New Hotness: If you build it they will go

Since the advent of one party rule, the effort to build the California People’s Republic of Zen Utopia continues apace.  The California Republic part was built a long time ago by Men Who Matched Her Mountains.  The Zen Utopia part is being manifested today by Persons Who Can’t Think Straight.

California was built and they did come.  It is the most populous state in the union, and was at one time the 9th largest economy on the planet.  We had industry, agriculture and infrastructure, good jobs and a vibrant economy.  Our public education system, K-12, State Colleges and Universities was the envy of the world, much less the Nation.  We had it made.

How can you improve on that?  What’s missing?  Well, we need some liberal fascism for sure.  What else?  Utopia ain’t cheap and people need to pay their fair share, so we’ll need high taxes and burdensome regulations to keep those evil businessmen and The Rich in line.  And don’t forget!  We need some good old idiotic feel good legislation.  Doesn’t matter if it’s a bad idea, as long as it sounds good.  And a train.  A giant money sucking hole of a train to nowhere.  No utopia can be complete without a train between Los Angeles and San Francisco, north and south utopia.

Can Utopia be built?  Well, California certainly has the scenery for it.  But if Utopia is a perfect community or society, can that be achieved in light of the fact that one man’s perfection is another man’s oppression?  Do you force everyone into groupthink?  If so, what becomes of our sacred “Diversity®”?  I thought it was to be celebrated as our greatest strength?  What’s that you say?  Diversity through conformity?  Oh.  OK.

California’s population has doubled since the 1970’s.  So we could probably use some new highways.  Or some new reservoirs so agriculture and our thirsty cities have more stable water supplies.  Oh…here’s an idea.  Let’s bring more power plants online so we have cheap and plentiful energy for industry and the population at large.  D’oh!  What am I thinking?  I took off my Birkenstocks for a minute and stopped thinking like a burnt out Haight-Ashbury refugee.  There can be no highways, dams or power plants in Utopia.  Utopians will not drive, shower or irrigate, nor use electricity.

So, it’s being built and…they’re leaving.  We’re leaving.

Well, nice try.  As my mother used to say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  When everything you know is wrong and you set out to build utopia, what you may end up with is likely to be something quite different.  Judging by all the good intentions bandied about the Capitol, we must surely be on the road to hell.  We haven’t quite got there yet…but you can see it from here.