Update: School District in Marin Backpedals on Disbanding High School MTB Teams & May Protect Teams from Future Threats
The NorCal League set an example that led to the formation of high school race leagues all over the United States.
Update 5/20: In a meeting yesterday, the district chief financial officer pledged to present a solution to the board of trustees that would protect the district's three mountain bike teams from future attempts to dismantle them. If supported, the decision will be finalized at a meeting May 25th.
Update 5/19: The Tamalpais Unified High School District has reportedly rolled back the decision to eliminate mountain biking teams. After a strong public outcry against the decision to disassociate the three high schools from any club sports (meaning those sports are not sanctioned by the California Interscholastic Federation), the school district has instead requested that all students submit liability waivers, that all coaches go through background checks and safety training, and that teams file certain pieces of paperwork for field trips. All of those things already happen.
According to someone involved with one of the teams, the issue is still unsettled, and there will be a meeting today, another meeting tomorrow, and the regularly scheduled school board meeting next Tuesday. We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
Marin County is no stranger to controversy around mountain biking. As the birthplace of mountain biking where mountain biking on singletrack is now largely illegal, the mountain bikers of Marin are used to pushing back. Still, over the last two decades, high school mountain biking has exploded and is one of the most popular and inclusive sports in schools all around the region. And the formation of high school teams has been one of the best things to happen to mountain biking in Marin, creating an unequivocally positive community that helps shape the attitude around the sport.
This spring, club teams at the district’s three main schools – Redwood, Tamalpais, and Archie Williams High Schools – received a surprise email that as of July 1, the schools would no longer associate with any club sports teams, including the district’s three mountain bike teams. The message was unambiguous said MTB Hall of Famer and former high school coach Otis Guy: there was no room for negotiation and the decision had been made.
Things became stranger when more than two thousand people signed a petition and hundreds of mountain bikers and others who value the teams contacted the school board to oppose the decision. The school district began sending out an email response that not only said that the change wasn’t happening, but that the decision hadn’t been made in the first place. The situation, the response said, was the result of a misunderstanding. The lack of consistent information, Guy said, is the worst part of the situation.
 | It’s very good that it went so big. It’s more upsetting that the response is 'that’s not what we said' – what we have in writing. It was extremely clear what their terms were. That the teams were done July 1st. No discussion, no warning, nothing. |
The decision to scrap the teams was reportedly because of advice from a third-party insurance advisor, but the school district has not given an explanation of exactly what the problems are with the club sports. The National Interscholastic Cycling Association does provide insurance to all members of its affiliate leagues.
School administrators and coaches met today to discuss what might happen. Rumor has it that the parties have come to an agreement that would preserve the teams, but if that's the case, the details are not yet public. Even if there’s an announcement that the teams will live on, some of the district’s riders are hesitant to believe any statement from the district after the contradictory emails, and the stakes are high for riders who believe these programs changed their lives.
I would know, because I started mountain biking as part of one of the three teams in question. After joining the NorCal League as a junior in high school, my direction completely changed, and almost everything positive in my life today can be directly or indirectly traced back to those high school races. So, for full disclosure, I am not a neutral observer.
Hundreds of students gather for each race.
And I know I’m not alone in feeling that way. The Marin high school teams have had plenty of time to make a difference for teenagers. While many NICA leagues are just starting to spring up around the United States, the NorCal League is the oldest and has been around for two decades. It started across the bay from Marin County in Berkeley, where a high school teacher started organizing some his students and taking them to adult races in 1998. Over the next few years, the surrounding schools joined the party and the group named itself the NorCal High School Cycling League in 2001. The Tamalpais District gave the league three more teams, and by the time I joined in, there were more than 60 students on my team and more than 600 riders at each race (including Kate Courtney and some other pretty quick riders). The NorCal League grew so big that it had to be split into North NorCal and South NorCal. (To make it extra confusing, the SoCal League was also split into North SoCal and South SoCal. The State Championship races were nightmares to talk about.)
Kate Courtney is the most decorated racer to come out of the NorCal League.
But I digress. The state of things right now is that nobody seems to know what will happen. If the school district does decide to abandon the teams, the teams will continue to race in the NorCal League but will have to re-establish themselves as separate entities from the schools. Riders will have to find the teams on their own, rather than through school, and things will become more difficult for students who try to leave class early on Fridays to go to the weekend races. There will be no more use of the school gyms, and the already prohibitive sport will become more difficult to access for students who don’t already have a mountain biking connection.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available. Updates will also be posted at https://www.savemarinhsmtb.com/.
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California spreads its cancer
We need freedom, freedom for the people to use lands owned by the people at their discretion rather than oppressive restriction based upon whichever user group happens to hand over the most money to line the pockets of the elected officials that dictate policy. It's not hard to see that California's glory all came in the era when it was a free state that encouraged people to get out and enjoy the land and sea and to innovate, and that was all before the left took over and started jumping from one pet project to the next and one tax to the next, cutting off access and trying to eliminate independent enjoyment of public lands. We need to get back to what made the state amazing and I don't personally give a shit what the party that does it wants to call themselves but it sure as f*ck hasn't been the state of things under the democrats.
But you know, the fact CA is the 5th largest economy IN THE WORLD, must be because of “consistent state mismanagement” eh?
And California's GDP may be the fifth largest but that's not any indicator of the quality of state management... it's a biproduct of the enormous tech companies that were created here prior to current leadership, and which are now fleeing the state for more reasonably governed states. But good on you for repeating dumb shit you heard online and aren't smart enough get through to the facts.
As far as the state economy, the money comes from the sources you noted, but without competent management that fosters education, growth and innovation, those sources wouldn’t matter. All the income from those various businesses would be squandered and CA wouldn’t have nearly the place it does.
As an example, the 10 poorest states in the country, NM, OK, AR, LA, MS, AL, TN, KY, WV and SC, pretty much all consistently conservative run states. Could it be they’re poor because of their history of slavery and after the civil war, all the slave state governments cared about was staying in power and not helping their state economies transitation their economies away from slavery economy? Or is it the consistently low investment in public education typical of conservative run states? Or the relatively high teenage pregnancy rate in conservative run states? But naaashhhhh, gotta be that liberal government in CA that’s ruining (checks notes) mountain biking?!
So yeah brah, keep spewing your idiotic angry BS. You’re probably a hoot at parties. If you ever get invited.
Not to worry lil buddy, you'll grow up and get a clue someday... that Cali public school indoctrination wears off eventually for most folks.
I love my job.
Fact is that Southern states run by Republicans are the absolute worst states to live in and are stuck in permanent poverty, primarily because of Republican policies:
www.salon.com/2014/03/12/8_disturbing_trends_that_reveal_the_souths_battered_psyche_partner
4. South has lowest per capita spending sy state government.
Given these private-sector proclivities, one might expect state and local governments to pick up the slack. While that may be true for education spending compared to other issue areas, at least as measured by high school graduation rates, the states that spend the least for their residents are mostly red states in the South and mountain west.
According to the Kaiser Foundation, per capita expenditures by states in 2011 averaged $5,385. At the very bottom were Nevada ($3,150), Florida ($3,482), Missouri ($3,858,Texas ($3,796), Georgia ($4,176), Idaho ($4,212), Alabama ($4,398, Tennessee ($4,743), and South Carolina ($4,797). Three Deep South states—Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana—spend more than the national average, as did West Virginia.
5. Forget about decent preventative healthcare.
When it comes to helping low-income households get access to healthcare, almost all red states, including most of the Deep South, have refused to do this under Obamacare. The U.S. Supreme Court gave states the option to open enrollment into state-run Medicaid programs for the unisured. Red-state Republicans have declined, although federal funds pay for more than 90 percent of this, with the feds paying the entire bill for the first few years. The Urban Institutemapped counties with the most uninsured people locked out of Obamacare. The result looks like a tornado track that starts in Oklahoma and Texas and goes into Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina.
6. One result: people self-medicate in response.
Human nature is human nature, regardless of geography. People will find ways to cope with life’s challenges. But public health statistics show the personal response in the poorest states produces some bad results. The Deep South has the country’s highest obesity rates, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The region has the most cigarette smokers. It has the highest teen birth rates. Now, other areas of the country take the trophy for other vices. But according to Gallup, the pollsters, the states with the most unhappy people are in that Deep South-Midwest swath: Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.
