California has always been a special place for me.
Every time I cross the river into Blythe, I would feel a rush of emotion to know that I’m back in my favorite state again.
But these days, things are not quite the same in the Golden State.
For example, I have always enjoyed driving through the scenic Central Valley on I-5.
But last summer, the Central Valley looked more like an apocalyptic wasteland with all the smoke from the wildfires up north.
Around the same time last year, while driving into San Jose on highway 280, I suddenly became aware of the stench of human excrement that hung over the city.
Apparently, besides being the heart of Silicon Valley, the city is also the homeless capital of the country.
This summer, the stench has subsided somewhat, but the trash and debris that litter the landscape underneath the freeway overpasses are constant reminders that misguided compassion causes more human misery than it alleviates.
(Misguided because it doesn’t take into account the perversity of human nature.)
Today, walking into a Walmart in San Jose, I became aware of the craziness of the whole place.
It was unlike any Walmart I have seen before.
Just to get a nail clipper, I had to look for an ‘Associate’ (Walmart terminology for very underpaid employee) to unlock the glass door to get at it.
California is the only state I know where Walmart keeps three-dollar items locked up in glass cases in case people should attempt to shoplift them.
(Meanwhile, in another part of town where BLM politics rule, people [from a certain racial group] can simply go into a store, fill a bag up with goodies and walk out without paying because the authorities are too afraid to accost them for fear of creating an incident.)
California has always been an experiment in progress and I guess it is as true now as it has ever been.
If this is progress, however, give me regress any time.
Philip Hii 