(Part I, Part II, Part III)
What is the best indicator of a civilization's health? Some might say current account figures, GDP or the trade deficit; others might seek out travel advisories or National Security color charts for insight; still others might take a clue from pollution levels or quality-of-life ratings. But what about poop?
Poop delivers little information about exports vs. imports. It cannot give you a stock report. Moreover, poop does not indicate whether a jihadist migrant is likely to blow you up on any given day. But poop - especially the human kind - is a health hazard, and a lot can be determined based on whether a society is covered in it or not. Take, for example, the situation "on the ground" in California, which is examined below in part three of our three-part investigation.
Part III. California
For the last half century, California has profited from its lore as a symbol of uninhibited freedom and prosperity, where everything young, hip and fun is silhouetted by golden sunsets and palm trees dancing in the warm ocean breeze. Hollywood and the music industry played a major role in the crystallization of this image, pioneering a revolution of ideas connected with California that left its mark culturally and socially:
What is the best indicator of a civilization's health? Some might say current account figures, GDP or the trade deficit; others might seek out travel advisories or National Security color charts for insight; still others might take a clue from pollution levels or quality-of-life ratings. But what about poop?
Poop delivers little information about exports vs. imports. It cannot give you a stock report. Moreover, poop does not indicate whether a jihadist migrant is likely to blow you up on any given day. But poop - especially the human kind - is a health hazard, and a lot can be determined based on whether a society is covered in it or not. Take, for example, the situation "on the ground" in California, which is examined below in part three of our three-part investigation.
Part III. California
For the last half century, California has profited from its lore as a symbol of uninhibited freedom and prosperity, where everything young, hip and fun is silhouetted by golden sunsets and palm trees dancing in the warm ocean breeze. Hollywood and the music industry played a major role in the crystallization of this image, pioneering a revolution of ideas connected with California that left its mark culturally and socially:
A lot of it - probably more than people realize (recommended reading: the rise and fall of the American century: U.S. economic exceptionalism and the transformation of the "American dream") - was tied up with or led to socially-destructive things. For that reason, one might be inclined to describe it as crap for the soul and mind.
But it is what it is and, until Trump, celebrating California culture (or "New York", for that matter) was something young Europeans saw as the coolest thing. Consequently, marketing California-whatever proved to be a goldmine, no matter the product:
But it is what it is and, until Trump, celebrating California culture (or "New York", for that matter) was something young Europeans saw as the coolest thing. Consequently, marketing California-whatever proved to be a goldmine, no matter the product:
Arguably, it was crap. But Hollister, a SoCal-themed clothing label, performed particularly well in Europe; in the early 2010s, its products were being sold there at prices as high as four times what Americans paid, so the company was riding Europe's general understanding that "clothes are just more expensive here" all the way to the bank, milking the potential from selling the California image to the fullest:
From experience, Europeans actually treated you differently based on their understanding of your real-life proximity to California's culture (or New York's, for that matter). Woman would light up with interest, while every man would realize he had been imitatingsomeone like you all those years, instantly envy you and see you in the coolest light. Although the whole routine was silly, who could blame these people for their intrigue? California's legacy, even without Hollywood's window dressings, was impressive:
The Twitter channel Press [esc] to go back regularly features impressions of what this California once looked like, as well as impressions from society at that time, in general.
Tweets by @esc_press
But, as noted even in the comments section of the nostalgic video above, that California has been lost. It was lost for various reasons, some of which our guest writer Hail has already explored, including economic transformation, the before-and-afters of ideology and demographic changes. The key here is, amidst such developments, Hollywood and the music industry's image of California was tweaked to glamorize the new reality, one where community has disappeared and individual wealth, achieved through crime and vice, reigns supreme and non-whites dominate and are to be celebrated. California is increasingly presented according to these new specifications:
Although I was hoping to post the original "California Love" song and video, I quickly discovered that original was light on presenting visuals that show what became of California and the video instead looks like it was filmed by somebody who might cut off a baby's head and drink its blood while ranting satanic verse about Moloch:
On the other hand, because the new California is influenced by the impulses of Hollywood and the music industry, perhaps the official video is representative of California afterall.
Part of the transition to the new California involved dumping lily-white California, which became the butt of jokes, like with the Saturday Night Liveskit "The Californians".
Part of the transition to the new California involved dumping lily-white California, which became the butt of jokes, like with the Saturday Night Liveskit "The Californians".
Thinking critically, you start to see that this is the equivalent of "Hollywood doing blackface", and it shows a turn against the sun-soaked, blonde demographic once promoted while selling California culture and imagery (even if that promotion just occurred by default).
But there is more. As it turns out, the producer of "The Californians" is Lorne Michael, who is quite the curious specimen. In a chain of events unlike anything I have ever seen before, hisbirthplace has become somewhat of a mystery even though he is alive at the time of writing (was it Toronto, or was it the British Mandate of Palestine, i.e. today's Israel?). Second, the man had his name changed from Lorne David Lipowitz (his father: Henry Abraham Lipowitz) to Lorne Michael, with the former being a super-Jewish name and the latter being as English as Yorkshire Pudding. Taken as a whole, even the most unbiased mind would begin to suspect a deliberate effort to cross out Jewishness, perhaps to cloak identity or undermine the "Jews control the music industry and Hollywood" canard:
So how lost is the new California?
Internet journalist LA Werewolf, whose channel YouTube purged only to restore without any content, did a piece on the topic, focusing on the massive homelessness situation there - the sights, the smells and the poop - and how it has transformed once-iconic cities like San Francisco at large.
According to the U.S. Dept of Housing and Development, as of 2018, an estimated 130,000 people were homeless in California. That is enough people to match the population of a small country like Grenada, and nearly fill some well-known American cities like Chaleston, South Carolina or Stamford, Connecticut. California's homeless population has grown in connection with the state's drug problem, and both have contributed to the creation of the state's now-infamous poo problem. The situation there has grown so bad, that the San Francisco mayor actually suggestedthat her city is drowning in poo.
Rather than expound on what has already been said, here is the situation on the ground in California, full color, as part of an effort to inspire the people to clean up their city. The feed is updated in as little as every few minutes
Tweets by PoopScoopSF
What a transformation for California to make now that it is going into multicultural mode; no wonder the state is now being called the new India. There can be no doubt that the two are headed in opposite directions.
