But What Would We Call Them?

As I was blogging about my London Shrine, a friend posted an interesting article on Facebook. Hey, why not split my beloved home state--the infinitely crazy, fruity and nutty, currently-in-a-state-of-financial-turmoil CHAOS California--into four states?

My first reaction was, "so long as I get to live in the part that has San Francisco." If only for the Golden Gate Bridge.

Of course, it's not very likely, is it? But my dad and I have discussed this before, how California almost should be two states. Depending on who you talk to, California's economy (based on gross state product) is larger than most independent nations. If California was an independent state, instead of one of the 50 states, it would rank anywhere from 7th to 10th. That's a lot of economy for one state...even if we are larger than many nations. California has a larger land mass than the whole of Great Britain--don't believe me? Look it up in any atlas.

It is also hugely diverse, and the Spanish-speaking population, which is both hugely liberal and bafflingly conservative, is on course to be larger than the rest of the population within the next 20 years. The Latino vote is of particular interest to me, as I work in a school that is 90-something percent Mexican. Last year, my kids, while trying to get me to spill the beans about who I voted for (I just smiled and said, "Snoopy."), also surprised me with their own ideas, inherited from their parents. If they'd been old enough to vote, many would have voted for Obama because he's a minority, like them...but also, they supported McCain because he's anti-abortion and many of these kids are Catholic by culture, if not by practice. It was an interesting dichotomy.

But I digress. According to the article that prompted me to post, dividing California into four parts would create three liberal states and one Conservative state. I have to wonder where the author of this article would put the whole of Northern California that is outside of the Bay Area and Silicone Valley. Last I checked, there's still a few hundred miles of land north of San Francisco, stretching to the Oregon border, and west to Nevada. It includes the state's capitol, Sacramento, several state parks, Lake Tahoe, and a few liberal state universities (Humboldt and Chico).

Of course, this isn't going to happen. California will, undoubtedly, remain the gigantic mess that it is--we're the third-largest state in terms of geography, but the largest in terms of population. We will continue to struggle with a legislative system that is NOT working (needing 2/3 to pass something is crazy. NOTHING gets 2/3 in a state as politically divided as Cali!).

And yet, I will continue to live here, work here, and love this great, flawed state. It is, after all, my home...and you wish they all could be California Girls.