7. Forget the lottery, just pray to Jesus.
Unlike Brandy Clarke’s new song, “Pray to Jesus, Play the Lotto,” Southerners do not spend the most on lottery tickets. Massachusetts takes that honor. But the South (and Utah) has the mostevangelical Christians. In Alabama, the third most Christian state (56 percent of residents) and the second most religious state, according to the Pew Research Center, Republicans recently proposed a state constitutional amendment to put the Ten Commandments in public buildings. Rep. DuWayne Bridges said school shootings and violent crime was “due to the Ten Commandments not being displayed.”"
I'm not gong to bother debating you because I know you are a completely delusional Nazi sympathizing Trump supporter who believes the election was rigged against Trump and Derrick Chauvin was completely innocent and Fox News BS blah blah blah. Just wanted to call out your utter political stupidity, and I may return with a battle rap to destroy you if necessary.
another legitimate source which completely destroys your phony narrative and exposes the complete failure of Republican governance:
www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/1694273002
"What you see is exactly the reverse of our cultural mythology: Heading into midterms, Republicans are very much the party of the poor and Democrats are the party of the rich. This seemingly sounds nuts. It isn’t. Thirty-two states have Republican-controlled legislatures.
Eighteen of the 19 poorest states have legislatures where both chambers are Republican controlled. New Mexico (46th richest, fifth poorest) is Democratic. But there isn’t another blue or purple state until you get to purple Maine (31st richest, 20th poorest) with its “split” legislature of one party in each chamber. All the states in between (such as Tennessee and Florida) are Republican, both chambers. So is Michigan, where Republicans hold all high state offices (where Donald Trump won in 2016). Above New Mexico, you jump all the way to middle of the pack Vermont (27th richest, 24th poorest) to find a state with both legislative chambers held by Democrats.
But all five richest states have both legislative chambers controlled by Democrats – Maryland, New Jersey, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Overall, Democrats dominate the 20 richest states.
Conventional wisdom has long proclaimed Republicans the party of the rich and Democrats the party of the poor! Forty years ago that was largely true. The poor almost everywhere elected Democrats. That is how most media portray it now.
But media are almost solely big-city based, where the conventional wisdom remains true. Democrats are the party of the urban poor – from Boston to Los Angeles. But at the grassroots level, overall, it isn’t so. Republicans, overall, own America’s low-to-no income vote. Media simply don’t report what they don’t live in and see."
Hey, how's your big Shimano lawsuit going? Did they pay you millions to settle yet or are you still living in your moms basement ranting about YT?
Now…hatred and advertising…and porn.
I’m off to play with my new Fox 40 (which google said i needed)
I love my job, too. It easily affords 8k bicycles!
I'm too lazy to look into actual nuance so I write off everything as "big gubmints" fault.
Really hope PB mods get busy with bans, idgaf what "team" they purport to follow, let's get some civility back in the comments and keep it focused on cycling please.
It looks like a session
How many Asians were beat up, robbed, and raped?
#San Franshithole
The politics do suck here though...
My buddy helps out the local HS teams down here in SoCal. Wonder if it will trickle down?
The article is regarding recent developments in kids mtb'ing in Cali and the larger more historical anti-mtb sentiment in Cali. I don't know enough about California state politics to have a debate about whether mtb'ing would be better served by a red or blue Governor but by all accounts both the Democrats and the Republicans have let bikers down. Obviously the current Democrats don't seem to be pro-bike but the speeding fines, singletrack bans and trail network demolishing was introduced in the 90's under the watchful eye of Pete Wilson, a Republican Governor.
Ultimately, I really don't give a shit what party it is that unf*cks the situation but it's unquestionably been handily f*cked up by the democrats at this point.
All the areas and residents of those areas that don't want mountain biking are horse riding country and republican.
Keeps things interesting. I use the Citizen app to follow the mayhem. Defund the Police!
I'm off to a sideshow now...
