woes. California has the largest population of prisoners among states, boasting well over 170,000inmates. The proposal aims to release non-violent

offenders, including those that are sick and elderly.Naturally, the best of plans tend to go awry when agovernment entity is involved and dangerous prisonershave been released – some of whom have committednew crimes. Laws that were held as progressive inprevious years, such as the states so-called “threestrikes ” have resulted in the vast overcrowding. Now,faced with the inability to actually pay for these policies,

lawmakers are in a tough bind – a real “damned if you do,damned if you don’t” situation.4. Serious Gang ViolenceCriminal gang activity is a very serious problem inCalifornia: many neighborhoods are literally terrorized bygang activity. Residents are victims of random drive-by

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shootings, physical assaults and other criminal activitiesperpetrated by gang members. Drug-related crime hasalso proportionally increased as well. Families whomanage navigate these dangerous war zones face theprospect of their children being recruited to join localgangs. Aside from the more traditional gangs such as theBloods and Cripps , new (and some believe deadlier)Hispanic gangs have entered into the fray. Fueled bypoor economic conditions, the increase in gangparticipation is on the rise. As gang membershipincreases, inter-gang violence has also become deadlier.Reacting to the dangers that gang violence poses, law

enforcement and government officials have proposed andenacted numerous programs to stem the tide. Only timewell tell if these measures are effective.3. Liberal Culture is Harbinger of the Apocalypse

The end of times may be a bit of a reach, but those of theconservative establishment do hearken to liberal cultureas the precursor of many of the social ills within ourcommunities. For its part, California has long been a

bastion of liberal (some would say progressive) thoughtand action. Consider that California is very accepting of alternative lifestyles, is environmentally conscious, andnot particularly religious (at least in terms of a dominantblock of religiosity)- and you have the makings of acounter-culture stronghold. Indeed, many of theuniversities in California (UCLA, UC Berkley and others)were home to many of the social protests that highlighted

the social movements of the sixties. All of this is direevidence for those who tend to lean toward the more so-called “traditional values” lifestyle. Many of thisperspective hold California up as the example of all thatis wrong in America – from ineffective government to high

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crime – the state (from a conservative viewpoint) is onthe verge of collapse as result.2. Police BrutalityWhile the saying “crime doesn’t pay” may hold true inmany places, in California it doesn’t pay to land in thehands of the cops whether a crime has been committedor not. California has a number of high profile incidentsinvolving police misconduct – from the Rampart scandalin the 90’s to numerous police beatings caught on film(i.e. Rodney King and others). And these are theincidents that are known. Residents of economicallydepressed neighborhoods have long complained of draconian police activity, complaints that have largely fellon deaf ears. With the advent of camera phones andother convenient recording devices, however, citizens arenow capturing clear evidence of police officers engagedin nefarious activities. Crimes such as murder, rape, drugtrafficking, robbery and much more are among theviolations for which cops in California have beenconvicted. In short, the residents of California often need

protection from the protectors.1. Pending War With Mexico

There is a brewing war zone festering on the southernborder of the U.S. that threatens to spill over and engulf California in the ensuing blood bath. Not since theMexican-American War (1846 – 1848) have the citizens of the U.S. had to be concerned about armed conflict arisingfrom beyond the southern border. This is no longer the

case with the brewing drug war that is taking place in Tijuana – a Mexican town just south of the Californiaborder with Mexico. In the last 1 ½ years, the death tollhas exceeded over 1500 and the body count continues torise. Well over a third of these deaths are police officersand government officials. The drug cartels, reacting to

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Mexico’s declaration of war against drugs, have sought toestablish their own authority. The Mexican government,for its part, has deployed well over 250,000 troops alongits border with the U.S. to stem the tide of violence. TheMexican government has called on the U.S .to assist withnarcotic interdiction on the American side of the border.What many fear is that the Mexican drug cartels will react

just as violently on this side of the border if the U.S.decides to interfere. Considering that the drug cartelshave no inhibition to killing anyone – women, children,whomever – Californians are correct in being concernedthat the violence may soon touch them.