In today’s political climate, California has become a symbol of everything Democrats want. Over the decades, the same state that produced conservative icons like Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater has essentially become a playground for leftism.
Whenever a presidential election rolls around, pundits take the liberty to color the state blue ahead of time, because we all know what the result is going to be anyway. To stress this again — this state voted Ronald Reagan into the White House twice after already having him as a governor.
The point we’re trying to make here is that California wasn’t always this way. There was a time when the state was just as conservative as anywhere else. And it had the perfect ingredients: a highly profitable industry found no where else in the world, a strong agricultural community, and a profound sense of American identity. After all, the state’s very existence is a testament to the American spirit: pioneers were forced to trek through thousands of miles of unknown wilderness just to claim it as their own. Now, the word “American” is considered a gross display of nationalism in some circles there.
Underscoring all of this is the state’s outrageously large population of illegal immigrants. California is effectively leading the way for the rest of progressive America by going so far as to supply illegals with driver’s licenses and allowing them to vote in school board elections. At one point, this was considered unthinkable — even in liberal California.
This begs the question: how did we get here, and is there any going back?
To answer this, podcaster Stefan Molyneux sat down with a former California lawmaker. His perspective is very revealing. Watch the entire conversation below:
