The Los Angeles Times letters editor has a message for Californians bailing on the state for greener, less regulatory, and freer pastures: ‘Stop trashing us on the way out.’
“To the people leaving California: May the road rise to meet you as you seek better lives in new places. Now, can you please extend some goodwill to those of us who remain?” Paul Thornton asked in a Saturday op-ed headlined, “Commentary: If you want to leave, fine. But don’t insult California on the way out.”
Thornton went on to reflect on the hundreds of thousands of people leaving the Golden State, according to Fox News.
“More than 800,000 Californians moved away in 2022, and many thousands more left last year. Often, the departees, cash in hand from the sale of their $1-million bungalows, feel the need to express disdain for their home state, and even some anger too,” he wrote.
Thornton continued by recounting an anecdote about a family member who had relocated to a distant small town in another state. Upon moving, the individual was cautioned against introducing “those weird California ways” to the new community.
“And which ways would those be?” Thornton asked rhetorically in his op-ed. “Perhaps it’s our embrace of LGBTQ+ Californians. Or it’s our liberal politics, with the state Republican Party shrunk to irrelevance after its vicious attempt in 1994 to marginalize immigrants with Proposition 187.”
Proposition 187, which garnered nearly 60% of the vote but was subsequently blocked by the courts, aimed to withhold state social services from illegal immigrants. Following this, California has broadened the accessibility of government benefits and services to illegal immigrants.
As of the start of the new year, California has implemented the provision of free healthcare for undocumented immigrants, even in the face of the state’s significant $68 billion deficit. The new policy will include sex change surgeries for California residents, regardless of their citizenship status.
“Perhaps I’m sensitive because California — and especially Los Angeles — used to be the place people would come,” Thornton wrote. “And plenty still move here, especially immigrants. I come from an immigrant family blessed by the working-class riches our state once offered.”
He then noted how putting far-left public and social policies in place remains a priority for the state.
“California is big, powerful and therefore tempting to disparage. We have 39 million people, Hollywood and Shohei Ohtani. This state is a haven for reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, but income disparity and the housing crunch are critical problems we have to fix for progressive ideals to match the reality on the ground,” he said.
“If you must leave California for Texas, Arizona, New England or anywhere else, don’t be a person who trash-talks the home of 39 million people,” he wrote.
