There’s a scene from the old movie Stardust Memories that keeps floating through my brain; it’s the opening sequence, wherein Woody Allen's character boards a train filled with miserable-looking passengers. Allen looks out the window and beholds another train that’s heading in the very same direction. The difference is that the other passengers are gloriously happy, and partying hard. A young and luscious Sharon Stone even blows a kiss to Allen through the window.
With that, Woody starts running as fast as he can to get off his own train. He is desperate to flee the wretchedness. But of course he’s stuck there, and he can’t get off.
This is exactly how I feel about being a Californian, and witnessing last Tuesday’s election. I’m obviously on the wrong train, but I don’t know how in the world to leave it.
Of course, those of you in Texas and Arizona and myriad other states are celebrating as robustly as the happy people on Sharon Stone’s train: Not only have you affected the course of this country, but you’ve made history. In many cities and localities across the country, conservatives have a strong hold on state or city governments.
Not so with California, which reinstalled the antiquated Senator Barbara Boxer—and reinstated retro-Governor Jerry Brown. Rather than take advantage of the spectacular Silicon Valley successes of Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman, the California populace has gone with the tried-and-untrue. Like Woody Allen on board that hellish locomotive, Californians are also on a track to nowhere.
Jerry Brown has already made promises that he can’t keep unless he reaches deeply into the taxpayers’ pockets. He has vowed to make college education free for everyone (whether they are here legally or not, by the way). Given that the state is near bankruptcy, how he plans to be so magnanimous remains to be seen. However, it undoubtably will have a lot to do with huge new taxes on the miniscule number of us who are actually working for a living.
Of course, the misery of California is only compounded by the nauseating fact that we now have a Democratic governor and a Democratic legislature. At least Arnold, though a RINO, stalled some legislation. With Brown as Governor, California speeds headlong into disaster--there don’t appear to be any brakes to stop this runaway train.
Why people in my state chose to go prehistoric during these new and exciting times is a mystery to me. In psychological terms, it’s clearly denial--that is, not seeing what is right before one’s eyes. Of course, the public’s myopia may reach past denial, into delusion. This entails not only denying the truth, but also creating an alternative universe that bears no resemblance to reality.
Somehow the majority of people looked around at the happenings in California -- the skyrocketing crime rate, illegals draining basic services, and astronomical taxes -- and gave the Democrats a big thumbs-up. Rather than rushing off this dead-end train when the doors briefly opened, most people have chosen to stay onboard. So those of us who are not drinking the Kool Aid are being taken along for bumpy and dangerous ride.
There’s a witticism to the effect that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. The people of California have elected Democrats to clean up the state--not even newfangled liberals, but the same ones who have been failing us for decades. If this is not the epitome of insanity, I don’t know what is.
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Robin of Berkeley
Check out Robin’s personal blog.
Robin is a recovering liberal, and a licensed psychotherapist who lives in Berkeley, California. The above information is intended for entertainment and educational purposes, rather than to offer any kind of definitive diagnoses.
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