Before Leaving CA For "Greener" Pastures (or criticizing it), Get a Reality Check! (crimes, home)

[Macintosh Sauce]

I miss California very much. My wife was born there and I immigrated from Canada to be with her. One day we will go back...

[shadow91]

yea, well you should live in central IL--no jobs, corn fields galore, and you think property taxes are high in WI? My property taxes on a $149,900 home are almost $5,000 a year and each year they increase. Try paying that on a low paying income. CA here I come.

[shadow91]

One more thing, someone said something about "asians?" Try living in AZ where there is nothing but Illegal mexicans that don't want to work, rob and kill you. AZ is now the #1 state for kidnappings--guess who are doing that? Yep, the mexicans.

[GregJ]

Originally Posted by Macintosh Sauce

I miss California very much. My wife was born there and I immigrated from Canada to be with her. One day we will go back...

Hope you can come back soon. It's still an awesome place. As for the silver lining on the current economy, most of the mega real estate projects planned for the outlying areas of my beautiful state are on hold or dead. During the boom, houses were springing up everywhere and I feared we'd be nothing but subdivisions with red tile roofs from Oregon to Mexico. We're back to sensible growth and development now.

[steel7]

I think if we can make the legislature part time instead of full time ca may get better. Politicians cant be trusted. That also goes for utility & oil companies. Every state has its problems. Some worse then others.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by shadow91

yea, well you should live in central IL--no jobs, corn fields galore, and you think property taxes are high in WI? My property taxes on a $149,900 home are almost $5,000 a year and each year they increase. Try paying that on a low paying income. CA here I come.

that sounds like Texas taxes.

In Ca you can't buy a house for $149,000.

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by shadow91

One more thing, someone said something about "asians?" Try living in AZ where there is nothing but Illegal mexicans that don't want to work, rob and kill you. AZ is now the #1 state for kidnappings--guess who are doing that? Yep, the mexicans.

Aren't there similar problems with illegals in California? We are even seeing them here in NWA. the other day we were in Sams and I don't think 1/2 of the shoppers spoke English. Of course this does not mean they are all illegals.

I am a firm believer every state does have problems and every state has things to offer. It is a matter of where you find your happiness.
Nita

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by coffeelovr

Sir,
You sound so arrogant, if I may say so. Who are you to decide what is "over population" anywhere; and further, how dare you, to believe that a certain amount of people is too much in a particular area?!

Well, this is what I mean by those who do not believe in limits imposed by mathematics. They believe that the right policy or the right religious dogma can trump mathematical reality. I don't. Who is to say that a BMI over 25 is overweight, or a cholesterol level over 200mg/dL is unhealthy? Scientists and other people who ascribe to rational thinking have observed that all systems have limits that can be mathematically assessed. When such systems exceed their defined limits, they go into decline. Overweight people develop type 2 diabetes, heart disease and high stroke and cancer liabilities. People with high cholesterol have similar morbidity risks that lead to a shortened life span (system collapse). The system cannot sustain violations of mathematical limits. Sustainability means honoring the laws and limits imposed by nature.

Small densely-populated countries like the Netherlands, Monte Carlo or Japan are not self-sustaining entities, but geopolitical niches with a high externality quotient -- they are heavily dependent on imported resources (mostly from Third World countries desperate for foreign currency) to survive. If southeast Asia, eastern Europe and Africa were to cut off their life line, Japan and the Netherlands would collapse, as would many other densely populated First World countries.

Originally Posted by coffeelovr

So, who do you wish to be eliminated/told to leave from the CA population, Hmmm?? Do tell, sir! Do you want the poor, lower income persons???? What other "undesirables" do you want eliminated??? You sound like an over-intellectual elitist!

Population sanity does not require the "elimination" of specific persons. When you go on a diet, do you have to identify the fat molecules you're going to lose and the ones that you're going to keep? Of course not. If you follow healthy living practices, weight loss and fat balancing will happen naturally through attrition. If people will adopt a single-child reproduction ethic, the population will self-regulate. If we stay on our current course, we will experience the same fate as every other country that has done likewise. Which of those two outcomes would you prefer? Having our cake and eating too is not an option.
BTW, "intellectual" is considered an insult only among the undereducated.

Originally Posted by coffeelovr

Let me tell you mr., there is room for EVERYONE if they are law abiding, and most Californians are!!

Many people in Asia, Latin America and Africa have enunciated similar fiats in the past, but mathematics has proven them wrong. The majority of residents in those continents live out wretched lives on the threshold of starvation. We could chose to escape a similar fate, but we would have to chose to do so. So far we have not, and I see no reason to believe that we will.
Whether or not one thinks there is "room" for indefinite population expansion in California, there is certainly not enough water or energy-generation capacity. Check out the current water level at Shasta Lake if you need a visual aid to understand why.

Originally Posted by coffeelovr

Get out of your ivory tower university and try being humble!

I'm far from an "ivory tower" academic. I spend a good deal of my time each year in Third World countries. I've seen the future we're headed for. Acknowledging mathematical reality has nothing to do with humility. It is simply a question of whether or not one is a scientific thinker.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

While I could see putting a cap on raises while we balance the budget I don't agree that their work should be considered similar to all public workers including the dept parks and rec, etc... Different jobs will command different pay. And in CA police and firefighters are compensated higher than many other public workers, though not all including the bureaucrats. And yes, I would rather cut park funding than reduce funding for police or firefighters if given the choice. Yet I don't think anyone likes these cuts. I hate these cuts in education as a parent. And a good friend of mine works for the State Parks. He has mandatory furlow days which equates to a pay cut. Balancing the state budget is a painful process. Should police and fire feel the pain in their pay as well? Possibly in the short term. But should they command higher compensations overall, absolutley!

Derek

There's no question they deserve to be paid more than a clercal worker sitting at a desk all day.

My point is they DO get the higher compensation. At what point do we say "enough is enough!"

Another case in point, the cops & firemen got an extra 5% raise soon after September 11th in my jurisdiction. This was not in their contract. The mayor just decided to give it to them. This was despite the reality that the city knew that a recession was already under way.

I've seen this kind of excessive crap for years now and I, for one, am sick of it.

[NorCal Dude]

I don't know why but I just can't leave California. I moved here as a Sophomore in high school in 1999 and I just feel weird now when I go back to the midwest to visit friends and family. Its grown on me. Sometimes i think california is a sinking ship, but than again isnt this whole country? I feel like I am on the titanic and rather than run and panic, I will put on my best suit and continue to remain dignified. I will stay and fight the good fight, even if it is for nothing.