Is the "California Dream" basically about the search for "Perfection"? (Los Angeles: middle-class, 2013)

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by mateo45

Somewhere I once recall reading that what unites Californians is a shared belief in the "perfectibility of life". And it's not difficult to see the evidence... being the western-most end of migration in the country and all that implies, with suburban tracts designed to attract some ''ideal'' demographic, the history of ''get rich quick'' boom-and-bust cycles (including the Gold Rush), a certain "anal-retentive" quality to the state bureaucracy, the relentless quest to ''find yourself'' here, etc..

Does the quest for "perfection" and the lure of some "ideal" really underly much of life in California?

No, not at all. I don't see it as a place for a relentless quest to "find yourself", indeed it is simply more than any other state where one can simply be oneself. You can never be yourself when surrounded by lots of lifelong friends and family, who although care about you, have an idea of what you are supposed to be. The individualism in California is unlike anywhere else.

Other than that, I came here for the natural variety. There is always something new to learn (and teach others) in regards to the variety of climate zones, geologic formations, and ecosystems. No other state comes close to the variety as you have in California. Although Arizona would easily be second.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

Now, for some people, California is worth the crowds and expense and I won't argue with them.

For some people California isn't crowded or expensive. Lots of places to live that aren't either of those things.Big state. Problem solved.

[Senno]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

No, not at all. I don't see it as a place for a relentless quest to "find yourself", indeed it is simply more than any other state where one can simply be oneself. You can never be yourself when surrounded by lots of lifelong friends and family, who although care about you, have an idea of what you are supposed to be. The individualism in California is unlike anywhere else.

Other than that, I came here for the natural variety. There is always something new to learn (and teach others) in regards to the variety of climate zones, geologic formations, and ecosystems. No other state comes close to the variety as you have in California. Although Arizona would easily be second.

OMG! That's it Tex... The perfect Ad campaign for Fresno:

Credit to Tex!

"Find yourself in Fresno!"

That's beautiful, muy perfecto.

Wait....

Maybe "Find yourself in Fresyes!" is better?

Opinions?

Good lord, the perfect song for the Ad Campaign!

Find Yourself by Brad Paisley - YouTube

Maybe he will rework it for some Fresno references? Anyone here know Brad?

Hey, the perfect store in the Tower District for a commercial tie-in for the campaign:

Brass Unicorn - Fresno, CA

[.highnlite]

Originally Posted by jm1982
Gone are the days where 'normal' people came here for opportunity.

Normal people usually don't move. Settled successful people don't move. The dispossessed and the poor move. Why leave a successful farm in Pennsylvania to move across the country to try to be successful

Read Eric Hoffer's essay; The Role of the Undesirables

Who were the pioneers? Who were the men who left their homes and went into the wilderness? A man rarely leaves a soft spot and goes deliberately in search of hardship and privation. People become attached to the places they live in; they drive roots. A change of habitat is a painful act of uprooting. A man who has made good and has a standing in his community stays put. The successful businessmen, farmers, and workers usually stayed where they were. Who then left for the wilderness and the unknown? Obviously those who had not made good: men who went broke or never amounted to much; men who though possessed of abilities were too impulsive to stand the daily grind; men who were slaves of their appetites -drunkards, gamblers, and woman-chasers; outcasts - fugitives from justice and ex-jailbirds. There were no doubt some who went in search of health-men suffering with TB, asthma, heart trouble. Finally there was a sprinkling of young and middle-aged in search of adventure.

[Senno]

Schoolhouse Rock - Elbow Room - YouTube

The conclusion of the article:

Small wonder that we in this country have a deeply ingrained faith in human regeneration. We believe that, given a chance, even the degraded and the apparently worthless are capable of constructive work and great deeds. It is a faith founded on experience, not on some idealistic theory. And no matter what some anthropologists, sociologists, and geneticists may tell us, we shall go on believing that man, unlike other forms of life, is not a captive of his past -- of his heredity and habits -- but is possessed of infinite plasticity, and his potentialities for good and for evil are never wholly exhausted.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by mateo45

Somewhere I once recall reading that what unites Californians is a shared belief in the "perfectibility of life". Does the quest for "perfection" and the lure of some "ideal" really underly much of life in California?

