The Guardian recently ran a sad feature article about the disastrous situation of California.

Los Angeles now has a poverty rate of 20%. Other cities across the state, such as Fresno and Modesto, have jobless rates that rival Detroit’s. In order to pass its state budget, California’s government has had to agree to a deal that cuts billions of dollars from education and sacks 60,000 state employees. Some teachers have launched a hunger strike in protest. California’s education system has become so poor so quickly that it is now effectively failing its future workforce. The percentage of 19-year-olds at college in the state dropped from 43% to 30% between 1996 and 2004, one of the highest falls ever recorded for any developed world economy. California’s schools are ranked 47th out of 50 in the nation. Its government-issued bonds have been ranked just above “junk”.

The outlook, in other words, is dire. Beyond dire. It’s a tragic come-down for a state that has always thought of itself as “golden,” and which has been seen by America, and the world, as a symbol of boundless opportunity.

It’s a traumatic time for such a shining place. It’s definitely food for thought. After all, we experience hardship in our lives, sometimes hardship that, at the time, seems impossible to overcome. And yet we somehow struggle through. No matter how hard life gets, our hearts keep beating, our lungs keep pulling in air and pushing it out again, and the big world just keeps on turning.

In other words, hardship isn’t the same as life ending. In fact if you can keep your wits about you, it can present all sorts of opportunities. As the article points out, even in California there are people investing in innovative technology and coming up with new ways of tackling old problems.

Be your own “golden state” … embrace your own dreams!

Tags: california, downturn, economy, guardian, hard times, recession, struggle

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