Once hailed as the state with the most abundant economic opportunities and freedoms, California has now transformed into one of the poorest and least free states in America, rivaling New York in oppressive governance.
How did California reach this point? It has been a comprehensive war against private homeownership, personal automobiles, highways, and freedom, pushing millions of Californians from liberty towards reliance, and eventually under the rule of tyranny.
California’s authoritarian laws have forcefully evicted people from mobile homes and secure residences, herding them into high-density concrete tower apartment prisons, public housing, and public transportation, ultimately leading to homelessness.
In the years 2023-2024, a series of bills aimed at addressing “affordable housing” were passed and enacted into law. However, these bills, under different guises, inflated the costs of expensive public housing subsidized by taxpayers. What is missing is the free-market supply of detached homes, and the prospect of the American Dream flourishing in California is now a thing of the past.
How did California get to where it is today?
It has been a long road and a lengthy process, starting off well but ending in a dismal state.
From the Gold Rush era to the present, California has always been a beacon of wealth, welcoming new immigrants in search of opportunities for centuries, ranging from the Spanish and Mexican settlers to Americans from the East seeking economic opportunities, social equality, and the sunny, mild climate.
After World War II, the GI Bill, affordable home mortgages, and visionary developments for veterans attracted them to California from less comfortable climates and culturally narrow regions in the Midwest and the East Coast. Skeptics ridiculed the “cheaply made” homes, depriving the “poor bugs” living there of the joy of owning a home with a fireplace.
Visionaries from both political parties also constructed highways to quickly connect residential areas and workplaces.
For several decades, the trend of affluent individuals purchasing homes, cars, and finding jobs continued. Eventually, California transitioned from a society full of opportunities, evolving from blue-collar to white-collar within a generation, and then to no-collar. In terms of housing and energy supply, it shifted from outright prosperity to being the poorest region in the country.
What problems need to be addressed?
According to Hans Johnson of the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), for a population of 40 million, California faces a shortage of 3.5 million housing units.
In September 2023, the Orange County Register reported that major metropolitan areas in California face a shortage of over 800,000 housing units, with a housing shortage rate of 6.5%, double the national average.
In 2024, the median home price in California is $900,000, making it unaffordable for ‘young people’ aged 40-50 to purchase the limited available housing. Renting is also under pressure, with the rent for the smallest apartments often more expensive than the exorbitant mortgages that few qualify for.
Legislation from 2023 to 2024 established Below Market Rate (BMR) housing, essentially another form of rent control.
For decades, rent control and eviction restrictions hindered the construction of private apartments in California. As a result, labor unions incurred high costs building apartments to serve millions in need of housing, housing that is more affordable than an old car or a mom’s spare bedroom.
In addition to mental illness, disease, and drug addiction, the stagnation in new housing construction for decades has at least partly contributed to a significant number of homeless deaths. They live in the elements, vulnerable to predatory animals, and susceptible to medieval diseases.
California’s homeless problem extends beyond drug addicts, the mentally ill, patients, and the poor, eventually reaching your doorstep or your neighbor’s.
Welcome to California’s new homeless – the ones living in old cars, run-down trailer parking lots, high-rise concrete box apartments, spare bedrooms of moms, furnished garage studios, or backyards of small houses.
Meanwhile, the government provides hotel rooms to illegal immigrants, while our children and veterans are left unable to apply.
Without Proposition 13 limiting yearly property tax increases, grandparents may soon be as marginalized as their descendants. Nearly half of California’s homeless population is aged 50 and above.
Although challenging for the elderly, those able to escape California to less comfortable climates in deserts or hot states are fleeing. The vacancies left by the relocators do little to alleviate the shortage of affordable housing.
In fact, California’s population decreased in 2020, leading to the state losing a congressional seat for the first time.
How can people continue living in single-family homes? The most affordable housing is often located dozens of miles away from workplaces, requiring hours of commuting time.
Thousands of Californians drive hours, commuting from far-flung suburbs like San Bernardino-Riverside and the Central Valley to work in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco-San Jose.
They spend two to three hours commuting from the Central Valley to the Bay Area. 80,000 people drive through Altamont Pass between San Joaquin and the Bay Area. 75% of them commute alone to work in San Jose, Fremont, or Pleasanton.
The usage of public transportation, buses, or trains is minimal, accounting for only 2.5% to 3%.
Local government building regulations prohibit families from constructing small housing units on their own private land for elderly parents or children.
Laws have decreased private homeownership rates, highways, and cars, replacing them with public transportation and public housing. They restrict suburban development, limit the number of cars and highways people can use to commute between home and work, thereby reducing citizens’ freedom and choices.
Therefore, most housing shortages and prolonged commute times are a direct result of public policies aimed at eliminating “chaotic” suburbs and their “tacky” residential areas. The lack or absence of parking spaces forces people to “choose” to give up their cars.
High construction costs, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and other environmental policies have driven up housing prices, resulting in a housing supply far below demand.
Construction costs for single-family homes have skyrocketed to $50,000 before breaking ground.
Halting construction of affordable housing and highways due to environmental concerns has led to increased greenhouse gas emissions, longer commute times, and more traffic congestion.