The myth of California dies hard...you find it whenever you leave the state and someone asks where you're from. Perfection, dreams, utopia....as if that's why we're all here. My parents are from the midwest and came here for a job opportunity in the 1950s and never went back. No "perfectibility" there; just financial stability (and they didn't miss the freezing weather).

When I was a teenager and traveled out of state, people used to ask me if I surfed every day, why I didn't have blonde hair and a deep tan, if my parents were movie stars, etc. Not much has changed in regard to those types of questions...now they're just more about utopia and perfection.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

Normal people usually don't move. Settled successful people don't move. The dispossessed and the poor move. Why leave a successful farm in Pennsylvania to move across the country to try to be successful

Read Eric Hoffer's essay; The Role of the Undesirables

Quote:
Who were the pioneers? Who were the men who left their homes and went into the wilderness? A man rarely leaves a soft spot and goes deliberately in search of hardship and privation. People become attached to the places they live in; they drive roots. A change of habitat is a painful act of uprooting. A man who has made good and has a standing in his community stays put. The successful businessmen, farmers, and workers usually stayed where they were. Who then left for the wilderness and the unknown? Obviously those who had not made good: men who went broke or never amounted to much; men who though possessed of abilities were too impulsive to stand the daily grind; men who were slaves of their appetites -drunkards, gamblers, and woman-chasers; outcasts - fugitives from justice and ex-jailbirds. There were no doubt some who went in search of health-men suffering with TB, asthma, heart trouble. Finally there was a sprinkling of young and middle-aged in search of adventure.

I disagree with that depression-era blanket assessment, based on my own family's histories which likely weren't that unusual. They weren't poor ne'er do well cast-offs like Billy the Kid. Most went West (generally in family groups that included plenty of women and children) for opportunities like large amounts of free or cheap land where they could have and do more than from where they came. Open range cattle ranching for example wasn't really possible back in Missouri like it was in Southern Co and Northern NM. In the early years, they often moved because they'd worn the land out back East before the days when Edmund Ruffin and others figured out how to use crop rotation and soil amendments to revitalize the tobacco fields.

Based on some of the writings they left behind, my early ancestors who settled in California were mainly drawn by the superior climate, much as are today's migrants.

[Senno]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

The myth of California dies hard...you find it whenever you leave the state and someone asks where you're from. Perfection, dreams, utopia....as if that's why we're all here. My parents are from the midwest and came here for a job opportunity in the 1950s and never went back. No "perfectibility" there; just financial stability (and they didn't miss the freezing weather).

When I was a teenager and traveled out of state, people used to ask me if I surfed every day, why I didn't have blonde hair and a deep tan, if my parents were movie stars, etc. Not much has changed in regard to those types of questions...now they're just more about utopia and perfection.

Hmm, I may have avoided those questions as I had blonde hair and a deep tan, lol...

(It was sunbleached white when I lived in Phoenix, though.)

[zenjenn]

For some people California isn't crowded or expensive. Lots of places to live that aren't either of those things.Big state. Problem solved.

I'm pretty sure given the topic of this post, he's not talking about Blythe or Yreka. That's not the "California dream".

And the reality is, most people moving anywhere need need to move where there's stable employment. Anywhere my family could have made a living in California included "expensive and crowded", or living someplace moderately crowded and expensive and having a completely insane commute. Those are the choices most people are faced with in the state. Most people require/want a certain level of statistical area, and that level of area that also has what people think of when they think "California dream" (good year-round weather, accessible to beaches, access to culture and the arts, etc.) - it's crowded and expensive.

[TotallyTam]

I moved to San Diego in 1982 and stayed for 12 years before moving back to the midwest. Whenever I travelled back to the midwest to visit family and friends, everyone was intrigued by what life was like in California and they always had lots of questions. Truth is---California is really no different than anywhere else in terms of the pursuit of "perfection" as the OP says. But those 12 years away from where I was born and raised DID help me learn some things, exposed me to more diversity than I'd never seen, and offered me my first transcendental experience (a close encounter with a gray whale whilst on a whale watching excursion). I could list dozens of experiences I had there that helped me grow. But, since then I've realized that it wasn't being there, per se---it was my own mindset that allowed for personal growth. I moved on to some other places since then (rural Mexico for one) and have had equal+ growth experiences in those places. ....Wherever you are, there you are.