I wish I could just relax and #PICKFORBRITAIN for a few weeks and I don't mean that in a disparaging way.
LOL - I know who you are. I'll meet you at Buck's for breakfast and we'll hit Skeggs. Bring one of your 'guns' "Bushmaster" HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.alec.org/app/uploads/2020/10/2020-Governor-Report_Final_R2_WEB.pdf
Win an election. Stop acting like a victim. Or move on to a place that makes you happy. Stewing in your victimhood doesn't help you or the state you happen to live in become strong and fulfilled.
I just pointed out the reality of the massive failure that is the liberal governance of this state, while you threw a tantrum because facts upset you. Take a seat buddy, come back and try again when you have an original thought.
f*ck the Liberals and their victims. Now put the phone on the nightstand and try to get some sleep.
You can't win. Go to sleep.
That's what you came up with at 2:30 AM? LOL The only thing you might win is a stuffy from the arcade at Mulligan Fun Center during a trip in from Hemet.
PB isn't cool with name-calling, BTW.
Go back to the bridge you crawled out from and wait for your next tax payer funded handout, cupcake.
Says the guy who just demeaned all conservatives.
Flint Michigan, the real story.
www.politifact.com/article/2016/feb/15/whos-blame-flint-water-crisis
From your link...
"Flint Mayor Dayne Walling declared to MLive.com that ‘it’s a quality, safe product. … I think people are wasting their precious money buying bottled water.’ "
..."Walling was a Democrat. So too was Andy Dillon, the state treasurer who signed off on the water changes"
Smells like some anti-MTB $$ was involved with this. We're fighting back. HARD.
You are 110% correct.
Absolute nonsense.
Concussion on a bike ride: OMG CANCEL IT
Fun fact: Myles Rockwell had "MOB" on his helmets, it stood for Marin Outlawed Bikers, this is nothing new for the county. Stop trying to teach pigs to sing, it annoys the pig, and waste your time.
I foolishly tried to go for a serious ride Sunday afternoon. Ran into so many damned nice people on the trail I spent like half my ride having delightful conversations with former-strangers.
Someone needs to do something about it.
Fight me about it.
Sucking the very life and fun out of everything they set their sights upon.
As a little message for NICA itself, please I beg you, make the courses fun! If I wanted to do a road race I would have entered a damn road race. Take us the correct way down a jump trail or throw a couple rock gardens in there, world cup XC courses are super gnarly nowadays I don't see any reason why a NICA XC race can't be even 1/10th of that. Maybe even branch out into different disciplines like Enduro that are more fun and more challenging for more advanced riders or even beginner riders. Give the kids an example of your average MTB trail to ride rather than a glorified dirt walking path. Finally, relax a little on the rules would you? Why the hell does there need to be a clause that doesn't allow the team to enter any other type of racing under the same team name? I've never been to any other race where the rules were more than: 1. Don't cheat. 2. Show up on time. 3. Use your timing device in this specific way. 4. Have fun. That's it! You don't need a Bible sized rule book that details in ultra-lawyer speak how to wear a jersey...
Thanks for coming to my Ted-Talk lol
That being said: it’s intentional and helps to carry out their core values. It makes the sport accessible to anyone and keeps it from having an intimidating atmosphere. Contrast that with enduro which tends toward “bro” culture and has a pretty high threshold for entry.
I do think that NICA has responded to some of the complaints with a slight relaxing of the rules, but I also think they’re going to need to create an advanced league or another format if they truly want to cultivate and develop talent. If they just want to be a gateway to the sport, then they’re doing a great job. Maybe they’re just wanting to be an entry point to get “more kids on bikes.” If they want to actually support and develop competitive racers though, they’re going to need to expand their offerings eventually. XCO courses are no joke, and we have already done our youth devo programs a disservice by having very few courses in the States that compare to what they’re going to race abroad (don’t get me started on DH which has the same problem tenfold).
Road/CX team's first announced practice for 8-12 years olds was 22 miles. Guess how many beginners showed up.
NICA first practice for 6th-12th grades was bike assessment and riding on a grassy field. A lot of beginners showed up, include a lot whose parents did not ride.
