Will California become America's first failed state?

kivol - You asked "Where is the hospitality?"

It is not the responsibility nor the place for a government to impose morality on its population. You're profile says you are interested in sociology. I've studied a great deal in this discipline, and the concepts are too vague. You can't help everybody. When you try to, you end up like California. You will also see, as you progress into the discipline, that a lot of sociological theory can't be trusted as unbiased, because the people that are paying sociologists are liberal organizations that WANT government intervention.

@Ihatethemall

I see your point on people exploiting the welfare system, it's not fair that hard working people like (presumably) you and I have to pay taxes so lazy people can sit around and eat with our money. But completely cutting welfare will is not the solution. Instead of cutting the program as a whole, the government should investigate exactly who is abusing our money and make sure the money is going to those who actually need it. The biggest challenge is changing the attitudes of those who willingly choose not to work. Most Americans would rather not see these people in the ghetto then see them walking around the streets begging for money, which is what happens in all third world countries.

I'm not saying welfare should end completely. But when someone has been on it for 10 20 30 years and now their kids and in some cases grandkids are on it thats a problem. I sick and tired of paying for these fools to sit at home and make babies.

@ogopa, if they chose not to work, then they should have the right not to work. It is their American right to just do nothing. The problem truly is welfare, if you chose to do nothing that is your right, but why should ihatethemall pay for their choices?
If one chooses to earn a living by asking for money on the streets, so be it. I have no problem saying, "NO!!! " and sometimes "yes".

Right wing thinkers are always concerned about the rich getting taxed to pay for lazy welfare queens. Underpaying the people who do work is a much bigger problem than overtaxing the "rich", who are grossly overpaid in the first place. We should quit allowing the working class to be taken advantage of, more than worrying about welfare queens taking advantage of upper management. The right seems to have this idea that the left wants to give lazy people handouts, and the right is always trying to take this moral high ground, saying that the rich are rich because they honestly work harder than everyone else, which is BS. The reason they are wrong about the left, and business practices in general, is that people who do work and bust their ass are being taken advantage of and are having difficulty making ends meet. Thats what's wrong with America, its getting harder and harder to go and make a decent living even if you have the skills and desire to work. Republican business theory is to cut labor costs as much as possible so they can pay their board members grossly unethical bonuses, all the while cutting healthcare benefits and such to their workers. Then they have the audacity to oppose healthcare reform and say if you can't afford healthcare its because you don't work hard enough. Right wing economic theories and policies are a disaster, and only serve the greed of those on the top. Anyone who thinks that right wing policies are acceptable should be thrown into one of those California wildfires and roasted alive.

first i'd have to ask you who "them" are? when you say that, what people are you referring to? because in the case of born here american's i'd have to ask you how dire would your straights have to be to keep your children fed. im from cali. i have seen lazy right next to the person that just had some bum luck.. what humanity do you offer them? why do you make yourself so far removed from "them"

so, do you really hate them all? or do you hate the mall? tricky....

dooderonomy, I asked him the same thing.

Regular posters know the name, of Ihatethem all, very well. He hates them all, as I do. Except for Israel where our opinions diverge. But back to the point. I have run businesses for most of my adult life (33 years). If you fail to make a profit you lose your job, no questions asked. California politicians and other idiots in the public realm seem to be immune from the same responsibility that a business man would be held to. California has been infested by a populist mentality supported by a massive influx of cheap labor and unsustainable real estate prices. Welcome to the real world, morons!

Thank you Mr Moonloon. I couldnt have said it better myself.

@Anna May

Did you not see where I said that I dont have any problem with someone getting welfare for 12 months or so but 2nd, 3rd and in some cases 4th generation welfare families is wrong. If you dont see a problem with that I dont know what to tell you.

I will ask you the same question I ask others. What shoudl be done with someone who wont work. Someone who has been on welfare for 10 20 30 years. At what point do you just tell that person.....tough shit....you had your chance and you wasted it. The tax payers of this country are NOT going to continue to pay for you to sit on your ass.

I give them 2 years tops. In 2 years if you havent done anything to better your self chances are you have no intention of doing so.

no mention of prop 13 anywhere.....

For some. Unemployment is in the double digits. there are restaurants closing everywhere. walk into any mall and see the empty stores.

Depressions always hit harder show more in the poorer communities first. Don't fool yourself into thinking this isn't going to trickle....better yet, flood it's way into the communities that are doing okay. California is a STATE and if something isn't done you ALL will feel the effects.

Uhhh, Texas? Seriously? Are you actually trying to compare Texas' economy to California's so as to say "a red state did it first". Is this some miserable attempt to justify failure? Pathetic.

Oh, for heaven's sake, mger, lighten up. I was simply referring to that goofy Governor and his ilk that threatened to secede. There isn't a much better definition of a failed state than one that leaves the Union.

But I UNDERSTAND that those folks are in the tiny minority -- the most dipshitted of the minority of dipshits in Texas. I know the Texas economy is doing comparatively well. I have a number of wonderful friends both IN Texas and FROM Texas. I even feel a bit of identity with Texas because it is a western state like my home state of Montana. And here in Montana we have a tiny minority of dipshits who are pretty comparable...though they have not yet found a microphone (or at least one that is attached to the right medium).

So I sincerely apologize for any aspersions I may have cast upon your lovely state...but those guys are STILL on intellectual life support. At best.

Did you read the article? CA may become a failed state because it is bankrupt.

Secession is not a symptom of 'failure' - it signifies the capacity for independence and having its affairs in order. Plenty of secessionists in Oregon and VT, NH, etc., as well.

well Texas has run out of unemployment insurance money, Cali hasn't yet, so I would say that Cali is still better off... but we need to get retarded Arnold out of the Governors seat...

It's funny you use Texas as a doomed state. I don't know anyone here that wants a job that does not have one. Maybe you should try staying in cali or were ever you are because I think Texas is doing just fine with out you

all of the people who live in other states besides texas can talk all the shit they want about my state. they dont live here so how can they know about the best weed and the most beautiful women. they just can't quit hating. if you ask me cali can just fall off the contiguous map and drift into russia. cali = cancer.

What a stupid suggestion that California could even be compared to Texas. Even with the succession----Texas is the ONLY state that could survive Succession and even more so probably the only state that could become part of the European Union. haha.

You think Clinton and Obama have charm the world over....Texas has it based on 'myth' alone.

God I love my fellow Texans!

whatever, the whole country is effed right now, and don't worry Texas is the LAST place I would ever want to go to.. so you can stay there and look forward to more Californians coming to your "great state" and ruining it by turning it liberal...

Juice,

Did you read my response? I said that Texas' economy is doing comparatively well. I said that I had friends who live in Texas and friends who came from Texas. I said it was a lovely state. I lived in Houston for a year, but I must admit that I liked Austin and San Antonio a good deal more than I liked Houston. But it was a good career move, and I met some lifelong friends.

I did not compare Texas to California. I was making a tongue-in-cheek reference to the secession talk that came out of the Texas Governor's office. Our country is a union of states. The 50 states united to form a nation. If one seceeds, it is by definition no longer one of the "united" states. That sums up the intent of my post.

Californians could come to Texas, but they might get shot.

Oops.