The Democratic Party is a victim of its own success. Nowhere can we see that more clearly than in California.
Democrats have succeeded by pushing “victimhood,” gaining power by focusing on special groups, declaring them oppressed and offering compensation — though still never comes the day of full escape from the burden of this oppression.
Many stories of oppression are true.But no sized sliver of truth can guarantee that compensation attempts will redound to the liberation of the aggrieved.
California’s Democrats will face this soon.
Over slavery! And racism.
Never a slave state, California has been flirting, officially, with reparations. Several cities have “explored” the idea. An official “Reparations Task Force,” established by state law, has recommended a formal apology for slavery (in other states, over a hundred-and-fifty years ago). It’s also talking about giving away hundreds of billions of dollars in compensation to Black Californians, descendants of slaves or not.
The task force is scheduled to make explicit and detailed recommendations — on July 1.
Which puts Democrats on the spot.
Powerful Democrats such as Governor Gavin Newsom. Considered a rising presidential aspirant should the current 82-year-old decide not to run again, Newsom signed the law to officially look at reparations … but then seemed less than fond of the price-tag. More than twice the yearly state budget!
Now the governor is keeping his mouth shut awaiting the final report.
And, as George Skelton at the L.A. Times asks, then what? Well, that is when “the governor and lawmakers will need to emerge from cover, face the public and devise a better response.”
But up until July they can still pretend.
Then, Democrats will have to face the reparations issue squarely — and in the context of the complete failure of their state, the blame for which they cannot place upon Republicans, much less long-dead racist slave-owners.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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4 replies on “Apocalypse California”
Simply looking, with hostility, at the consequences for the reparations movement itself, I’m pleased with how things have evolved.
While attempts have been made to rewrite the history of that movement, it really became a movement after the US government agreed to pay reparations to the victims of the Japanese-interment programme of World War Two. Those reparations paid $20,000 dollars to each living victim who filed for them.
Set aside most of the ways in which these reparations were different from those proposed to be given to African-Americans. The scale was tens-of-thousands of dollars per person, and the race-hustlers in that era were thinking on that scale.
But the proposals in California have been for amounts such as $1.4 million or more per person. Even adjusting for price-inflation, we’re talking about at least 280 times as much money per person, and for a vastly greater number of persons. Moreover, those now imagining themselves entitled suddenly to be made millionaires aren’t confined to California.
And the thing about the people with visions of $1.4‑million checks arriving in their mailboxes is that almost none of them will be able to tamp-down their greed. The reparations movement is now irreversibly fixated on getting an unattainable sum. It has been fatally poisoned.
Correction: 28, not 280. Sorry!
The open primary system used in California has contributed to the ‘success’ the Democrats have had. State elective offices and congressional candidates are in open primaries. The top two vote getters run in the general election. That means many, if not all, elections in CA are between two Democrats. Any meaningful opposition is quashed. As a result, California moves further and further to the left. Democrat voters in California wanted a one-party state. Let them live with the result.
Pandering is always a problem, but becomes self-defeating when asked to actually make good on the promises and there is no opposition party to blame for not cooperating.
The maxim of “put you money where your mouth is” comes to mind when you must extract from your constituents the funds to pay the bill and they refuse to cooperate.
The California Duplicitious Party has forced itself to have to show it’s true colors. This will get very uncomfortable and the timing could not be worse for Newsom.