I don't know about the other rules. My local NICA teams go to non-NICA races under their team names. They just make clear that NICA's insurance doesn't cover it.
So NICA, if you're reading, thanks for all the hard work of organizing a league and bringing so many youths into the sport, but PLEASE: let mountain biking be hard!
NICA's mission, though, is to "get more kids on bikes." It's not to "develop world-class cyclists" or even "to improve athlete's bike skills." It's only to "get more kids on bikes." And they're doing that mission.
Really, this is a great opportunity for a different organization who does have a mission like the above to come alongside NICA and capitalize on all these new riders who are looking for more challenging courses and more rigorous skill development.... but we can't really expect NICA to do it, when it's not their mission.
Our team practices on all kinds of trails. The advanced riders practice on advanced trails, and on race day they don't see much bike-handling challenge. The beginner riders are still learning how to shift and brake, and on race day they have lots of bike-handling challenges.
The race course for our NICA aren't hard from the technical sense. But it is what it is, and the goal is to get "more kids on bikes" and like everything else in life, people will go on to have different skill levels and interests in mountain biking.
I think what everyone in the comments is overlooking is INSURANCE and RISK. I suspect the CA schools of concern have been advised that the legal risk from injuries/lawsuits in the sport are driving high schools to remove any association/endorsement from the school district itself. Our NICA teams are only Club Sports. We are required to follow NICA's rules for legal and insurance reasons. I think the problem lies that if our team were an official school sport, if a bad injury occurred, the lawsuits could be huge with lawyers going after the "deep pockets" of the school district and local taxpayers footing the bill.
Blame needs to go towards both the personal injury lawyers AND from the participants themselves who's parents would likely the 1st to file a lawsuit if their kid got injured. Despite any waivers and understanding that the sport has inherent risks.
Ref: “Bellingham hiker stabs biker over right-of-way dispute”
NICA is just now starting to bear fruit and it would be a damn shame if it died.
Kids that aren't into the usual Letter Sports really need club sports like this.
BTW, I hope this stays localized and doesn't spread to other communities.
I guess when a country is built on constant violence and hate of difference, it ends up having long term social consequences
I think it boils down to the elitism and money. MTB can really be a source of money, but there are communities too rich to care. At some level rich people simply want to separate from others and a hord of young people on bikes are simply not welcome. This is what happened to Marin. Austria is a bit similar, they make money on skiing and German hikers with kids.
I know many Americans who live in peace and harmony regardless of their political standing.
It's not so great here but it still is really fine, there are only few hunters and old grumpy people complaining, most of hikers are friendly. It's better in France and in Italy but it's also very different people on the trails in each countries.
@danielstutt: so the press would be manipulating for which reason? I have been in US and it was "weird" to say it nicely.
All the europeans people I know who were in US either stayed their for their career, or went back in EU after some years because career and $$$ werent worth the trade off. This all must be because of the EU press
The sheer irony of anyone from a European country ragging on any other country about being founded on "constant violence and hate of difference" is hilarious. Pick up a history book some time.
Happily, your fellow countrymen in the US don't share your snotty, bigoted, hateful, ignorant attiitude and are generally pretty chill. Turn off the TV and try to be like them.
Before 1945, Europe was pretty much at constant warfare and most countries were founded to provide the greatest possible amount of power to the military leader who was the ruler. While it still involved conflict, the American revolution was one of the least violent in terms of death for centuries.
And hate of difference, ya that was/is kind of the whole world worked--especially back in those days. Not an unique phenomenon to America, and, in fact, the American constitution has several protections against legal and government intolerance.
Yeah I will turn off the TV I don't have, and I will stop hating something/someone (not sure what your are talking about) I don't hate. I guess I have to open the Bible as well so that I stop being ignorant ? I suppose I also have to arm myself with as many guns possible because I'm free and not violent right? I will also pay attention to all these explosive trees I heard we have
Thanks a lot kind sir for all these good advices.
But no not all because of the press, people move back maybe because of cultural differences? I know several people who have moved to the USA from Europe and other continents and got on just fine and are living there after several years still.
