Why I'll never go back to California

I have been asked, at various times in my adult life, why anyone would leave California if they had the good fortune to live there?

To which I generally reply, why would anyone NOT?

Last week Joseph Farah wrote a column entitled "Why I left California." As an ex-Californian myself, I thought I would add my two cents to this perspective.

My parents relocated from snowy Buffalo, New York, to sunny California in 1972. My father reveled in never having to shovel another snowdrift from the driveway ever again.

My three brothers never had problems adjusting, but I hated my new home. The people were mean, the weather was hot, and the landscape was desiccated. Such were the impressions of a 10-year-old child.

In time I learned to appreciate California's beauty. I explored the redwoods, the ocean, the high mountains and other attractions and concluded that California had much in its favor. The best thing of all was meeting the man who became my husband in 1990.

But still I couldn't wait to leave. I suffer in hot temperatures and missed the snow. I disliked the crowded areas and longed for rural solitude. Prices rose, and my husband and I were unable to penetrate the housing market. In 1992, with great relief, we turned our backs on the Golden State and stopped in rural southwest Oregon for 10 years before settling in the north Idaho panhandle.

Now that we have the perspective of distance – as well as the refreshing experience of living among people who value self-reliance and independence – we look at California with something akin to pity and wonder why on earth anyone would choose to remain mired in that cesspool. This includes all our extended family and dozens of friends who remain behind.

California has the dubious inclination of rushing to embrace anything new and untried, regardless of how well the old and true methods worked. It's no accident that the flamboyant experimentation of the '60s rooted itself with vigor in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has become a verb – "to Californicate" – when people leave and settle in another place and promptly begin implementing the failed policies that led to their fleeing California in the first place. We witnessed this firsthand during our decade in southwest Oregon. Californication now refers as much to attitude as to geographical origin.

It's no wonder California has managed to acquire a number of unflattering monikers (Land of Fruits and Nuts, Kalifornia, etc.). The Golden State is a laboratory of socialist feel-good Big Brother groupthink that frequently sets the standard for the plague of quasi-communism spreading across our once-free land. It embodies the Robert LeFevre quote, "Government is a disease masquerading as its own cure." It's a state that never says it's sorry for any ill-fated government program it introduces and refuses to admit that anything could possibly be wrong with its progressive logic (or illogic, as the case may be).

Learn how to achieve a simple lifestyle without "going green" or joining a monastery. Read Patrice Lewis' helpful book, "The Simplicity Primer: 365 Ideas for Making Life more Livable"

Case in point is California's hostile business climate. In this blog post, I discuss some of the unforeseen complications of Prop 30, a stick-it-to-the-rich scheme that resulted in a decline of revenues despite the ability to retroactively seize business profits. The reason revenues declined is because businesses fled California in droves after its implementation in late 2012 and relocated to places where their industry, their profits and their employment opportunities were appreciated rather than penalized.

California imposes a level of control on its citizens that boggles the mind. Try starting a business. Or purchasing a firearm (don't even think about getting a concealed carry). Or homeschooling your kids. Or renovating (much less building) a house. I know a fellow who was required to get a city permit merely to paint his bathroom.

Because of government greed in the form of insane taxes, the cost of living is so astronomical that the middle-class can't afford to live there. Let's put it this way: If my husband and I tried to acquire in California what we have here in Idaho – namely, 20 acres with a good-sized house and a barn – we'd be spending upwards of a million dollars, easily. And we'd have a mortgage to match. But we spent one-tenth of that by moving to Idaho instead. And we bought this place solely on the income from a home woodcraft business, for Pete's sake. Try doing that in California.

California has one-eighth of the country's population but one-third of the country's welfare recipients. It's an unsustainable situation. Something's gotta give, and when it does it ain't gonna be pretty. However much the state's progressive cadre defends its policies and its spending, the undeniable fact remains that California is bankrupt and in serious danger of defaulting.

It saddens me to watch California's accelerating crash-and-burn. It saddens me that a state that was once a golden land of opportunity for millions – including my parents, back in 1972 – is now a state people must flee in order to seek opportunity.

And it saddens me even more that California politicians – both Democrat and Republican – don't get it. They don't get why people and business are leaving. They don't get that higher taxes are not greeted with cries of joy from the overtaxed. They don't get that more red tape and higher regulations don't entice businesses to be creative or innovative. They. Just. Don't. Get. It.

I have no solution to this mess, but it illustrates why, despite the distance from beloved family members, I don't regret leaving the Golden State. I just hope my family is safe when the powder keg eventually blows.

California is the embodiment of Margaret Thatcher's famous quote, "The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." It is depressing that even with the evidence of years of repeated collectivist failure, people keep trying to make a communist silk purse out of a rotting sow's ear.

Just keep this in mind if you decide to flee the socialist stench of California: Please remember why you left. Don't Californicate your new home.

Media wishing to interview Patrice Lewis, please contact [email protected].