The state of California boasts a booming agriculture industry, technological innovation, nine national parks, a tinseltown that churns out big stars and big pictures for the world to enjoy. It’s time to abandon it all.
No one should live in California. While it is an incredibly rich area financially and environmentally, the place is also a hub for unsustainable practices, consumerism, and hypocrisy that has left the world subject to extreme ecological decline. No one should be flocking to it like a paradise or moving to LA to find their future as an influencer.
Though blessed with natural beauty, the Californians have certainly squandered it. Not in a “they didn’t sweep their forest floors” way, but in a “use too much water during periods of drought” way. California boasts a massive agricultural sector, but it relies very heavily on irrigation to support water intensive products like almonds and cashews. For these crops it takes 1.1 gallons for each individual nut, but turn that into a liter of swanky almond milk and that’s 1,611 gallons of water down the drain. Rather than pivot away from growing these thirsty crops, the state seems content to cash in while draining the last drops of their reservoirs and imposing water restrictions on citizens.
Beyond this ecological trainwreck, there is the dark cloud that is Los Angeles. As one midwesterner, now an LA resident, I spoke to stated: “California is not a palm tree oasis filled with movie stars and restaurants where you can drop 20 dollars on a single taco. Los Angeles is constantly dirty and burning. It’s literally a dumpster fire.” Beyond the smog and fire, LA is also infected by influencer culture. “People are everywhere,” said our LA resident. “The hordes of influencers with exactly 13 followers filming TikTok dances are inescapable.”
Despite all of these problems, the country and the world seem to give the state a pass, in large part due to its large liberal voting block. But voting without action is like Leonardo DiCaprio lecturing on climate change after stepping off his private jet— the actions do the words justice. Who are the politicians that this liberal voting block produces? Notably the 88-year-old Dianne Feinstein, who when asked about supporting the Green New Deal by a 16-year-old, retorted with: “Well, you didn’t vote for me.”
