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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Julius Wong who wrote (210115)	1/11/2025 3:10:03 PM
From: carranza2	7 Recommendations Recommended By Alan Smithee Alias Shrugged Maple MAGA Pogeu Mahone Selectric II and 2 more members Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 219782

As a young man, I took and passed the California Bar exam. Was offered a job in Santa Barbara, the apex of lotus-eating, California style. This took place in 1977. After considering, I rejected the offer (which many would have killed for) because Santa Barbara was too beautiful, too wealthy, too perfect. I saw long-haired, pot-bellied, graybeards throwing a Frisbee on the beach at 3:00 pm, and thought “Do I want this? This could be me in a few years if I stay here” The people I met were nice, almost too nice. Lots of drugs, lots of leisure, lots of unearned money. Liberal politics, of course. An appalling lack of serious thought and conversation. Of course, Silicon Valley eventually rose but that was the creative part of California, which can be pure genius. My experience was running into lots of glazed over eyes and very white teeth pasted onto a ever-smiling tanned faces. You won’t meet nicer people. But they hate contrarians, anyone who tests their lotus-inspired beliefs. I think the word is vapid. I was tempted, but after a few more insights like this I concluded that California was not for me. Trouble was clearly on the way. Now we know what this lack of seriousness can create. Ever civil engineer worth his salt knows that water needs to be impounded for emergencies. And water in an emergency is clearly required in the dry as hell Los Angeles canyons, etc. Topanga and the other canyons are nothing but fire storms waiting for the right Santa Ana wind to blow. Completely predictable. What does California do with its abundant water supply from the snows of the Sierra? Much of it simply drains into the Pacific. I suppose building reservoirs is environmentally and politically improper. Some little beastie might be harmed. What about the tens of thousands of humans who must endure firestorms like the current one? Is the life of some rare beastie worth it? Oh, no. Cannot ask questions like that. The high speed rail from LA to San Francisco is a fearsome example of extreme incompetence. What is happening in California is what happens when nature and circumstance provide you with gifts which do not require struggle. A collective lack of seriousness takes over and ruins those gifts. Dumb voters elect dumb politicians who appoint idiots who cannot manage a complex infrastructure if their lives depended on it. But who are ideologically consistent with dumb voters and dumb politicians. I saw it coming. And that’s why I left in 1978. It’s not going to get better. God bless ‘em. I feel sorry for them but it is the voters’ responsibility to make changes. It’s not going to happen. This is bad enough. But it’s small potatoes. Wait and see what happens when the Big One hits.