I don't how to start this post. I've spent weeks trying to figure out an elegant way to start this post, and I've finally decided "Fuck it! There aint nothin' elegant about what's going on in the world right now, so why should my blog post be any different?"
As you may have guessed, I've been processing a lot of feelings since the presidential election. Some of those feelings have been quite ugly, and I'm kind of glad I used facebook rants to get most of the bile out of my system rather than polluting my blog with anger and loathing. After a few days of ranting on facebook, I promised myself that my next blog post would be a meaningful and inspirational post. I'm sorry to say that is not the blog post you are reading right now.
I did start working on what should in theory be an uplifting post, but I just haven't had the time and energy to complete that post over the last month and a half. Part of the problem has been emotional exhaustion; I've certainly found it hard to even think about politics lately, and when I do, I often find myself spiraling into a completely unproductive spiral of hate - some of it directed at Trump and his supporters, but even more of it directed at people on my side of the political aisle. However, I've had an even bigger problem with physical fatigue. I've gotten two bad colds/flus since Election Day, and I have also had to do about two hours of exercise a night to rehab a torn labrum in my right shoulder.
So, an ambitious inspirational post isn't coming this month, but I have finally decided on something worth writing about before the year ends.
Over the last few weeks, I've read a lot of arguments on facebook about the Electoral College and the popular vote. I'm not going to bother to tear apart the Right's argument in favor of the Electoral College. Plenty of people more eloquent then me have already torn those arguments to shreds, so I don't have anything new to bring to the table when it comes to the Electoral College. What I would like to talk about is the argument that Hillary Clinton's victory in the popular vote doesn't really reflect the will of the majority of the American people.
I'm not even going to waste time trying to argue against the ridiculous claim that Trump really won the popular vote because millions of illegal immigrants voted. Instead I'd like to address the dangerous claim that Clinton's popular vote victory doesn't represent the will of the American public because Trump would have won the popular vote if the votes in California had not been counted.
As I read comments from conservatives on facebook, one theme that emerged over and over again was that California is an ultra-liberal outlier that doesn't reflect the values found in most of America. Well, putting aside that fact that all of the states that gave Trump huge margins are also statistical outliers compared to the average Amercan state, I find it offensive that plenty of people in rural red state America don't consider Californians to be quite as American as they are.
I think a lot of rural Americans feel that way because they have a different idea of what it means to be American than I do. When they think "American" they think "The Waltons". When they think of an "All American Boy" or an "All American Girl", you'd better believe that they are think of kids with white faces. Lots of Americans weren't ready to accept this idea of an "All-American Girl" two decades ago, and most still aren't ready today.
As I read comments from conservatives on facebook, one theme that emerged over and over again was that California is an ultra-liberal outlier that doesn't reflect the values found in most of America. Well, putting aside that fact that all of the states that gave Trump huge margins are also statistical outliers compared to the average Amercan state, I find it offensive that plenty of people in rural red state America don't consider Californians to be quite as American as they are.
I think a lot of rural Americans feel that way because they have a different idea of what it means to be American than I do. When they think "American" they think "The Waltons". When they think of an "All American Boy" or an "All American Girl", you'd better believe that they are think of kids with white faces. Lots of Americans weren't ready to accept this idea of an "All-American Girl" two decades ago, and most still aren't ready today.
When I think about what it means to be American, the first thing I think about is the Statue of Liberty, and the words that are engraved at its pedestal:
Most other countries have largely homogeneous populations and homogeneous cultures. I know there are a lot a people in the USA who wish our country would be be homogeneous, but I believe that homogeneous cultures hold a nation back. Cultures are often defined by different points of view. Different cultures have different ideas about what it means to be polite. Different cultures have different ideas about how to cook food, and how to eat food. Different cultures have different ideas about the best way to dress in different weather conditions. Different cultures have different ideas about ways to solve all kinds of problems. Not every culture has the best ideas about everything, and as long as a culture remains homogeneous, tradition will tend to perpetuate some bad customs and bad ideas. However, if you mix a bunch a cultures together, a kind of social and intellectual Darwinism will pit ideas against each other until the best ideas win out. This is the genius of America. This is why America is the best place in the world for innovation. This is why Americans have won far more Nobel Prizes than any other nation and have contributed the most inventions that have changed the world.
