However, a considerable amount of time has passed since Creamer wrote her essay on California’s state of affairs. The recent election has woken up Californians, and overwhelming two-thirds of Californians said a solid no to fascism, demagoguery, and bigotry. Immediately after that last votes were tallied, huge protests like the Women's March were organized. Californians have finally begun to stand up for what is right. We have grown up since we put Schwarzenegger in the governor’s office, and I hope this trend continues. Gavin Newsom is running for governor in 2018, the man who brought universal healthcare to San Francisco, an achievement that I hope he can bring to the rest of the state. Bernie Sanders sent a huge message to Wall Street and the one percent who own more wealth than the bottom ninety-nine: a political revolution is brewing. Despite California’s voting record in the past, it seems to me that we have a hopeful future ahead of us, despite the setback we faced last November. Hopefully, we won’t ever recede into the lethargic state of political disengagement that Creamer…
California was once a silent and an unheard-of place. Since Mr. John Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848, the gold rush era started and California became popular. It has become a place where people expected to be successful and wealthy. For this reason, the gold finders from all over the world came to Sutter's Mill to pursue their dreams. However, many of them found that their dreams did not come true. In fact, they had to do lots of hard work that barely led to financial success. Was California a fantastic place? Could everyone have an opportunity to be successful and rich? Whether or not the “California Dream" truly existed or was just a legend, there was no doubt that there were many successful gold miners in California, but…
Urbanism at its eclectic finest exists in the city of San Francisco. The name itself brings to mind its many sociocultural icons. The Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, and Alcatraz Island are unique to San Francisco yet do not define the city. From a tiny missionary village to wild west frontier town to love-ins and gay pride to world-class city characterize San Francisco as a distinctive metropolis. Environmentally, San Francisco is far from ideal. At the tip of the peninsula on San Francisco Bay, surrounded on three sides by water, San Francisco is windy most of the time. It has moderately cool temperatures year round and is plagued by dense fog, steep hills, and earthquakes. In spite of this San Francisco has…
This paper requires us to discuss the book California: A History by author Kevin Starr as well as McPherson’s “TheFight for Salvery in California”, among other selected films. These texts and films chronicle the history of California, the changes, the advancements, and the history behind where we are today as a state. In this paper I plan to highlight he importance California played in the United States as a whole and the socio-economic alliances of the advancements in Californias history. Please enjoy reading, as this paper is “one of the wildest reads in the wilderness.”…
The American Dream use to be the limitless ability to attain goals with family values and it now transforms into attaining luxuries, wealth, and fame. In the past, people often pursued goals such as living a simple life on the satisfactory amount of land and possessions. During Henry David Thoreau’s time, “the wisest have ever lived a more simple and meager life than the poor” (1). Thoreau’s words marked a time in the lives of the past where living a simple life with one’s family was considered wise, and thus good. Moreover, satisfaction accompanied simple living. Due time, this perception of a satisfactory living has since changed. In the present, people pursue lives that can allow oneself to immerse in luxuries, wealth, and fame. According…
The world rushed into the quiet town of Yuerba Buena turning it into the modern San Fransisco and in the process becoming the center of trade and population in the west. California has historically been a sparsely populated area. In 1848 there was around 157,000 people in the territory of California. This population was comprised of over 150,000 Native Californian Indians, 6,500 Californios (people of spanish descent) and just 800 Americans[SOURCE]. With the discovery of gold, the poulation of the territory exploded with growth. A year and half later the non-native populations of Americans and foriegners rose to more than 100,000 from that 800 and kept on rising. By the 1850's there was over 300,000 newly arrived Americans and immigrants in California, one in every 90 people living in the united states at the time [SOURCE]. This explosion in population and the resulting economic growth quickly moved California to statehood. In just two years, 1848 to 1850, California went from an empty paradise to the center of power and population in the…
The "American dream" is the dream of every citizen of the United States and has always been the pursuit has a long history., in the middle of the 18th century American independence from the British, began quietly budding "American dream”. Due to open early north American land and sparsely populated, so immigrants can share to large tracts of land, they gain wealth through their own farming.…
