Letters from Spectator readers, October 2024

The Californication of the Democratic Party

At the risk of taking a Marxian perspective, California has become exactly what could have been predicted in 1993, with the loss of its manufacturing base to the 1990s defense cuts and much of its agricultural base to environmental regulation and foreign competition under the WTO. The state’s economy is now based on some of the most unequal industries on the planet: software, entertainment and hospitality. Plus, in the case of entertainment, an industry that has always tolerated and quietly celebrated what may politely be called decadence, or less politely,…

The Californication of the Democratic Party

At the risk of taking a Marxian perspective, California has become exactly what could have been predicted in 1993, with the loss of its manufacturing base to the 1990s defense cuts and much of its agricultural base to environmental regulation and foreign competition under the WTO. The state’s economy is now based on some of the most unequal industries on the planet: software, entertainment and hospitality. Plus, in the case of entertainment, an industry that has always tolerated and quietly celebrated what may politely be called decadence, or less politely, degeneracy.

Just look at who has all the discretionary money and how they got it, and almost everything else follows.

— M. Johnson

It seems that California’s prosperity largely stands on three pillars: technology, entertainment and agriculture. Manufacturing is in decline, as indicated by the near-complete offshoring of tech industries. Even Tesla, a contrarian manufacturer with a successful car plant in San José, has given up and is relocating to Texas and Mexico; its headquarters have already moved to Austin.

The tech industry led by the trillion-dollar titans Apple, Google and Meta, along with rising star OpenAI and many smaller Silicon Valley startups is, for now, what makes California look big and rich. But these companies have fungible assets that could easily be moved to other, less costly states, particularly in this age of easy remote work. Twitter/X has moved to Austin, and it is possible and likely that the trickle of outflow could suddenly turn into a flood. A trillion here, a trillion there, and suddenly you’re talking real money.

That the majority of Californians are killing, have killed, the goose that lays the golden eggs is an understatement. They show no sign of having learned anything from thirty to forty years of mismanagement and in fact appear to be just digging themselves deeper into the hole. I only hope that the people who voted for this mess stay in California and don’t spread their infection to other states.

— Joe Tairei

Everything is under (crowd) control: the evolution of riot response

Ah, Milipol Paris, where the art of crowd control is showcased with all the finesse of a Black Friday sale at a medieval arms fair. It’s reassuring to know that, in a world teetering on the edge of chaos, we can always rely on cutting-edge technology to bring the warm, comforting glow of a laser directly to our foreheads. Surely nothing says “keeping the peace” quite like the gentle hum of a drone overhead, ready to dole out the latest in invisible discipline.

— Marc Oestreich

Pope hunt: the plotting to pick the next pontiff

I posted on X that Conclave will likely be the first post-election culture war content fight. I saw the trailer and was intrigued so I went and read the book.

It was a really fabulous read (as a Jewish American) and a riveting story, right until almost the end. The “who is it” plot twist is fabulous, but the entire story will become a cultural war fight and ruin the movie for the very people it’s targeting.

I was offended and I’m not even Catholic.

— Joshua Offenhartz

They really need to chillax with all their anti-Latin Mass edicts. The last time I read, it only makes up about 5 to 10 percent of the entire Mass-attending population. Which is even smaller than the 15 to 20 percent of all Catholics who even attend Mass on a regular basis anyway. Unfortunately, the leadership of the Church is going the way of most secular institutions: constituent-loathing bureaucrats.

— Mark Cook

Kamala Harris and that new car smell

Well, Trump isn’t currently doing anything to define her. He’s contemplating whether she’s black or Indian and calling her “the worst.” Mainstream conservative voices like Hannity have outlined the same vulnerabilities as Lipson has, but Trump keeps shouting over them and focusing on his neo-birther campaign to “otherize” Kamala. All this to say that Trump will actually have to run a disciplined campaign to overcome his missteps so far. The big problem for Trump is that he’s told everyone who’ll listen that he isn’t particularly interested in running that disciplined campaign. He is who he is, as he says.

If Trump is going to stop the surge, he’d better actually start campaigning as if he could lose rather than picking fights with mega-donors and pondering Kamala’s ethnicity. I doubt he can pull it together. He’s in free-fall mode right now.

— Anonymous

Why I never enjoy going on holiday

Traveling cannot be undertaken so casually anymore. Long gone is Europe on Five Dollars a Day. It is now a chore and a bore. Also, I am reminded of Sartre’s remark that “Hell is other people.” At first it seemed the pronouncement of a crank. No longer.

— Joe Buti