Some people think America's best days have passed, but I believe America's potential is limitless. If we continue out tradition of being a nation of immigrants and allow immigrants to continue to pollinate our nation with new ideas, greatness will blossom in every corner of our nation. However, if we decide to stem the flow immigration and are hostile to the idea of new cultures being introduced to our nation, there is going to be nothing but stagnation going forward ( I'm looking at you Japan ).
If you believe as I do that immigration and multiculturalism are what made American the great nation that it is, then there is clearly no state more "American" than California. California is not only the most multicultural state in the union, but it is proof that such multiculturalism breeds success. If California was its own nation, it would have the 6th biggest GDP in the world. It contributes 13.5% of our nation's GDP from 12.1 % of our nation's population, so California is clearly doing more than its fair share to boost our nations economy. To put it another way, our nations GDP was $17.947 trillion in 2015, but if the entire nation's economy would have been as efficient as California's ( $2.424033 trillion of GDP from 38,800,000 people ) our GDP for 2015 would have been $19.998 trillion. So, our economy in 2015 would have been 11.43% bigger of the rest of the states had been as successful as California. With that in mind, it should be no surprise that California's state government is running a $2.8 billion dollar surplus this year and that Californians collectively pay more money in taxes to the federal government that they get back in federal aid ( so in additional to doing great on its own, California is essential contributing tax dollars to lots of states ( mostly rural states who voted for Trump ) who get more federal aid than they contribute in taxes ).
So, if you really want to "Make America Great Again", you should want the rest of America to be more like California.
However, I would imagine that lots of Trump voters don't want their states to be like California because of the data that can be found in this link.
In case you don't feel like clicking on the link, I'll post the key statistics about California's demographics here ...
As you can see here, far less than half of California's population is non-Hispanic White. I know this scares a lot of the Trump voters, as well as the fact that the majority of babies born in the USA have been non-white for the last few years.
The white supremacists call this trend "White Genocide" ( a terms which is a horrible insult to all who have died ( and are still dying ) in real genocides ), but I call this trend and those California demographics something beautiful.
This past Monday, as we were waiting on line for a ride in Legoland California we entered a small room with screens showing an instructional video for the Ninjado ride. The room fit about 30 people and as I looked around the room I happened to notice that I was one of only 3 white people in the room. I reflected on this for a moment and smiled at how remarkable it was that this all felt so unremarkable. This was California, a place where cultural and racial differences can simultaneously be celebrated and taken for granted. None of us in that room would ever be oblivious to our cultural and racial identity, but at that moment, the only things any of us were thinking were ...
1) How much longer am I going to be on this damn line?
2) How the heck am I supposed to shoot those fireballs?
3) ( Kids ) Woohoo! Ninjado!
4) ( Adults ) What the hell is a Ninjado?
All of it was all mundane, unremarkable, and beautiful. It was at that moment ( while still trying to figure out how to shoot those fireballs ) that I decided I would write a blog post about how California is the most "American" of all the states. Those who choose to dismiss California are doing themselves a disservice. California represent the future that all 50 states can have. This future may be scary to those who want to go back to the way things were in the past. There's no doubt that America has a past to be proud of; it's undeniably a past full of greatness. However, Americans of the past didn't achieve greatness by looking backwards. They took risks and moved forward. They tried things that had never been tried before. California may be a lot different than the town many Americans grew up in, but nobody ever moved forward by staying in the same place. If we want our nation to move forward, we should be looking to California as a beacon of hope rather than some liberal outlier on the coast that isn't part of the "real America". If America is about success and innovation, you shouldn't need to do a Google search on your iPhone to realize that the multi-racial, multicultural state of California is the most American state of all. I'm proud to be writing this post from California, the heart of the "real America".
Rich
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.When I think of America, I think of the immigrant experience, first and foremost. I think our nation's history of immigration is what makes us unique - it's what I believe makes us the best nation in the world.
Most other countries have largely homogeneous populations and homogeneous cultures. I know there are a lot a people in the USA who wish our country would be be homogeneous, but I believe that homogeneous cultures hold a nation back. Cultures are often defined by different points of view. Different cultures have different ideas about what it means to be polite. Different cultures have different ideas about how to cook food, and how to eat food. Different cultures have different ideas about the best way to dress in different weather conditions. Different cultures have different ideas about ways to solve all kinds of problems. Not every culture has the best ideas about everything, and as long as a culture remains homogeneous, tradition will tend to perpetuate some bad customs and bad ideas. However, if you mix a bunch a cultures together, a kind of social and intellectual Darwinism will pit ideas against each other until the best ideas win out. This is the genius of America. This is why America is the best place in the world for innovation. This is why Americans have won far more Nobel Prizes than any other nation and have contributed the most inventions that have changed the world.