Around the world, there are many countries, states, cities, and communities that live in poverty and cannot do much based on their surroundings and resources. Many people travel over to California in order to seek positive opportunities that will allow them to build a new life and succeed in their future. In the book California Dreams and Realities by Jack Solomon and Sonia Maasik, there are different selections which describe reasons on why people look to California as “the pursuit of life” such as jobs, land, and luxury. However, there are deeper reasons and symbols that give California the image of a great place. Freedom, wealth, and experience make California the start of great opportunities and live up to the ideal “dream life” that it…
The California dream promised to fulfill people's deepest longing for a better future filled of new freedoms. The dream was fueled from the universal human needs.…
California truly is caught up in a disastrous situation and the long term effects have been in the works for quite some time. Diversity is at the heart of how the state functions, runs, and votes. Home to phenomenal coastal views, vast desert plains, and tall illustrious mountains, the state is truthfully very unique. “Nowhere is this paradox truer than in California, a dysfunctional natural paradise in which a group of coastal and governing magnificoes virtue-signal from the world’s most exclusive and beautiful enclaves” (Hanson 4). Vast amounts of beautiful scenery are present no matter what part of the Golden State you reside in or visit. However, this leads to an overpopulated state in general with countless problems to continually battle.…
Throughout America's short history, California has been a mysterious land of snowy mountains, sandy beaches and fertile soil. From the Gold Rush to the Free Love movement, it has been a Mecca for the misunderstood, the thrill seekers, and the independent. For over a hundred years people have found what they were looking for in the sprawling lands of California. Throughout the years, the ideals of the misfits who populated California have shaped the mentality of today's citizens. People migrated to California to escape the rigid structure of the Midwestern communities. For many people immigrating to California, the definition of the California Dream was the escape from community. To many, it may seem that California…
California’s geographical splendor has contributed to the state’s popularity since 1850. Yet the golden state finds itself combating the same issues for many years. California, with the largest population in the U.S., has an economy that produces $1.8 trillion in Gross Domestic Products ever year. Despite being the desired location for business’s, Californias rate of unemployment and tax rates are the highest in the nation. Over the years the rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer. “Since 1995 , incomes for the poorest 10% of California families have dropped 20%. In contrast, incomes for the wealthiest 10% of California families have increased 605% over the past thirty years” (Scarpelli, 2015).…
The American Dream is elusive, its definition changes from person to person and though it is often spoken of it is rarely achieved. Because of the rarity of the successful “American Dream” it leads to the question of how accessible that dream is to everyone. America is full of hard workers and yet we all don’t have trophy wives, a mansion, or a Rolls Royce. I am by no means saying the American dream is dead, I’m saying you shouldn’t expect to ever achieve it.…
California culture has changed a lot over the years. There are new trends coming out all the time. Whether they succeed or not they’re always changing. Fashion is a big deal in California, it’s the way you express yourself. Fashion trends that have been around for a while are jeans, V-neck shirts, and tennis shoes. New trends are TOMS which are shoes that are extremely comfortable, highlighter colors, and body piercings. Highlighter colors are used for clothes, jewelry, nail polishes, hair, shoes, and even make up. Piercings used to be just for your ears and nose but now they’re used for practically any body part like your belly button or back dimples. There are also trends in food restaurants. McDonalds had always been a favorite no matter how unhealthy it is. Some more fast food restaurants are In-N-Out, Chipotle, and Wingstop. A new slang word almost everyone uses is “YOLO” which means You Only Live Once. There is also a sign for representing the west side where you make a W with your fingers.…
There are multiple interpretations and visions of the California Dream, each with their own variations and ideals that suit the individual. The dust bowl era brought numerous Southwestern migrants to California in search of their dream of prosperity as well as opportunity, while white middle class families saw their California Dream as living in harmony and peace in suburbia, in their modest homes, with manicured yards. The books American Exodus by James Gregory and Holy Land by D.J. Waldie demonstrate more clearly the history of these two groups in their pursuit of the California Dream.…