In the minds of most progressives, as well as some horrified conservatives, California is the harbinger of America’s future. Governor Gavin Newsom sees his state as a model, claiming California is “the envy of the world” and the great bastion of social justice. “Unlike the Washington plutocracy,” he boasts, “California isn’t satisfied serving a powerful few on one side of the velvet rope.” Read more
In this episode of the Feudal Future podcast, hosts Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky talk with Tracy Hernandez about the end of innovation exposing California’s need to focus on job creation, electing public officials with job creating focus and ability.
It’s hard to say the word “innovation” and not think of California. Technology has paced the state’s growth in everything from agriculture and oil to housing, entertainment, and aerospace. California has always been the harbinger of the American future, the promise of ever-greater economic and social progress. Read more
For decades, Orange County was a reliable incubator of conservative politics, and, in the era of Nixon, Goldwater and Reagan, a fairly powerful force in the state and on the national level. More recently, the area has been widely seen as tilting blue, particularly during the Trump era, with the media celebrating the end of “the Orange Curtain” in the 2018 midterm elections and its metamorphosis into another addition to our state’s progressive political culture. Read more
If Hollywood were to cast a governor and future president, and if a straight white male were still politically acceptable, he would look like California’s Gavin Newsom. The 53-year-old governor, a former mayor of San Francisco, Newsom handsomely epitomizes the preening politics of the California elite class that has nurtured and financed his career from the beginning. Read more
In this episode of the Feudal Future podcast, hosts Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky interview John Russo, co-author of Steel Town USA and a visiting scholar at Georgetown University. John has spent most of his academic career at Youngstown State University in Ohio, and he has spent much time cataloguing the plight of the middle class and working class in the US.
California is in far worse shape economically than the great majority of other states also struggling through the pandemic. COVID-19 may be the primary cause of our current distress, but the evolving structure of our economy has exacerbated this calamity. The worst part is our state leaders should have known this all along. Read more
By: Vicki McKenna
On: The Vicki McKenna Show at iHeart radio
Joel Kotkin talks with Vicki about his recent piece entitled Blue Today, Bluer Tomorrow — how the “blue” left needs to reset toward addressing pragmatic issues. Joel and Vicki discuss how “blue” policies are failing the very minorities and working class people they purport to serve.
By: Dan Proft
On: The Dan Proft Show on Omny Studio
Joel Kotkin talks with Dan Proft about his recent piece entitled Blue Today, Bluer Tomorrow — how the pandemic is highlighting the failures of big urban — and typically “blue” metros to develop policies that actually benefit workers and minorities. Joel and Dan discuss how white progressives and the political class fail to address the pragmatic challenges with policies that minorities and workers need to pursue the “American dream”, and how minorites and workers are voting with their feet towards smaller metropolitan areas in order to realize homeownership and upward mobility.
By: Lars Larson
On: SoundCloud
Joel Kotkin talks with Lars Larson about how progressive policies haven’t been helping blue-collar workers and minorities. The progressive movement has shifted from upholding the value of work, towards what Marx called the “proletarian alms-bag.”
Progressive politics is no longer about getting a job, moving up, buying a house, raising a family…
— Joel Kotkin
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Fred Murphy, used under CC 2.0 License