I too have been to the US, i did not find it "weird". It is "different" but so was Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Australia, Argentina, UAE, Switzerland, Denmark and Canada.
I do agree that America seems more divided than I can remember in my lifetime but I still dont think its as bad as we are lead to believe it is. Muricans, tell me otherwise.
Applying that mindset to a new world continent is daft. We are all from the same thing. Yep. i was born in Africa. But my descendants? European.
...
"Only when the researchers took a closer look did that tapestry begin to unravel. The uninfected workers in parasitized colonies, they realized, were laboring harder. Strained by the additional burden of their wormed-up nestmates, they seemed to be shunting care away from their queen. They were dying sooner than they might have if the colonies had remained parasite-free. At the community level, the ants were exhibiting signs of stress, and the parasite’s true tax was, at last, starting to show. “The cost is in the division of labor,” Das said. The worms were tapping into not just “individual [ant] physiology, but also social interactions,” Farrah Bashey-Visser, a parasitologist at Indiana University who wasn’t involved in the study, told me."
I spent two summers following the Dead around the country partying with hippies too... then I grew up. As John Adams said, "A boy of 15 who is not a democrat is good for nothing, and he is no better who is a democrat at 20." California needs to grow up.
Exactly! By traditional standards, I'm a classical liberal... by current democrat standards, I'm far right.
Nailed it. The real issue is that mountain biking wasn't recognized by the CIF, and that the school district technically shouldn't have MTB teams to begin with, and this should have caught way earlier. The district is just catching up with how it should have been. Yes, the announcement and the subsequent rebuttals are messy and were arguably handled poorly, but the bottom line is that a step was skipped in not getting MTB into CIF, and the school district is really just applying to MTB the same standards as all the other approved clubs\sports.
This will piss some people off, but I honestly put some blame on NICA for this being so messy. Why did they not know that they needed CIF approval?
...we still like you (and want the federal and local tax dollars and usually a portion of the state funds allocated for each child), but we just don't love you anymore...it's not you, its us.
www.reddit.com/r/BAbike/comments/mn216p/bay_area_riders_waterdog_trail_access_threatened
How about everybody is on the team, everybody makes friends, nobody is excluded. The younger riders are learning from the older and more skilled riders. The older kids are happy to help teach the younger ones. Practices aren't every day and mandatory, there is no pressure to be good and win like other sports. Everyone is there to be happy and have fun on mountain bikes. This has been my experience with our NICA team. Our team adopted the sportsmanship and camaraderie (arguably better than most sports) without the toxic environment focused on success and winning.
The races were never about who was the best and trying to be better than everybody else, the races were about meeting other kids with common interests from all over our state and getting to ride bikes together in cool places.
These NICA teams are more healthy for children than normal sports especially in difficult times like we are gong through right now. I'm looking at it from a mental health aspect. Physical health, forget it, how many kids do you know that got a concussion from playing football? Nobody on my team has suffered a concussion in the last five years of riding bikes. Now that I think about it there has been almost no serious injuries, maybe two or three, over the years. Mountain biking should be one of the first choices for kids that want to get into jr high and high school sports.
www.vitalmtb.com/forums/The-Hub,2/3rd-Party-Risk-Report-Allegedly-Causes-Tamalpais-School-District-to-Part-from-High-School-MTB-Club-R,11176
Perhaps Pinkbike could consider having a regular cadence article regarding Regional NICA news. This may even be a good opportunity for a younger intern(s) (not Mike Kaz) to contribute some words/pics and perhaps get excited to work in MTB Media. Hopefully they don't just do it for the money and glamour though.
Whichever bike company is focused on increasing market share in the U18 range can sponsor.
Everything that comes through is looked over and considered for the homepage, and that could be a good way to test the waters. That's how I started contributing to PB before they hired me
Though fair warning that uh if someone is looking for money and glamor, the bike industry is probably not the place to look. As cool as the bike industry is.
Awesome to see issues coming to light tho. I wish pinkbike would post the article about "The Jumps" in Berkley so we could get more support behind that.
JK, But I'm still mourning the loss of the Shady 80's jumps off frontage road by the Sea Breeze. A long time ago.....
