Tag: California

The Myth of a California Renaissance

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Sacramento’s strategy for recovery is more taxes, more regulation, and more government.

by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online 

Are the recent raves about a new California renaissance true?

SF_From_Marin_Highlands3Rolling Stone magazine just gushed that California governor Jerry Brown has brought the state back from the brink of “double-digit unemployment, a $26 billion deficit and an accumulated ‘wall of debt’ topping $35 billion.”

Unfortunately, California still faces existential crises. Continue reading “The Myth of a California Renaissance” →

Liberal Apartheid

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The elite mostly lead a reactionary existence of talking one way and living another.

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

One of the strangest things about the modern progression in liberal thought is its increasing comfort with elitism and high style. Over the last 30 years, the enjoyment of refined tastes, both material and psychological, has become a hallmark of liberalism — hand in glove with the art of professional altruism, so necessary to the guilt-free enjoyment of the good life. Take most any contemporary issue, and the theme of elite progressivism predominates. Continue reading “Liberal Apartheid” →

The Moral Low Road in the Immigration Debate

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by Victor Davis Hanson

NRO’s The Corner

Now elites are wistfully recalling the Bracero Program as a sort of model for the new “guest worker” provisions. Continue reading “The Moral Low Road in the Immigration Debate” →

The Great California Land Rush

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by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Boom or Bust?

I have lived on the same farm for 59 years and seen at least three boom-and-bust farm cycles — one in the late 1960s, another in the early 1980s, and a third right now. Continue reading “The Great California Land Rush” →

Krugman’s California Dreaming

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by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

It is rare, even in the case of Paul Krugman, to read a column in which almost everything that is stated is either wrong or deliberately misleading. But his recent take on California’s renaissance is pure fantasy. Continue reading “Krugman’s California Dreaming” →

America in the Age of Myth

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by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

We live in a mythic age — but mythic in the sense of made-up.

The Coastal Aristocrat

In the last thirty years, I have probably spoken 200 times at a coastal university of some sort, most of which were on the Eastern seaboard. Continue reading “America in the Age of Myth” →

Five Days of Hope and Despair

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by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Here is a brief travel log of five days amid 21st-century California. Continue reading “Five Days of Hope and Despair” →

The California Mordida

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by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

California now works on the principle of the mordida, or “bite.” Its government assumes that it can take something extra from residents for the privilege of living in their special state. Continue reading “The California Mordida” →

Beautifully Medieval California

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by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Gates Close at Dusk

At about dusk, I close two large metal gates to my driveways. The security lights come on, and I enjoy intramural life. Continue reading “Beautifully Medieval California” →

Gilded Class Warriors

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by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

In his first term President Obama was criticized for trash-talking the one-percenters while enjoying the aristocracy of Martha’s Vineyard and the nation’s most exclusive golf courses. Continue reading “Gilded Class Warriors” →