The legislation from 2023 to 2024 exempted the California Environmental Quality Act requirements, but added other requirements, causing the prices of “prevailing wage” housing (effectively public housing) to rise by up to 40%. Housing projects with over 50 units require construction workers to undergo union-approved apprenticeship training and receive healthcare benefits. Education and religious institutions are mandated to provide social services such as childcare centers and community centers for a few tenants.
Notorious public housing “projects” akin to Soviet-style and Beijing-style high-rise residential complexes have emerged.
High-density housing breeds crime, social disorder, and disease. People, like caged rats, live in filth, fear, and with a cruel, dirty, and brief existence.
A 50-story residential building in San Diego probably lacks riot-proof, monitored elevators with key card access and emergency call buttons.
In June 2024, Senate Bill 469, which allowed the implementation of public housing projects without voter approval, was rejected.
California’s pothole-ridden roads compare to highways in Bangladesh and the West Side of New York. Poor roads destroy evil cars in the eyes of the left-wing advocates.
From 1990 to 2019, California levied hefty taxes on gasoline, cars, and trucks in Proposition 111, SB-1, and Proposition 69, promising to build and repair numerous roads and bridges in return.
In 2018, Proposition 6 sought to repeal the latest gas tax. Political activists on the opposing side argued that the failure to do so would result in unsafe bridges not being repaired, leading to casualties. The public supported maintaining high fuel taxes to construct urgently needed road and bridge repairs.
Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) declared that it’s all a ruse.
California charges the highest fuel tax on a gallon of gas, including “cap and trade” taxes, which add to the per-gallon gasoline tax.
In October 2019, gas prices in California were a full dollar above the national average per gallon. By 2024, this gap had nearly reached two dollars per gallon.
Similarly, tolls for the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge have been increasing, even after the final bonds were paid off in 1971, decades ago.
Highway users foot the bill for promised benefits – fair and honest taxation. However, after paying exorbitant taxes, they receive nothing in return.
Despite long-standing plans and commitments, the roads and bridges built have been few and far between. State Senator and accountant John Moorlach stated that California diverted 80% of bonds to other purposes over the past 30 years.
Gas tax revenue and highway bonds meant for constructing roads and bridges were misappropriated to subsidize empty public transportation – trains, light rail, Amtrak, and buses.
High gas taxes, poor roads, and diverted revenue are all carjackers. By 2018, only optimists would rank California’s worst freeways in ninth place.
The alternatives provided are worse. California pays vehicle owners to retire “old cars” (affordable modes of transportation), pushing them out of their cars into crime-ridden trains.
For half a century since 1965, Los Angeles has been striving to develop large-scale rapid public transportation. By 2024, public transit is seen as a solution to reduce congestion, albeit only catering to around 3% of California’s total passenger volume.
Forcing carpooling and controlling cars does nothing to alleviate traffic congestion. However, it does force citizens out of their cars into crime-infested trains.
The push for high-density housing aims to sustain public transit, yet 80%-95% of urban residents actively avoid using public transportation. Converting entire residential neighborhoods into multi-unit apartment complexes disrupts local communities that residents take pride in.
Private taxis and ride-sharing services like Uber face excessive regulation competition against public transportation.
Policies aim to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) for combating climate change (be it extreme cold or heat) by unowned vehicles and untraveled commuting vehicle miles.
Making suburban housing unaffordable and inaccessible helps reduce travel miles. Without building homes and roads, people will not travel.
California clings to its seasonal blend of gasoline.
Alternative fuels containing ethanol made from corn continue to reduce vehicle mileage per gallon. To achieve the mileage of regular gasoline, more ethanol-blended gasoline must be burned.
From 1985 to 1995, boutique gas types led to the closure of ten refineries. In 1982, California had 30 gasoline refineries. Various statistics indicated there were 11 to 14 refineries remaining from 2015 to 2023.
Regulations overseen by California to address gasoline tank leaks affected large and small gas stations. Independent gas station owners, unable to afford millions to replace old tanks after years of delays, faced bankruptcy and began shuttering their businesses.
Due to bankruptcies, independent gas stations account for only 15% of the 10,000 gas stations in California.
By 2024, statistical data on independent gas stations could no longer be found on the California Energy Commission website, either well hidden or historically deleted.
Although the odors of heavy metals and solvent-infused gasoline are unpleasant, evidence suggests they pose little threat to health when present in water at concentrations of one billionth and one hundred billionth.
Independent gas stations once competed with major oil companies on gasoline prices. In 1960, gas prices were 25 cents per gallon. If independent companies were still operational, gas prices in 2019 might have been around $2.15.
As for housing, the answer lies in increasing supply, requiring free-market competition, and easing regulations.
Apart from fleeing California with expensive U-Haul trailers, the last hope lies in voter resistance, similar to the pushback seen in parental rights, school choice, and the calls for redefining the crimes happening in our stores and streets.
Translator’s note: Dr. Roger Canfield has authored four books on political influence and intelligence activities of the Chinese Communist Party in the United States. He is a Navy veteran, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Claremont McKenna College (CMC), and earned a Ph.D. in Government from the Claremont Graduate School.