I've lived in So Cal my whole life, I know first hand the way this state works. I'm 50 now, with a house that's almost paid off. I obsoletely will not be retiring in this state! Peace out!
oh and did anyone already mention that Pacifica will be gone soon too?
I didn't realise that. Bonkers
Care to debate some facts... because there's no factual argument to defend the damage liberal governance has done to this state and its public schools, but I guess they didn't tell you that on whatever propaganda feed you subscribe to.
It's silly to lay all that blame at the feet of one state govt and turn a blind eye to individual responsibility. It's silly to single out the largest state in the union by a factor of at least 2, when people shit in the streets of metropoli (?) all over the US, SLC for example. And it's silly to blame all of a state's problems on one party of governance unless that govt has controlled the state for its entire existence. Reagan's party ruled the roost in his terms, both governor and presidential terms. That was only 32-40 years ago. And Schwarzenegger? He won in a landslide 18 years ago and had 2 terms to boot!
People shit on cali all the time for its democratic leaders but forget to remember its history because they want to believe what they want. Let's be a little more rational, a little less silly.
You don't seem to comprehend the massive disparity in potential though. Liberals love to talk about how CA has the world's 5th largest GDP but miss how much the state f*cks up the opportunity that should bring. A poor state can't really do much but be poor. Talking shit about Alabama is like blaming a poor family for not having a robust 401k. Alabama really lacks the resources to make drastic improvements to things like education, California does not... they just grossly mismanage the resources they have to benefit elitist democrat interests at the expense of virtually everyone who votes for them. Take a simple thing like gas... California has more taxation on gas than any other state and has the highest gas prices in the country, often over $5 a gallon. This is a mild annoyance to me personally and I wouldn't drive a truck that gets 10mpg if I gave a shit about gas prices... but for the millions of low income liberals who vote for the a*sholes that set policy, this is a real issue that forces them to choose between necessities and driving to work.
And yes, every state has their share of poor... the difference is that California's grows disproportionately. Alabama and other states run by republicans are generally pretty stable in terms of poverty levels and there's a fairly narrow wealth gap while California has a rapidly growing class of poor and homeless and there's an enormous gap in wealth.
And no, it's not silly to single out the governance in CA... first off, no they're not the largest by a factor of two... Texas and Florida are both more than half as large as CA. That's irrelevant though... do homeless shit on the street everywhere, absolutely... but California codified it into law as legal to do so rather than figuring out a way to use their tremendous resources to provide alternatives. Do people have aids in every state, absolutely... but California reduced the penalty for knowingly giving someone aids through sexual contact or donating blood from a felony to a misdemeanor. You can do more time in CA for just owning a rifle with cosmetic features the state dislikes than you can for intentionally giving a sexual partner an incurable, deadly std. That's squarely on the democratic governors.
Arnold wasn't even remotely republican, he just had to run as one to get on the ticket. And this state was the golden land of opportunity under Reagan, Jerry Brown began the slide and it's only gotten worse as more time has passed under democrats. You can talk about being rational all you want, but pretending that democrats haven't f*cked things up immensely is pure fantasy. This state is the functional equivalent of the family that won the goddamn powerball lottery while making $1,000,000 a year and still manages to constantly be broke, it's easily the worst managed state in the union when factoring in the potential it's enormous economy has.
Abbott from TX is ranked #1 among governors, Newsome is ranked 40th (ranked 48th for policy)... CA is 46th in economic outlook, TX is ranked #1.
www.alec.org/app/uploads/2020/10/2020-Governor-Report_Final_R2_WEB.pdf
It's a fact, indisputable fact, that Democrats have f*cked this state over... a state with greater resources than most countries is lagging far behind the majority of states in this country that have access to only a fraction of the resources. Education, poverty, wealth disparity, opportunity, home ownership, crime... all have gotten drastically worse under democrats and this has been a consistent theme everywhere they gain uncontested control; from Chicago to Detroit to LA and San Fran, they take over thriving metropolitan areas and run them into the ground. Period, full stop.
But go right ahead and keep doing you, big guy. You sure changed a bunch of minds here. Extremity is definitely the way forward, yep.
Same.