How the Golden State Embraced Corporate Socialism
Excerpt: It is ironic that California in the 1950s and 1960s offered a good example of a state government that respected property rights and nurtured competitive businesses, yet engaged in massive public investment in those areas where it was not possible to make competition effective. During this golden age, barely twenty years in duration, in partnership with the Federal government, the State of California built the most comprehensive network of water conveyances in the world. At the same time, they built the finest system of public colleges and universities in the world, and they built freeways and expressways that enabled urbanization and an affordable market in housing. In those days, a middle-class family could expect to own their home, travel on uncongested roads, and pay college tuition for their children. Today, none of that is possible. What happened? (...) Giving public employees job security, compensation, and benefits far in excess of private sector norms creates a conflict of interests between public employees and the citizens they serve. It undermines the value of citizenship itself, by making ordinary private citizens eligible for a package of government benefits that is more comparable to (if not less than) what undocumented immigrants receive, while the far better path to job security, a middle-class lifestyle, and retirement security lies with the privileged public sector. [This column sounds like V. D. Hanson in a rage. It really hammers home some powerful points. As a young visitor to California in the middle 1960s, I marveled at the great road system that is today every commuter’s nightmare. The electricity provided by PG&E was then plentiful and affordable; the most expensive utility at that time was water. This article is well worth reading. Ron P.]
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