What is the “California Dream”? As described by my English
1B instructor, Brian Lewis, it’s “the American Dream on steroids”. The
prevailing idea is that California is, among the fifty United States of
America, that here, in the thirty first state, and here alone, the ideals of
opportunity and fortune thrive and abound in every corner of the state.
But, do they?
Offered, as example, are two select pieces of reading, for
considering. In an excerpt from Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust, we meet
and follow Tod Hackett; costume designer for a small Hollywood studio. Tod was
lucky enough to get scouted out and recruited to move to California while in
art school. He considers how lucky he is to have been picked; as he’s not what
you’d consider particularly a choice individual; “his large sprawling body, his
slow blue eyes and sloppy grin made him seem completely without talent, almost
doltish in fact.”
In Under the Wire, Francisco Jimenez retells the story of
his family as they left Mexico to look for work in California; seeking the same
fortune and luxury that they have heard about from people like his cousin Fito;
who lived in near populate luxury with his “two bedroom house [that] had
electricity and a water well.”
Of course, as you can expect, Under the Wire is the story of
illegal immigrants coming to California to find
And Tod in Hollywood? Well, for one, he wonders if, in
pursuing his fortune, he hasn’t sold out his art as a painter; which was his
goal to be, in art school. Not only so, but also even considers the ugliness of
his new home, by the end of the excerpt.
The other important thing to point out is the age of these
readings. The Day of the Locust was published in 1939. Jimemez’s stories, from
the book The Circuit: Stories from the life of a Migrant Child is his retelling
of his family’s arrival to the United States in 1947. How accurate can these
tales be, against the idea of today’s California?
In California: a place, a people, a dream James Rawls points
out, siting Nathanael West as one example that “California’s writers have often
provided a counterpoint to the myth of California as the land of boundless opportunity,
success, and romance.” As he’s quick to
point out, the mystique of California is built on the paradoxes of its promise
and failures.
And nowhere is that probably more accurate than today.
California wealth, the supposed lure of so many to the Golden State, is
actually held by a small minority of its residents; most of whom either
inherited, or simply built wealth through fast stocks and investments – the
legacy of the dotcom boom and bust of the late 1990’s. California is currently
tied for fourth highest unemployment rate according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. (8.6% with North Carolina) And that’s not even counting the amount
of “under employed” workers who cannot find full time employment, or are forced
to work for a considerably much lower salary than their predecessors in the
same field; or their contemporaries abroad. Californians are also some of the
most regulated and taxed in America; including fuel, property, and local sales
taxes, as well as laws, statutes, and regulatory bodies in Sacramento, the
state capitol. This ads to the already staggering cost of living that, to this
day, grows more despairingly disproportional to the average worker’s income.
Businesses have been also slowly moving to greener pastures,
as it were. Companies like Network Appliance, Intel, and even Microsoft have
either moved all their manufacturing to other states, or even countries, in
order to save profits, rather than stay in California. And states like
Washington and Arizona have gone to great lengths to make themselves more
attractive to companies looking to relocate.
Since the gold rush of 1848, and through the 1850’s,
California has been a land of “get rich quick”, more than opportunity. From
Sutter’s Mill to the starlet dreams of Hollywood, more folks come here to get a
fast grab at the perceived pie, than any actual opportunity. Nowhere is this
better illustrated than the afore mentioned dotcom boom and bust of the late
90’s; when techs took off and investors flooded the new market. In their quick
turnaround tactics of stocks and options, investors managed to over inflate the
online economy, then pulled out with a quick, tidy profit; leaving the market
to crumble. This was a cycle we would see, again, with the Enron scandal of the
early part of the 21st century, and then in 2008 with the housing
scandal; which actually spread nationwide.
Biotech companies, like Genentech, were supposed to be the
new boom economy. However, to date, that’s been more a slow steady ride than a
new exploding economy. And perhaps that’s just as good, if not better. Because
today the California myth is built around the boom/bust model of just a
fraction of the state; namely the San Francisco bay area. The reality is that
nearly 70% of California is actually agricultural; as it’s been since the turn
of the 20th century. And while the get rich schemes of the 49ers and
the businessmen have come and gone, the farms and ranches of the central
valleys have been going strong and stable all that time.
As Spooner points out, himself, in A New Perspective on the
Dream, we can’t deny the lure of the images of starlets, romance, and the quick
fortunes that have been had here; dreams that drew in the post war
mid-westerners. But, where does that leave the supposed “California Dream”,
today?
Most Californians, myself included, work very very hard to
just get buy. Living here quickly dispels the fantasy of the bountiful land of
opportunity. Home ownership is out of the reach of the majority of California’s
residence; who must leave to more affordable places, if home ownership is a
goal. Jobs aren’t as plentiful with job seekers more numerous than available
work; when the work can pay enough.
That’s not to say that this state isn’t without its charms
and culture. But the idea of the California Dream? Well, that’s more a myth, a
relic, left over from bygone eras. With technology being what it is, and as
available as it is, getting into entertainment – indeed, nearly any lucrative
profession – is relatively easy in this day and age. And with the Internet and
crowd-funding sources, like Kickstarter, building capitol
and reaching target audiences no longer requires Hollywood or Silicon Valley.
The California Dream… the myth… is no longer the “American Dream on Steroids”,
but, instead, just back to a small part of the American Dream.
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