California, the new age of Enlightenment?

Coming of age for me in the mid-60s in California was a little bit like, "Happy Days," with a whole lot of "American Graffiti" and "Big Wednesday" mixed in.

Back then we were the envy of the country and the epicenter of the "American Dream." Tens of thousands of Americans came to California drawn by their collective belief that they could overcome their humble beginnings.

We had little crime, mathematically insignificant homeless population, and a small undocumented population as well. Life for all Californians was safe, upwardly mobile and without burdensome taxes and regulations. And yes, our roads and highways and other infrastructure were the best in the country back then as well.

Today, California has become, by every tangible metric, a "failed state." It's hard for me to admit that, but all the empirical data overwhelmingly supports this conclusion.

When I attended school, student test scores were among the highest scores in the nation. Today our student rankings are 43rd in English and 46th in Math. It seems the educators of today would rather indoctrinate our students than educate them.

We now have the highest poverty level and the largest undocumented and homeless populations in the country. Our roads and highways are now ranked as some of the worse in America, even though we have the highest gas taxes in the nation.

And tragically due the continuing migration out of the state, our “middle class” is now becoming an endangered species. Once a haven for prosperity, we are now left with a dispirited population with many “Californians dreaming” of leaving the state.

What has caused the decline and deprivation of our state? The answer is annoyingly simple, as the Democrats have monopolized every aspect of our state's government for the past two decades. They alone are responsible for the demise of our once great State.

It's clear by their actions that the Democrats have nothing but contempt for the law-abiding, tax paying, working residents of California. Somehow, they missed these axioms in Civics class, that is without an ordered society, society will inevitably collapse. And without maintaining civility, and the rule of law, the state will simply perish.

California is in crisis, yet it's clear that the Democrats neither have the "will" or apparently the "skill sets" to resolve the numerous problems that plague the state. It appears their only political motivation is to preserve their power with a blatant disregard for the welfare and interests of our "legal residents."

They have not only managed the decline; they have willfully driven the decline. They will accept any outcome in their ravenous quest for power, even at the expense of destroying the “quality of life” for all Californians in the process.

So, if you believe in the rule of law, if you cherish and relish a free society where bureaucrats don’t mandate what you should think and say and how you live your lives, then I implore you to join the movement to remove the Democrats from all political offices throughout the state.

Together as "Californian's First," we must replace the Democratically controlled political class in our state capital and in our cities.

Together we can usher in a new age of Enlightenment for all Californians, where civility rules the day, where law and order are revered, where "legal citizens" are coveted and respected, and where the “American Dream” can once again be attained by all those who have the courage and ambition to achieve it.

Dave Maynard