Some people think America's best days have passed, but I believe America's potential is limitless. If we continue out tradition of being a nation of immigrants and allow immigrants to continue to pollinate our nation with new ideas, greatness will blossom in every corner of our nation. However, if we decide to stem the flow immigration and are hostile to the idea of new cultures being introduced to our nation, there is going to be nothing but stagnation going forward ( I'm looking at you Japan ).
If you believe as I do that immigration and multiculturalism are what made American the great nation that it is, then there is clearly no state more "American" than California. California is not only the most multicultural state in the union, but it is proof that such multiculturalism breeds success. If California was its own nation, it would have the 6th biggest GDP in the world. It contributes 13.5% of our nation's GDP from 12.1 % of our nation's population, so California is clearly doing more than its fair share to boost our nations economy. To put it another way, our nations GDP was $17.947 trillion in 2015, but if the entire nation's economy would have been as efficient as California's ( $2.424033 trillion of GDP from 38,800,000 people ) our GDP for 2015 would have been $19.998 trillion. So, our economy in 2015 would have been 11.43% bigger of the rest of the states had been as successful as California. With that in mind, it should be no surprise that California's state government is running a $2.8 billion dollar surplus this year and that Californians collectively pay more money in taxes to the federal government that they get back in federal aid ( so in additional to doing great on its own, California is essential contributing tax dollars to lots of states ( mostly rural states who voted for Trump ) who get more federal aid than they contribute in taxes ).
So, if you really want to "Make America Great Again", you should want the rest of America to be more like California.
However, I would imagine that lots of Trump voters don't want their states to be like California because of the data that can be found in this link.
In case you don't feel like clicking on the link, I'll post the key statistics about California's demographics here ...
| Group | 2010 Population[35] | Percentage of Total Population |
|---|---|---|
| White, not Hispanic or Latino | 15,763,625 | 42.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) | 14,013,719 | 37.6% |
| Asian | 5,556,592 | 14.9% |
| Black or African American | 2,683,914 | 7.2% |
| Multiracial (two or more races) | 1,815,384 | 4.8% |
As you can see here, far less than half of California's population is non-Hispanic White. I know this scares a lot of the Trump voters, as well as the fact that the majority of babies born in the USA have been non-white for the last few years.
The white supremacists call this trend "White Genocide" ( a terms which is a horrible insult to all who have died ( and are still dying ) in real genocides ), but I call this trend and those California demographics something beautiful.
This past Monday, as we were waiting on line for a ride in Legoland California we entered a small room with screens showing an instructional video for the Ninjado ride. The room fit about 30 people and as I looked around the room I happened to notice that I was one of only 3 white people in the room. I reflected on this for a moment and smiled at how remarkable it was that this all felt so unremarkable. This was California, a place where cultural and racial differences can simultaneously be celebrated and taken for granted. None of us in that room would ever be oblivious to our cultural and racial identity, but at that moment, the only things any of us were thinking were ...
1) How much longer am I going to be on this damn line?
2) How the heck am I supposed to shoot those fireballs?
3) ( Kids ) Woohoo! Ninjado!
4) ( Adults ) What the hell is a Ninjado?
All of it was all mundane, unremarkable, and beautiful. It was at that moment ( while still trying to figure out how to shoot those fireballs ) that I decided I would write a blog post about how California is the most "American" of all the states. Those who choose to dismiss California are doing themselves a disservice. California represent the future that all 50 states can have. This future may be scary to those who want to go back to the way things were in the past. There's no doubt that America has a past to be proud of; it's undeniably a past full of greatness. However, Americans of the past didn't achieve greatness by looking backwards. They took risks and moved forward. They tried things that had never been tried before. California may be a lot different than the town many Americans grew up in, but nobody ever moved forward by staying in the same place. If we want our nation to move forward, we should be looking to California as a beacon of hope rather than some liberal outlier on the coast that isn't part of the "real America". If America is about success and innovation, you shouldn't need to do a Google search on your iPhone to realize that the multi-racial, multicultural state of California is the most American state of all. I'm proud to be writing this post from California, the heart of the "real America".
Rich
