California — The Backwater State

Tuesday, November 9, 2004

Page 7

IN MY OPINION (Column)

California — The Backwater State

By RAY HAYNES

(The writer represents the 66th Assembly District, which includes portions of western Riverside County and northern San Diego County.)

I know a lot of people who are stuck in the 1960’s. They look back at that time of free love, Jimi Hendrix, and the socialist utopia. They long for the socialist utopia they thought was possible then, not thinking that their view of this socialist utopia was somewhat colored by the chemicals that altered their thought patterns in those days. The only problem with these people, who see the long-haired, peacenik of 1968 as the ideal citizen, is that they are now the Democrat majority in the state legislature.

Most people don’t know this, but I actually used to think like them. While the drugs of the 60’s were not a part of my experience, I used to think that the ideal social order was based on the principle “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.” Indeed, in those idyllic years, I conceived of an end to hunger and poverty in the coming United States socialist paradise. Boy was I stupid.

Unfortunately for my colleagues in the state legislature, they cling to this monumental misconception. Their solution to every problem that people face is another government program, and another tax on the rich. They just know that they can help you raise your kids, run your business, protect your job, clean up your neighborhood, and spend your money better than you. It’s like they provide you with your own personal bureaucrat finance director. When they had their way between 1999 and 2003, during the Davis years, they bankrupted the state.

I became a conservative because the principles of family, faith, free enterprise, and individual liberty are the principles of a solid social organization. The only new and good ideas for solving our social problems are coming from those who rely on these principles for their policy recommendations.

Take, for instance, the concept of a faith-based social service system. A government-run welfare system relies on the unwilling giver (who contributes to the bureaucracy through taxes), and the ungrateful recipient (we even call welfare payments “entitlements”), whereas the church relies on willing givers and grateful recipients. In the volunteer system, people actually like each other. In the government system, people are always competing for the politician’s attention. Which do you think is better for society?

The conservative-movement thinkers emphasize a parent-based education system, an entrepreneurial-based tax system, a freedom-based social system, and a community-based government. The liberty-based system is win/win, with the individual choosing whether he or she wins or loses.

The leftists (or liberals) rely on a top/down, government-enforced social system. The end result: big government, high taxes, less individual liberty, and ultimately failure. It is a system that is based on a win/lose philosophy, with the politicians picking the winners and losers. Of course, the winners are usually those who help the politicians stay in power.

The rest of the country is finally realizing that the socialist utopia is a failed model. It simply won’t work. They are voting in larger and larger numbers of those candidates who don’t reject faith, who believe in individual liberty, and who want to cut taxes and reduce the size of government (even if they are not always perfect at pursuing that model).

California, on the other hand, is sticking to the drug-induced. “wouldn’t it be great” euphoria of my youth. This last election has preserved the control of the forces of socialism in the California Legislature. Unions, trial lawyers, and the socialist environmentalists have retained control of the levers of power in both houses of the legislature, and they are set to do war with the Governor, who is trying to change the direction of the state.

California used to be a leader, but not it is stuck in the backwaters of the 1960s. Wile other states have tried complicated bureaucratic solutions to our problems, most are now rejecting them and looking for more decentralized liberty-based alternatives.

How long will it be before we, as a state, finally get that haircut, take a shower, and get to work dismantling our bureaucracy and rebuilding families, businesses and private religious and charitable organizations?